It was 78° and sunny today as I drove her home from the dealer after getting new aft pads n rotors. About an hours drive, beautiful stretch of highway, and light traffic made it conducive for triple-digits. Stopped at the station to top off the tank, Stabil the gas and add 4-5 psi to each tire. Slowly made my way to the storage garage. Tucked her in, locked and covered her up. I have no juice to in the storage unit so I'll be visiting monthly to fire up those electrics.
All in all a bittersweet day!

 

Put some copper brillo pad pieces in exhaust to keep mice out of mufflers. I worked at a Jag shop and all sorts of things came out of the pipes. Always put start ups in my stall backwards so the brick wall would stop the mice and dog food from shooting across the shop.

 

Getting ready to put mine away this weekend. Wash, gas fill up, stabilizer, dryer sheets, battery tender - the only addition for me is I use Race ramp flat stoppers to get the wheels off the concrete.

Rhode Island winters can be easy or mean. After the first 10+ months of 2020 I am hoping for easy but I'm not sure that's in the cards....

 

Here in western Canada, we seem to be getting longer winters the past few years. Snow came middle of Oct. this year so I parked my XJ8 in the barn, likely until the end of April. I leave windows closed in the event mice get in the building. No stabilizer. I'll charge up the battery a couple of times through the winter.

 

The only thing I would do differently is to put it on blocks if storing for such a prolonged period. (Keeps the weight off the wheel bearings)

 

I'll be storing mine away in a few weeks, but start it and take for a ride every week or so in the winter. I find having it sit for long periods of time without any movement does more harm than good.
Maybe monitor humidity, use some tire pads so you dont get flat spots. I was thinking about raising, but it would be the worst idea if there was ever a fire and you needed to move car out quick. Also, removing insurance is not recommended as most homeowners insurance will not cover cars in garage or building. At the least, get some classic car insurance. I recently switched to Grundy and it is only about $250/yr. Well worth covering car in storage and for recreational driving. I do need to check into storing at another residence (family) as I need to make room for another project car in garage and do not want to have Jag in same garage as sparks may be flying.

 

Filled with non ethanol premium.
maintainer
dryer sheets.
I leave it off blocks
I have a 1/2 mile driveway and when I’m feeling good and the drive is good and packed I’ll start it up and do a few laps.
The performance Toyos basically turn the driveway into a “drifting” track.
I get it out of my system waiting till spring.

 

New set of wheels and snow tires ordered, 303 water repellent applied to convertible top, nearly ready for Cleveland winter.

 

Hi,
our XK is in hibernation and I'll be starting her up and bringing it up to norman operating temperature just to circulate oil in the engine and transmission. I'll be doing this every two weeks.

 

Good advice. I’ve seen several winterized cars become winter hideouts for rodents. One member of this site had a nest in the cabin filter cabinet on his X350. Also saw the engine bay of one guy’s classic car filled with chestnuts thanks to a busy squirrel population.

 

All you guys putting yours in storage, and I'm one week away from heading to Florida for the winter where my 2000 XK8 has been parked in a friend's uncooled garage since early May. Tires are off the concrete, sitting on 1" thick fiberboard pieces coversed with carpet squares. Sta-bil in the tank, tender on the battery, tub of Damped on the floor, windows cracked, paper towels between the wipers and windshield, pedestal fan -- a few feet away aimed at a window -- set to run three times a day for an hour each time. I like the brillo pad in the muffler idea. What's with the dryer sheets?

This setup has worked for two years with no mold/mildew. Any other suggestions welcome.

 

Had boats and cars for decades. Irish Spring soap bars have also been used. It’s always worked to place a Dryer sheet or soap bar in enclosed compartments and mice leave it alone. There are commercially sold products that claim the same results. The point is the fragrance is unappealing and rodents choose another home. This year is especially problematic for mice and our barn cat isn’t keeping up. Trying electronic high frequency generators in the rv. “Happy wife......”

 

You guys need to move south. LOL.

I drive year-round. If the DOT puts down salt or brine for the threat of weather, then I just drive the leased car, but otherwise, anything goes!

You folks who store the cars, I don't care how nice your house/garage is, you should do all you can to keep out the critters (mice).

