Car cover / storage in general / lots of questions

[ccarpen at earthlink.net (Cris Carpenter)]

You don't really need to drain the fluids, but you may want to replace the 
oil, coolant and brake fluid after you get it running again, depending on 
how old they are anyway.

You also don't need to flood the engine in atf, though you may want to put 
a teaspoon or two in each cylinder and crank the engine over for a few 
seconds to lube the upper cylinder and head stuff. You may need to put in 
new plugs after you get it running again.

Putting cars up on blocks has not really shown to provide any benefits, 
especially for modern cars. In the old days they would do it to keep the 
tires round and keep the springs from sagging, but modern technologies in 
both of these areas make them non-issues.

The main thing about storage is to keep it someplace dry as much as 
possible. That means sitting on cement (with good drainage) instead of 
dirt. The best thing to do with existing rust is to oil it. Thinner motor 
oil works great. It displaces moisture and stops the rust for at least a 
year. The trick is how to squirt or spray it in tight or hidden areas.

I've had mixed success with pinching off brake lines, especially if they 
were rusty. Although you aren't supposed to do this, I've had good success 
with patching in a piece of brake line using compression fittings. The 
trick is to find clean (un-rusted) brake line ahead of and behind the place 
that is leaking. You can get tiny tubing cutters at the hardware store for 
cheap that will allow you to make a clean cut in tight spaces.

I don't know about the window rubber and was also wondering about that for 
my 81.

Cris

At 12:00 PM 7/3/2004, you wrote:
>Message: 17
>Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 23:28:59 -0700
>From: Raffi <flaatr@yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: Car cover / storage in general / lots of questions
>To: "GGehrke" <NavySEAL2B@insightbb.com>,<scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
>Message-ID: <6.0.0.22.2.20040702232348.02d0ea98@pop.mail.yahoo.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
>If you want a good cover I recommend Griot's Garage for the cover... the
>last time I spoke to them they still had a pattern to make a fitted cover
>for our cars http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_2500
>
>Pricey but very good quality. Depending on where you park it you can select
>the type of fabric to use. Mine is parked indoors and has a tan flannel
>cover. It's about 15 years old and was originally made by MG Mitten but
>it's basically the same.
>http://img41.photobucket.com/albums/v126/flaatr/Car%20Cover/Car_Cover_-_01_-_Front.jpg
>
>As far as the rest of your questions... I dunno the answers.
>
>Good luck at school!
>-Raffi
>
>
>
>
>
>At 08:56 PM 7/1/2004, GGehrke wrote:
> >This Sunday my Scirocco is going into storage until Christmas.  I have
> >to go back to school and can't take it with me.  I'm only willing to pay
> >for outside storage, so I need to get a decent car cover for it.  Does
> >anyone have any recommendations?  If I ordered something special online
> >or anything, I could cover it with a tarp for now and have my parents go
> >put it on later.  Can something like that even be ordered from the
> >dealer?
> >
> >Also, general storage tips?  I'm thinking I'll probably drain the fluids
> >and might even go so far as to flood the engine with ATF..  I'd like it
> >to start when I come back - or maybe I should just let it deteriorate
> >and use that as a good excuse to swap a new motor in ;).  Should I put
> >it up on blocks or something?  Any other good measures for saving the
> >tires?  I'll likely pull the battery clear out and most of the interior
> >will be stored in my basement (it's stripped right now, just painted the
> >inside with por-15 today, I'll likely write again on that project
> >tomorrow).  What else should I think about?  Any other good measures for
> >keeping it moisture free?  I have a few holes in the floorboards right
> >now from rust - should I worry about sealing those up with plastic and
> >tape or anything?
> >
> >I'm putting my windows back in tomorrow and reusing the old rubber.
> >It's in good enough shape that it can be used, but is there anything
> >that I can put on it to recondition, preserve and protect the rubber?
> >Any sort of oils or anything?
> >
> >Finally, my drivers side rear brake line is leaking badly under the dash
> >- I think removing rust from it caused it to break.  I'm planning on
> >swapping them out entirely in my next round of modification, so I'm
> >planning to just crimp the line upstream of the leak to get it to the
> >storage yard (it's only like 3 miles).  Any thoughts on this from
> >anyone?
> >
> >Thanks a lot!
> >
> >-Grant-
> >1980 Money Pit
> >Louisville, KY / Annapolis, MD