Storing a car

[Dragonheart]

Anyone ever stored a car for a good long time? When I head, I was planning on leaving the car with Drew but theres no room in his place at the moment so going to store it in herselves place in the spare garage. It'll be getting started every so often and left running for a while to keep the battery ticking and everything running smoothly. But what else should I look to do? How long is it before things start to seize or once its indoors is it safe enough? See I'm going to try again to bring her over with me but want to suss it out from New Zealand as I can ask the people in the authorities there and not being getting different answers from different angles about it. And if I can bring her over then I will in a few months. But storing is the option for the time being anyway.

[gfalls]

Some good advice here http://www.ehow.com/how_14375_prepare-car-long.html

[Dragonheart]

Nice one gfalls, cheers.

[d_dan]

paintwork is another thing.
youll eed somone to take the car out and clean it too

[Dragonheart]

paintwork is another thing.
youll eed somone to take the car out and clean it too

Was wondering that ya, I'll def give it a few coats of wax before storing anyway but would it still need to be done while under covers?

[Bernard]

Make sure you get a good cover, and put a few towels or similar under it to soak condensation.

[Kace]

Why would you go to the bother of bringing it to New Zealand - there's oceans of them over there and they are as cheap as chips with a weak NZ dollar.

Surely it would cost you most of the price of a new one just to ship it that distance.

[Dragonheart]

Cause the ones in New Zealand that I've seen for sale are nothing like the one I have now. I've seen no facelift, nearly all are older than '96, and all bog standard. Its not about the cost its about personal taste, the car I have now has everything I want in a car and I'd only be trying to duplicate it anyway so no it wouldnt be cheaper to buy one over, plus I know this car, I know exactly whats gone into it, and everything thats been done to it.
I paid 300 euro to ship her from Japan too so cost of shipping isnt bad.

[Kace]

True then alright -if you can get it shipped for €300 then that's a real bargain. I didn't think it was that cheap.

My mother had a number of boxes shipped to NZ there recently and I think it cost her something mad like €800 to get them there. They weren't the size or weight of a car either.

Australia is another viable option for newer well maintained enthusiast machines.

[Sebastian]

have a bit of a read MJ some good tips there

http://www.ftooc.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=99915


http://www.car-cover-uk.com/tailored%20 ... ar%20Cover
http://www.carcoversuk.com/specialised-carcovers.htm

[mark]

I know petrol goes off after a while, something to consider as well. I'm not sure how long, could be a few months. I put the RX7 in storage for a month when I was in Peru and it started first time. (thats ony a month though!)

[Dragonheart]

Thanks for the advice lads.
@ Seb, nice one I'll have a read through them.
@ Kace, I got the same quote for shipping boxes, 3 boxes each one a m³, and E800 was the quote I got, cars are also supposed to be priced down to the cubic capacity which the FTO is 9.8m³, dont know why its cheaper to ship a vehicle, maybe its a different vessel taking it or something I dont know.
@ Mark, I didnt realise the petrol went off, thought it was better to leave it in there to make sure she started and that if she ran out the person taking care of her wouldnt just bother not to refill and so not start her again. Damn Ill have to look into that one.

[CJ]

@ Mark, I didnt realise the petrol went off, thought it was better to leave it in there to make sure she started and that if she ran out the person taking care of her wouldnt just bother not to refill and so not start her again. Damn Ill have to look into that one.

Petrol doesn't go off as such but its octane rating drops as it ages. You'll be fine to leave it in the tank and use it if its just going to be for starting the car every so often.

I would suggest jacking the car up every few months and rotating the wheels. to avoid flat-spots and trye cracking. As per others, keep it under a cover.

CJ

[mark]

I'd leave about 1/4 tank in, then fill up with new stuff when you take it back on the road. Stick a few octane boosters in as well for good measure. There is an issue with condensation building up in the tank over time and evaporation as well. Not sure about Bio fuels like E5, they could be worse! I'll find out.
Read here for some other opinions.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 041AAmyoCp
http://forum.pulsar.org.au/archive/inde ... 56194.html
Worse if you have a lawn mower or classic car!