"Moth Balling"

[84 400]

Okay well the first salt has been laid down on the roads here in the north east and that means only one thing! Time for my pride and joy to go away for 3 to 4 months. Her fate is the farther stall in my families garadge marked "dad's side" Even thoughmy dads tahoe thinks that is were it will spend its winter nights i am stealing it from him. I have only owned 3 vehicals in my short life The first was a 1977 dodge power wagon m880 ex military with only 50,000 miles on her 4x4 and no power steering. I know i may sound like a sally but you try driving a 1 and 1/4 ton pickup with no comforts at all. It was fun but not all the time. Then last may i bought a 1985 c10 bone stock 305/700r4 with 114k on her. i have done some body work andsome top end stuff and she drives nice but now i must part with her. This is becase i have finally found my dream truck or the truck i have liked since the age of 5 when i used ride past one on the way to school. the one i saw at 5 was a rust bucket 84 that i just liked. so this past september while on the ebay i found my dream truck and for a little over 2 grand i drove her home from texas!! she is a 1984 c10 with a pro built small block 400 and all of the goddies. the frame as well as the body look freshg out of the factory and the only outside change is the chrome wheels and the tinted windows. There is NO WAY in hell i am letting the salt from this place kill my pride and joy there for, away she will go! Any tips on what to do for this 3 to 4 month storage?? I am new to this site and came from the fullsizechevy.com site so i guess i am new to this site.

Thanks for the help and sorry about the life story

[bigblock73]

Here is what I do when storing a vehicle...in no particular order

1. Wash and wax it.
2. Clean the inside real well, and remove any and all junk that doesn't need to be there (pens, paper, CD's, garbage, etc).
3. flip the visors down (to prevent a nesting spot should rodents make their way inside). Put dryer sheets down under the seats, atop the seats, on the floor...again, to prevent rodents from making your truck their winter home.
4. Fill up the gas tank, and add fuel stabilizer (Stabil).
5. Disconnect the battery, and keep warm if possible (bring it in the house?)
6. Put four "junk" tires/wheels on the truck...or put the truck on jackstands, you don't want to flat spot your good tires do you?
7. Put down plastic or cardboard under the entire truck, to help prevent moisture from seeping up from the concrete and finding a home on your chassis (to prevent rust issues).
8. Cover the truck with a good quality car cover (I use California Car Cover Company covers).


Those are just the main steps I follow when I store my vehicles...have had excellent results.

Good luck, and welcome to the board.

[75stepside]

I couldn't have said it better than jeff...

for my project truck, i am fortunate enough to have it in a heated garage where I can continue to work on it... I dont go as far as to remove the tires, but i do everything else. I start the truck up about once a month an pump the brakes... just to keep everything flowing...

[My '77]

I'm new to the truck thing, but here is what I do with my Corvettes:

Clean vehicle, including the interior.

Change the oil.

Fill the tank. I usually put in some HEAT. I don't use Stabil since today's gas will last at least 6 months.

Inflate the tires adding a few pounds to the recommended pressure. The newer tires do not seem to develop flat spots. If there are any, they go away after they warm up.

Put mothballs around and in the car. I have not tried drier sheets, but may.

I put the battery on a trickle charger/maintainer. Taking it out is probably a good idea a if charger/maintainer is not available.

As far starting during the storage period. I used to run the cars for about 30 minutes but have read recently that it is not a good idea because you cannot really get it warm enough to dry out the exhaust system. I am also concerned about condensation in the oil as the block cools down. Then again, I may just be getting lazy.

Hope this helps.

Dick

[79BIG10]

One more thing that the other guys didn't mention that I did was place rat poison in different areas in the truck. I placed some in the engine bay, interior and under the truck. This way pests don't get in there and start living in the nice warm truck and out of the winter.

[84 400]

Thanks guys. Yeah i don't have a pair of jack stands or crappy tires and money is tight right now. any way here is a pic and one of my old dodge