Every night when you come home and pull into your driveway you take a long look at your brand new convertible. This is your dream car. You scrimped and saved for a long time to get it and it is your pride and joy. It purrs like a kitten and you really enjoy driving it. In short, it is a dream come true.

But winter is coming and you don't want to use your dream car in the snow where it will be subjected to road salt and chemicals that will, literally, eat it alive. So you want to store it for the winter and have it ready for spring.  There is no room in the garage for your “baby”, winter car, and all the winter essentials like snow blower, shovels, hockey equipment etc.  Dents and scratches soon appear unexpectedly on your precious car, and the winter car gets stuck outside in the cold and snow.

Classic car enthusiasts usually go through a driving season of four to six months and then store the car for six to eight months, all depends on what mother nature decides to give us for weather. Maybe you have a home in or around Winnipeg for the summer and move south for the winter and have a car at each location that sits while you are away, you have to go away for a few months on business, or are in the military and have been called overseas and can't take your car. Whatever the reason is, winter or summer or what kind of vehicle you have, you need to store your vehicle as inexpensively as possible, with the minimum of deterioration and yet be able to put it back on the road with little or no muss or fuss.

Newer Sports cars, Vintage and Veteran cars, as well as contemporary classics including those purchased for investment purposes, all benefit from the Rockwood Constant Services.

Whether you have a fleet of vans or you've just hauled your boat out of the water, camper back from the lake, we have a parking spot for your vehicles when you don't.

Long-term storage, in my opinion, is anything over a month. In 30 days, lots of things can start going wrong if you don't store a car right. Modern cars have their own problems since they can run a healthy battery down in less than a week sometimes with all the memory functions that have to keep going if you don't disconnect the battery. During winter storage, or any period of storage, it can take a toll on your vehicle unless you take some precautions to protect it while it sleeps. You can protect your vehicle from rust, animals and other storage headaches with just a little extra work. Here are some storage tips:
 

1. Get it out of the elements! No amount of precautions will protect a car that is stored outside where the sun, rain, or snow will beat on it day in and day out.

2. Purchase a breathable cloth car cover. (Plastic covers will trap condensation and provide a fertile breeding ground for rust.)

3. Store convertibles with the top up. Convertible tops can actually shrink if they are left in the down position for an extended period of time.

4. Make sure you get the under body of the car as clean as possible as well, especially the wheel well areas. The dirt will hold moisture and will combine with air and cause the iron and steel parts of your car to rust and rot.

5. Do not apply emergency brake.

6. It is better to let a car sit for months than to run it once a week for a few minutes. The reason is that you can't get the engine and other drive train parts warmed up enough to do any good and you will create condensation in the crankcase and exhausts that will help kill your car.

7. Give your car a bath and good coat of wax including chrome trim before storage.

8. Clean the interior using an appropriate treatment. For example: vinyl cleaning methods, carpet shampooing (must be completely dry before storage to prevent moisture problems), chrome detailing waxing, glass cleaning, apply vinyl dressing to weather-stripping.

9. Leave windows cracked just a little to let some air circulate and let window seals relax so they seal better in the spring.

10. Remove important papers from the car/glove box. Try to leave the HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) system in OFF mode.

11. Give the car a good run and get it fully warmed up right before storage.

12. Fresh fluids at this point are a good idea. Oil and filter, anti-freeze, power steering fluid, transmission fluid and brake fluid should all be changed right before storage. A week or two before storage is OK except the oil, make that as fresh as possible. Dirty oil is contaminated with acids and water that can cause premature bearing failure and rust inside the engine. Freezing temperatures naturally dictate that anti-freeze be used. But even if it's not freezing, put it in. Many of the newer 'coolants' have excellent corrosion inhibitors that will help protect and lubricate your cooling system. A 50/50 anti-freeze/water mix is fine. Again make sure to run the car so it's mixed throughout the entire system. Lubricate all chassis fittings, door locks, hinges and latches.

13. Fill the gas tank before storing with fresh quality fuel. If you drive your car so little that last years gas is still mostly in the tank, then siphon it off and use it in the lawn mower or dispose of properly! Fresh gas will last a full year if kept at a fairly stable temperature below 80 degrees. This will reduce the amount of water that can be absorbed by the gasoline and it also slows the rate at which it turns to varnish. Use a fuel additive. Make sure it's well mixed and run the car for a while to make sure it's in the entire fuel system.

14. To inhibit rust in the engine area, use a lubricant spray such as WD40 to coat all exposed metal surfaces. The volatile carrier in the WD40 will soon evaporate leaving a protective film on the hose clamps, coils, carb bodies etc. 'Wax-oyl' is also good, but you'll want to hose it off at a 'car wash' in the Spring.

15. Tires can be slightly over inflated to prevent flat spots.