Well, I finnally found a non-heated garage to store my silvia in for the winter and I have a few question hopefully you guys can help me out with.
I have a light duty car cover allready, and I plan on putting it up on blocks. Other than that what should I do? I have heard it is better to both store an empty gas tank and a full one. Should I dump in some fuel system antifreeze now or in spring? I will disconect the battery. Should I do an oil change now or next spring? will putting moth balls under the car and around the inside of the garage help prevent mice? Please share some advice with me! It’s my first time I have had 2 cars and stored one so I imagine I am forgetting some stuff too.
Thanks!
Fill the tank FULL to prevent rust. Change the oil now. Disconnect and remove the battery. Pull the spark plugs and put some oil in the cylinders to keep the seals lubed. Mothballs or bars of soap will help prevent mice. Wash the car but DRY DRY DRY it thoroughly.
Keep the battery on hand and run the car for at least 15 minutes once a month to keep the seals lubed.
Go to Canadian tire and get yourself a bottle of Stabil fuel stabilizer. Over time, fuel breaks down and gums up parts of your fuel system, so make sure you add that to prevent this. Also add some gas line anti-freeze to prevent excess condensation inside the tank.
If the car is on blocks, it’s unlikely that mice would be able to get into anywhere significant in the car. Mothballs will not prevent mice from getting to your car - the best bet would be to set traps around the car and check them every time you go look it over.
That covers most of the basics - there is plenty more that can be done to your car for minor things, but the majors are making sure the fuel is sorted out and the oil is clean for the winter season.
Pretty much like they said:
-Fuel Stabilizer (read instructions)
-Full tank of gas
-Change oil now (run car of course first)
-Car on blocks and remove wheels. The weight from the wheels can put stress on your other suspension components.
-Mothballs around the blocks
-If the garage will be getting cold (below freezing), fire in some antifreeze.
-Oil in cylinders.
This is how I’ve been storing my car, and works fine.
There is one area up for debate, which is to run the motor for 15min a month. It is said that that really doesn’t do much because the motor must be under load (driving for 15min) in order for all the seals to get worked. My personal opinion is to just not start it at all. This is an area up for debate.
Yeah some people like to start the car, some people don’t. I say dont start the car. When there is no oil in your engine, it causes a shitload of wear compared to normal driving. In this case, all your oil has seeped entireley into your oil pan. As long as you put oil in the cylinders you should be fine. It’s the method used at most car museums.
What’s the reasoning behind putting the car on blocks rather than switching back to stock suspension and wheels?
Also what is the resoning behind doing an oil change before storage instead of after?
Cool, thanks guys…I think that covers everything!
As far as Z3NK1, If you have the stock suspension and wheels, then the only thing left to woory about while it sits there all winter would be the bushings. In my opinion anyway! But not all of us have those parts sitting around.
But the frame isn’t designed to hold the weight of the car on the spots the block are supporting? I don’t see why it’d be a better option than letting it sit on it’s wheels.
How would dirty oil affect the motor during storage? I’d prefer to have a fresh oil change first thing when it comes out.
Fuel tank being full brings up an interesting point though…never thought about rust being in there.
I see what you mean…interesting point. I have no answer to that.
And as far as the oil change goes…as long as the oil will not break down within the winter months then it should be the same thing as having fresh oil in it when spring comes. I would guess that new oil would do a better job of lubing up the seals and moving parts over the winter so when you start it up again in spring it’s not completely dry. again…just a guess!
If your worried about it, change the oil before and after storage and you can’t go wrong. I would agree that changing it before storage would be your best bet tho.
Actually the reason you do an oil change before you store the car is because dirty oil has contaminants in it, a few of which are corrosive. So, don’t bother changing the oil if you want your oil to corrode the inside of your oil pan all winter. 
Plus it makes good sense - then when you drive the car out in the spring, you’re ready to go down the road without worrying about your oil having to be changed. Imagine if you forget a change is required and run your car hard on old oil…ugh.
And as for the tires, the main reason you put the car up on blocks is so the tires won’t develop bulges where the car is sititng on them. Remember, in most cases the car won’t be moving for several months, so the pressure of the car pushing down on the structure of the tire bends it very slowly and eventually you’ll end up with a tire that will vibrate your ass off on the highway. Just do a search on google for car winter storage. I’ve read a number of them from car & driver/motortrend and the like, and they all recommended oil changes and blocking the car.
I have mine sitting on shit storage tires anyhow, they’re bald and serve no other purpose lol.
I can understand not wanting to have your car on good tires, but if people arent having chassis problems with the car on block, sounds like a good idea.
Where are the contaminants in the oil coming from? The engine shouldn’t really be producing any corrosive contaminants unless weird shit is being added to the oil. I’m not second guessing you, just wondering why. If you don’t feel like answering I’ll just google it later lol.
No man, it’s ok. Contaminants can be introduced into the oil through a number of different ways, but the ones that are most relevant to us are though tiny amounts of unburned fuel and exhaust gases that work their way into the oil itself. These contaminants mix in the oil and can form acidic compounds that can negatively affect your engine’s life and performance. Cars that do a lot of idling, police cars are a great example, contaminate their oil much faster than ones that don’t, so that’s why your owners manual will consider excessive idling under the severe service schedule.
Sorry, it’s been so long since I read that actual technical knowhow behind storing the vehicle so I can’t offer a more complete description, but your Googleation should yield some answers.
Leaving your car on bald or shitty tires is just fine, the only reason I ever read to block the car is to protect the tires on it, not anything to do with the suspension.
I agree with the above points.
A lot of it is also piece of mind.
This is some good info, going to sticky it. 
Werd, thx for the info Kris!
I guess I’ll change my oil…probably leave same filter on though
That’s pretty much what I was thinking. I could be wrong on this but also the suspension isn’t desined to have the weight of the wheels hanging on the suspension pulling it down. For most vehicles that never get parked for the winter they still have the weight on the wheels all the time. I don’t see it being an issue. Also if you park your car outside NEVER use a tarp. The wind will shred it apart and rub the paint off as well.
can anyone explain the oil in the cylinders more briefly?
is it just removing the spark plugs and putting a few drops of oil on the threads of the plug and twisting them back in?
Stops rust from forming around your piston rings. Fogging oil does the same thing but is alot more expensive.
It would be squirting a little oil into the sparkplug hole, or into the cylinder, not the threads of the spark plug! Helps to keep the piston rings lubed when you crank it over next spring. Dry piston rings during start up is the number one cause of cylinder wear I have heard.
I read about 7 different articles and these 2 seem to sum it all up. The first one is actually from popularmechanics magazine.