I figured you Classic guys would know a lot about seasonal storage

My brother's 97 Camaro vert is being stored for the winter. This is our first time storing a car. It has been stored since he left for college; about September. We didn't store it on jackstands. We have had to start it and move the car occasionally. We left it for a REALLY long time without starting, and when we did the car didn't start; the battery was dead

So we bought a new battery, and learned our lesson. He is going back to college now, and the car won't be started until mid May (unless we need to get something in the garage). The gas tank has been filled (it was on 1/4 tank during the Sept-Dec storage because we thought you should have LESS gas in; turns out you need a full tank ) and a fuel stabilizer added.

Here's the question: I don't want the battery drained again, and I know I have to disconnect it. Should I leave the disconnected battery in the car, or should I put in in the house where it will stay warm? Should I cover up the battery terminals with electrical tape as well? Any other info will be helpful. Thanks!

 

I usually just leave it in the car (unhooked). Unless the car is somewhere where the temp is going to be consistently below zero for a long period of time you shouldn't have to worry about it. I like to stick a trickle charger on mine once a month and let it run for a day or so also.

 

Rather than put a tricke charger on for a couple of day every once and a while, just put on a battery maintenance charger.
They can be bought at Canadian tire (Or some other car parts store) for about $35.00.
It will charge the battery up to 14.4V and then stop charging until it drops down to 12.8 and charge back up again.
I have one on my 97 right now.

 

Any good auto parts store should have battery disconnect switches. I have one where you unscrew a **** (you can either remove the ****, or leave it partially in, the battery will be cut off), and I saw a knife type switch at autozone yesterday. You can leave these on the car permanently if you want. You hook up the neg cable to the switch, then hook up the switch to the battery. I had an energizer battery last 6 years with that method ( I charged it in the spring), and I now have an Optima red top.