Last weekend I put the D in storage. I live in the Midwest, and don’t plan to drive the car in the winter. The car got put away on November 18th, and I don’t plan to take it out until maybe the St. Patrick’s Day parade. So it will be in storage for right around four months.
My townhouse only has a single car garage which the D resides in. Since I don’t plant to drive the D in the winter, I wanted to free up the garage for my daily driver. A family friend had an extra spot in their garage that they’ve rented to a corvette owner before, so I decided to store the D with them.
There are many thoughts on how a car should be stored. This topic always comes up on the DML and DMCTalk.com. Most recently, I got some information from this thread. The thought of draining the fuel tank was something I wanted to do, but I didn’t have the tools or the time. So opted to buy some fuel stabilizer. The bottle said it treated up to 25 gallons, and I think the D’s tank is 13 gallons. Regular dosage lasts 12 months, and doubling the dosage makes the gas 24 months, so I just added the whole bottle, and filled up the tank with fresh gas. This should prevent anything in the fuel system from drying out.
I didn’t put the D on jack stands. I’m hoping to maybe drive it once midway through the months I plan to store it. This should eliminate the possibility of flat spots on the tires, and circulate the fluids. I removed the battery, and will keep it in my basement (If my daily driver’s battery ever dies, I’ve got a spare!).
The garage it’s being stored in is crammed with junk… makes me a little nervous. I don’t have a cover for it right now, but I plan to buy one, and also put some padding over it. Lastly, the owner of the garage says mice and other vermin are a common problem. I bought a box of moth balls and placed four plastic plates of them under the car. I also put moth balls in the trunk, and left the open box on the center console. Even if the smell fills the garage, and sticks with the car, it’s better than mice making a home in my car and chewing up the wires.
I still need to call my insurance company and see if I can suspend coverage, but keep some kind of storage insurance on the car. It might be easier to just leave everything as is.
That’s it. Sleep well, D.
Costs:
Sta-bil fuel stabilizer: $5? at Target
Moth Balls: $4? at Home Depot