I am garaging it for the winter. I live in Pa. So there is snow and moisture, and its not a heated garage. What all do I got to do?

 

Your are not going to drive it at all?

I live in PA and I'm basically doing the same, but I will drive it during clear days if the road is salt free. I don't think I could quit cold turkey!

Anyway - depends on how maniacal you want to go. Me, I've washed and waxed it, threw in some dissecant packs I had laying around, and put the battery on a battery tender. That's all the farther I'll go.

 

I store my TVR in a semi heated garage. Only heated when I'm in there. This is what I would do.

1. Wash and Wax it. Clean your interior.
2. Remove all food sources (i.e. grass seed, etc. from the garage). Do not put decon in the car, if at all put it away from the car in the garage. You don't want to attract rodents to the car at all.
3. Check all your fluids, add whatever might be needed.
4. Drive to the parts store and get some stable (a cover and oil which I'll get to in a minute), drive to the gas station fill up the tank and add the stable. Drive home the long way or at least 10 miles or so to ensure that the stable reached up to the injectors so you don't have any gas going to pot.
5. While at the gas station inflate your tires 5 or so psi over normal to deal with any loss. More if you have tires that leak a bit over time.
6. When you get home I'd change the oil. Your oil will absorb deposits which can corrode the engine while it sits (water for example). I would change it now and then not right away in the spring. Some change it now and when they pull the car out. With syth. assuming that is what you use then I wouldn't be nearly as concerned with the time frame. With my TVR I put in some good cheap conv. oil in it in fall and spring.
7. Park it put a trickle float charger on it. I'm a fan of Battery tenders but there are other brands. Get a good one and you'll have it for years with little worry over any "trouble" overcharging or worse.
8. Put a cover on it. A cheap $30 cover would be fine as it is there just to keep dust off it and you and the junk you're carrying away from it.
9. Possibly you may want to shoot a little wd-40 on the brake discs but I'm very leary about recommending this as it isn't good for the pads, esp. if you forget about it in the spring and try to stop.

Check on it periodically but DO NOT START IT, as always idiling a car from cold is bad, idling a car long enough to burn everything out of the exhaust (i.e. water vapors) would need to be well over 30 minutes in the winter. There is no point so why do it.

Now I'm assuming come Marchish you'll be driving it right? My rule of thumb is for under 6 months I don't put any oil in the plug holes, over I drop a bit in the top of the cylinder to ensure it all hasn't sank down to the sump. Really with modern cars and oils this shouldn't be an issue.

My TVR has been in the garage for 2 weeks now, just gave the XJR its final wax until the weather starts turning today.

 

Very nice list benebob, but definitely NO spraying products of any type on the rotor surfaces! Here's more discussion on the topic

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=44587

 

Can 't say I agree with ya. Have been doing it for years out of a nasty bill come spring on an SVX I owned but as I stated I can't say I recommend it for safety reasons. If done right it is very advisable to prevent rust there. If done wrong it will cause problems. Hell, if I let my XJR with Brembo Cryogenically treated rotors sit for 3 weeks I'd be buying new rotors and pads. The Chinese crap on the X type I could leave in water for all winter with no ill effect.

 

As pointed out in the link, if you've got that much corrosion on the rotors, you've got the car stored in the wrong spot.

 

I'll ship mine to southern California then eh? Joking aside, I'm in the UK and as Ben says, the Brembos' rust after a shower, never mind being left for 3 weeks, I'm about to put mine away for the winter, I'm using a liquid rust treatment called Kurust from Hammerite. It's like very thin milk to look at, once a light coat is applied to an oxidized area, it turns blue/black...stops rust dead. I've tested it prior to doing all four rotors, on the rear two and after driving less than 100 yards, I'm back to metal. I'm guessing a quick brake check from 70mph would burn off any residue. Maybe worth looking for a similar product your side of the pond.

 

Ah but I'm a realist, cars are for driving, not sitting in a museum... You park where you can. In an ideal world that would be a climate controlled garage but he didn't say he had access to one so I am simply answering his question given what was stated. FTR my garage does not have a moisture issue and rotors still rusted so badly they needed replaced. I even have a dehumidifier in there which rarely runs during the winter.

Properly done WD is the lesser of 2 evils. At least I didn't suggest he wash it with some white gas mixed in there or filling his rockers with some gear oil. Both of which are very effective as keeping the tin bug away. It takes some time to master and I wouldn't suggest someone try it on a "valuable" car until they are confident on their methods. My X does get this treatment on its underside when winter approaches. Just don't tell the tree huggers.

 

My S-type rotors gets visible rust spots on the surface after any rain. That happens because

1) the wheels are open and allows the rain through

2) we can see what's happened- because the wheels are open.

What about all the unpreserved surfaces you CAN'T see? Again choosing a suitable parking spot is critical or taking advantage of other strategies to reduce humidity for the entire car is not that difficult.

The idea of contaminating brake pads with some petroleum product scares the cr*p out of me.

 

So tell me then what can I do that I'm not as a completely dry garage still results in rusty rotors in the spring? Keeping my dehumidifier set at 35 percent (driest setting) does not help. Garage is dry as a bone, even my vintage Jap cycle tanks don't have an issue with the garage. My solution is safe (if done right), time tested and cheap.

The idea of replacing rotors every year scares the crap out of my wallet. Pads are much cheaper even if you do contaminate them. I have never but as I stated it is possible. Once you have a contaminated set you just need to put 'em on when you put it away. If you have an old set you can simply put them on and remove 'em in the spring. It isn't all that hard to do. Better yet, you can simply remove the pads entirely. I wouldn't because there is always the chance I might need to move the car.

Most other surfaces unlike rotors are coated with rust protective surfaces. Cars rust in Arizona, just slower so there is no real good solution. It is a fact of life so long as cars are made with materials which rust or corrode. There is no fountain of youth for your ride either.

 

I honestly don't know what's 'wrong' with your rotors that causes them to corrode and be rendered scrap so easily. I can assure you that unprotected plain steel will not corrode in 40% relative humidity or less, so there's something strange going on in your case. Humidifers usually don't work in ambient temps of less than 10*C so that might contribute.

 

If you really are not going to drive the car one bit during the winter, and are at the "rust crossroads" between letting them be and rust up or treating them with something and possibly ruining the pads and/or introducing the grille to your local oak tree during your spring warm up run, then just take them off the car.

Store them inside your house, maybe with your wife's "special occasion only" china. She won't care, it will add some bling to your china cabinet.

Make sure you tie your car keys to the rotors, to serve as a reminder that you have a little work to do before you fire it up for the shakedown run to WaWa.

 

I would concur... I've stored my Dodge 600 in the garage right next to my daily driver for a great many years. The garage is insulated and sheetrocked but does get cold. That said, it actually fluctuates from freezing to above freezing from the heat radiated from the warm daily driver. Also, the salt and snow melts off the daily driver right next to the Dodge. It has never had any rust issues and I don't do a thing to it to store it. I only keep a "battery tender" on it since an anual battery replacement was starting to get pricey. My rotors are shiney at the pad contact area and look normal around the hub. So, from my actual experience, "just leave it alone" works the best.

 

What about the parking brake. I heard a guy went the winter without driving his car and the parking brake locked his brake pads to the rotors and had to replace the two.

Is there a way to disengage it.

 

The pesky thing may seize off or on, but to command it off (is this not a sticky?):
hold paddle down, keep foot on brake, remove key