 

I Mothballed my beautiful 2005 S-type (only 74K miles and is in top condition) last winter for about 4 months. But when warm weather came, I drove my car for 2 miles until I got on a freeway at moderate speed (55 MPH posted sign limit) and suddenly heard a loud BLAM!!!! My front right tire blew out the sidewall! It was so destroyed, I drove on the rim and flopping rubber for another 1/4 mile due to dangerous traffic. MY TIRES WERE TOP OF THE LINE MICHELINS THAT COST $1,000. Tires were 5 years old, but only had 3,000 miles on them. (My Jag is a pampered "girlfriend" I treat gently and I like conserving miles since it is my 2nd car I drive just for pleasure.)
Tire tech said "When you park a car in ONE POSITION for a long period of time, it creates "FLAT SIDING! He added, "Extremes of hot long summers and cold winters of storage with no driving exercise is not healthy for cars. They are made to be driven with some degree of regularity. And the flat side of that one rubber tire couldn't take the fast RPM's of driving and extreme friction and heat blew out the sidewall! He said further, "See all those tiny little hairline cracks along the side walls near the edge of the chrome rim? Cracks are on ALL OF YOUR SIDEWALLS and this is classic dry rot. Do you use TIRE SHINE solvents or Armor All tire cleaners?" I was busted. This guy must be a psychic as I said "yes". He added, "Those harsh solvents dry out the rubber sidewalls, and this is especially bad here in North Carolina with summers in the mid to high 90's F for months on end. Then the cold winters affect the rubber as well."
Bottom line is that I had to throw out ALL FOUR TIRES and buy a whole new set. And what type of tires did I buy this time? Falken tires that cost me about $500 to put on the car. I figure, "Why spend $1,000 when I now average only 800 miles per year on the odometer. RECOMMENDATIONS: I researched internet and found a tire shine solution that is "organic": CASTOR OIL (or even other vegetable based oils) according to internet sources. It's more expensive then tire shine products. A quart of CASTOR OIL cost me about $22, incl. shipping on Amazon. I put this thick oil in a shallow plastic bowl and use a short bristled brush and a cloth rag to rub the oil into the side walls. It doesn't absorb into the rubber easily, so it takes patience and hard rubbing with the rag to cover all the sidewalls. End result is a satin sheen. And the best part? Tires won't get an ugly brown shade that you get with tire solvent deposits like the brand "Tire Shine". In regards to your winter storage prep, the tire tech told me to either drive the car once a week for a half hour, OR for several months of storage, people around here in NC use the redneck method - they remove the tires and wheels from the car and set the entire car on top of concrete cinder blocks under each wheel axle. (I've never done this, so make sure an experienced mechanic helps you store car this way.) I don't want to see anyone else make the same expensive mistake I did with my Michelin tires. My new set of Falken tires are cheap and don't ride as smooth as the better Michelins. But if I ever lose tires due to "FLAT SIDING" again, I won't be out $1,000!

 

Here in Latitude 27 the elements just got right for putting the top down and enjoying the countryside

 

Have others here used tire pads to help with flat-spotting? The vendors claim their products do this, but the pads fit a range of tire diameters, and that makes me wonder whether they really support the tire so much better than a flat surface as to justify the cost.

 

Put my F-Type located in Wisconsin away today as well. Six years old and 13,000 total miles of which 600 were this year. Not a good year for going places (covid). Washed and dried. I put my battery tender on it every two weeks. An old timer (well, a little older than me, anyway) told me gas goes bad in warm weather due to its naptha content but seldom in the cold. He also told me aircraft fuel never goes bad which is impertinent since I don't use that type of fuel. I never investigated either theory to see if they were true. I will use a little stabil. I will change oil and filter in the spring but with full synthetic oil and 600 miles use I wonder if it really needs it??? I move it back and forth in the garage once a month just so the tires don't get flat spots. Threw my cover over it to keep my cat's prints off it and I'm good until next April. That's my annual storage plan.

 

Great tips! This will be the first Winter for my 2 convertibles (XK, F-Type). Can anyone recommend a good solar-based battery maintainer?
Thanks!

 

My tires tend to flat-spot after a week or so anyway, so what's the big deal? After a mile or so of driving they turn out all roundy-round. Course, a quick fix to alleviate that would be worth it.

 

My '07 XK is tucked away for winter in the garage - no rodent issues to worry about (I also have 2 terriers...) but gas tank is full and I have a battery tender hooked up and car cover on. I have the back tires on wheel dollies to shove 'er fat butt over to the wall. I do plan to start 'er up at least monthly to get the engine up to operating temp.