Classic car storage

[Fraser64]

Any info or recommendations on classic car storage? I am moving with a new job from the UK to Saudi and would like to store my Spitfire to use when I come back here.

What kind of things should I be doing with the car?

Any recommendations on storage facilities?

 

Thanks.

[rlubikey]

A dehumidifier!!!

 

Richard

[mishmosh]

Up on axle stands. Weight off tyres. Wedge the clutch pedal down. Minimum fuel as it goes off. Dehumidifier if poss. Wax the paint. Vaseline is good too on chrome. Leave hood up and keep birds and mice out. Set mouse traps. Change for fresh oil.

[dougbgt6]

I had a mouse problem in a garage, I couldn't clear the corpses out the traps fast enough! Yuk.  I eventually got some electronic sonic mouse repelers  from Robert Dyas. Very effective, never another body in the traps again.

[JohnD]

The question of 'winter layup' or storage is an old one, and has the same answers, all of which are in mishmosh's post, but there are more.

Search for that here and elsewhere.

 

John

[Pete Lewis]

Check the antifreeze %

 

Disconnect battery, and being unsued it probably wont last anyway

 

if you dont have a dehumidifier keep some ventilation open

 

Blow up tyres to 35psi

 

Car cover , lightweight or full proofed soft lined

 

oil the trunnions and grease elswhere

 

leave handbrake off

 

the list can get endless, so pick what suits

[AndyCrews]

Drat. Have got mice in garage again. Time to get more traps down.

 

Andy

[JohnD]

Or a cat.  Or two - one of them may not be a hunter.

 

When  we aquired our two, thery were kept in fopr two weeks to get to know the house.

During that time, they caught at least six mice.  Without going out.

Lock one in your garage overnight and the mice will be gone!

 

John

[Chris A]

Be careful using cats to catch mice.

We live in a semi rural area and have cats who love catching mice outside, then bring them in (alive) put them down while they go and eat and then look surprised that the mouse has slipped away while they weren't looking.  We keep a jar handy so I can also play 'hunt the mouse'

[JohnD]

Rather than a jar, a length of black plastic tubing, 1-2" OD, is an excellent mouse catcher!

Tape up one end, put the other down near to the rodent - it thinks it's an escape tunnel and runs inside.

Simples!

 

But any way, do you not negotiate with your cats?

First, speak Cat.   Understand what they are saying as they come in with it, that's different from the usual cry.   miphphrnt fum ver uerzal ghrump because they have a mouse in the mouth

Then, thank you Tiddles, well done, now take it outside to eat it, open the outside door, close the kitchen door.

And they do, often with grumbles about most people being pleased with their vermin control measures, what's the world coming to, Rights for Rodents next?

You have to realise that this is a cat, not a slobbery, obsequious dog who will lie down and roll over if you give them a biscuit.  This is a cat, an equal in intellect and understanding, although they take the same view of us as we do of dogs.

 

But I digress.  

John

[Chris A]

Hi John D

Like the tip about the tube might give it a try. As for "asking" the cat to take their find outside - with one of our cats it works ok but the other, being younger, is still more of a rebel.

I do complement the cat on the quality of their work, would hate them to feel unappreciated.

 

Then there are the other 2 cats - 1 comes in from time to time just to catch up with the news and make sure we are ok, the other visits for winter, the rest of the year lives & works at a  stable just beyond the field outside the garden.

 

Dogs have masters, cats have domestics.

 

Right I better go and see if the little darlings are comfy and warm enough