Long term storage-Myths??

Posted by fredkanter On 2016/12/9 14:13:16

I like to give advice or opinion from my own experience rather than what I've heard over the last 56 years. We've owned hundreds of cars, some as long as 53 years and some good running cars stored without running or being turned over for 45 years.

In that time we've awakened perhaps 40 cars from long term unheated storage and have never "prepared" them for such. We in tend to use them "soon" but then another purchase comes along and soon can be 20/30/40 years.

No oil in the cylinders, no putting on blocks, no draining of cooling system and often the battery is left in. Of all the cars only a 56 Facel had a really stuck engine, we bought it in '66 and drove it occasionally until '70. Upon disassembly we found a leaking head gasket that caused a piston/rings to seize in a cylinder, with the amount of damage I don't think a few ounces in the cylinder would have prevented it.

We reawakend 2 cars recently, '55 Patrician and '55 Caribbean after about 40 years without being run. Carbs got new accel pumps and gaskets, new plugs, points either replaced or just filed, oil changed, anti-freeze changed. A few ounces of oil in each cylinder, wait a few days and turned them over from the vibration damper bolt.

They started and ran fine after carb adjustments.

Brake hydraulic systems rebuilt, now they run, drive and stop as good as new.

Given our experience we will not do anything differently in the future except drain the new ethanol mix gasoline which erodes the tanks. We consider all the other advice, tips and "must do's" to be myths