Dayton Daily News

Daylight Savings time is over, it's frosty in the morning, and in all likelihood, it's time to put your ride away for the winter. But to make sure your car emerges in the spring ready to go, you still need to spend some more quality time with it.

The following list of things to do is culled from the editors of Car Collector magazine and John Twist, an internationally recognized sports car mechanic and restorer from Ada, Mich.

1. Fill the tank with fuel, and add some fuel stabilizer, which will keep moisture at bay during the long winter.

2. Under the hood, change the oil and filter and check the antifreeze. A 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water should provide protection to minus 32 degrees F. Check the hoses for cracks and top off the master cylinder.

3. Wash the car, and make sure to wash the convertible top. Rinse the undercarriage and the wheel wells to remove the loose road grime. Now give the car a good coat of wax.

4. Clean the entire interior of the car, vacuum, wipe down and clean windows. Then apply a vinyl or leather treatment to keep the material lubricated. Be sure to clean the doorjambs and other out-of-the-way areas where dirt collects. You can also apply rubber/vinyl treatment to the rubber seals to keep them soft.

5. Check tire pressure and inflate to correct pressure. Apply tire dressing to keep them from drying out and cracking.

6. Start the car and let it run until it's fully warmed up and everything is dry.

7. You can now put duct tape over the exhaust pipe to keep mice and chipmunks out of the exhaust. Close all the windows and vents, and put a couple of pouches of silica gel on the floor to absorb moisture. You can also place a tray of mothballs on the floor to keep the animals out.

8. Remove the battery or hook up a trickle charger to keep the battery charged all winter. If you remove the battery, store it on a block of wood or on a shelf, never letting it sit on concrete.

9. Park the car, with the emergency brake OFF and chock the wheels so it won't roll. Put the car cover on and make sure it's a cloth cover that breathes. Don't use plastic; it traps

moisture.

Optional tips

If you're storing the car on a dirt or gravel floor, park it on a sheet of plastic to keep moisture from getting to the car. The same is true on concrete. Some people choose to store the car on jack stands. If you do, use the rear axle and the front suspension points so the suspension is not fully extended all winter. You can also shoot some oil into each cylinder if you want and a quick spray of WD-40 on the throttle linkage and other cables will keep surface rust at bay.

To really keep the engine bay looking nice, spray WD-40 all over the entire engine. It sounds weird, but I know people who do this, and it wipes right off in the spring and there is no surface rust under the hood from moisture.

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