Rust proofing on winter stored cars

[Mr. Burns]

I've winter stored my e30 since I've owned it.

I've never rust proofed it as its stored in a garage away from salt. it does get very cold in storage however.

Is it worth rust proofing my car IF it's not exposed to the elements? Or am I throwing money away?

[Kevinl]

cold doesn't cause rust seems pointless if its stored in a dry location

[rturbo 930]

Salt causes rust. So unless you salt your garage... don't bother.

[SubDad]

Salt causes rust. So unless you salt your garage... don't bother.

Correction, moisture enables corrosion and salt vastly accelerates it. If the garage gets damp then a layer of oil to keep the moisture off the metal is a good idea. Wax on the paint, oil on the underbody, fresh oil in the engine. ;)

[george graves]

I've heard that filling up the take will prevent rust inside the take (or help with it). Some people say to put it on jack stands to keep the tires from getting a flat spot. Other say that's it bad for the chassis. (not sure who to believe)

I know some of the hot rod/rare car guys use big packs of that silica gel (like the little baggies you find in your box of new shoes) in the interior to soak up moisture. I think you can get it at walmart or the like. It's also used for drying flowers.

[DrJosh]

Put on a set of crap wheels with crap tires to keep from having to worry about flat spots or damage from having the car jacked up for that extended length of time.

[ELVA164]

Flat spots in tires will disappear after a short drive or two, don't worry about them. Unless the tires are regularly below freezing and underinflated, then immediately taken out and beaten on, they'll be fine.

[SubDad]

I've heard that filling up the take will prevent rust inside the take

Umm, I'm sorry, what's a "take".
Silica gel is great if you seal it and that which you want to keep dry from the atmosphere.
My experience is with airplanes and their engines and there are pretty specific instructions for preserving them, as well a a lot of "tribal knowledge."
It all boils down to either cover it with oil or keep it dry. Either separates the metal surface from Moisture Bad Things.
Silica will keep things dry until it's saturated. Aircraft engines in storage will be in fancy plastic bags or metal cans and have bags of silica in view, so that when the silica changes colour due to moisture somebody will know to change or dry the silica, rotate some of the rotate-y bits, re-lube some of the wiggly bits and pack it all away again.
There's a reason that stored airplanes are kept in the desert.
Moisture = Bad, Salt and Moisture = Really F-ing Bad.

[george graves]

take=tank

[SubDad]

take=tank

Oh! Yes, absolutely! A tank full of gas (= oil) will keep the tank from rusting where it's in contact with the tank surface. It will also minimize the vapour space above the fuel, so there's less volume of air to exchange during daily thermal cycling. The air space in the tank exhales warm vapour in the day only to draw in cold Moisture-laden air at night. Some Moisture drawn in will condense and settle at the bottom of the tank, there to produce rust until you start the engine in spring and it takes a big hearty gulp of nice fresh water. The rest of the vapour above the fuel condenses on the tank walls and rots the tank from the inside out. Yeah!
Have I beaten the Moisture = Very, Very Bad Stuff drum long and hard enough?

Suspension? Tires? Just roll the car around a bit once a month. It's just winter, not eternity.
In fact, you'd probably be OK to just park the car in November like you were going to be back in 5 minutes, not 5 months.

[Mr. Burns]

Thanks for the very concise explanation Subdad!
The garage is neither temp or moisture controlled, and based just on that I believe it would be worth the investment to get the car rust proofed. Apointment for 1145 today

[dirtbag30]

all ive done when storing my car is make sure to do the following

fill up the tank with ethanol free gas

fill tires to 40 psi

disconnect battery

change oil

wash/wax it.

[Exodus_2pt0]

I spray my undercarriage down with a mix of used diesel oil and diesel fuel during the winter months. That said, I have a pretty much unlimited supply of the stuff when doing services at work.

If my car were sitting in a salt free and dry garage, I would just let it sit. Maybe throw a cover on it but that's because I'd be more concerned about the paint being damaged while stuff gets piled around the car.

[rturbo 930]

You could always get one of these: www.carcoonusa.com/

[TobyB]

'rustproofing' is usually a rip- off.

Unless it's an 'open up the car, spray the lower seams from the inside with
body cavity wax, and let it drip' job.

Which you can do yourself.

The holes that Rusty Jones (now out of business because it didn't work) drilled in everyone's
rockers actually could do more harm than good...

For storing? Go out, fill the tank, drive it into the garage, change the oil,
start it once to get the oil flowing, and you're done.
For pulling back out? Change the brake fluid and coolant (yes, it's overkill, but it's
cheap, and then you never wonder if you did it last year or the year before)
and then drive it around the block a few times to warm it up.

Then go play.

Seems to work for me, when I remember to do it...

t