Paul Brand: A few simple steps to store a car for winter

Well, I guess I've put this off as long as I can: It's time to put your "baby" away for the winter. Whether it's your favorite car, motorcycle, boat, watercraft, lawn tractor, chain saw or weed whacker, if it's got an internal combustion engine, spend a few minutes preparing it for long-term parking over the winter. Remember, the simple steps to winterize your equipment now will pay dividends in the spring when it fires up on the first pull or turn of the key.

Over three decades of Minnesota winters, I've refined the steps I follow to prepare my stuff for winter. From the early years of major, daylong efforts that included everything from removing spark plugs to fog cylinders to jacking the vehicle up, placing it on jack stands and lowering tire pressures, to what now is a very simple process of "pickling" my equipment so it's ready for service next spring.

Start with a full tank of nonoxygenated fuel. Check the Minnesota Street Rod Association Web page (www.msra.com) for the list of stations in the state that offer nonoxy fuel. Generally, this is a premium octane gasoline that may be a bit higher octane than the engine calls for, but is your only option for pure gasoline without ethanol -- a better choice for fuel that's going to sit all winter. Add an appropriate amount of SeaFoam to the gas, roughly 2 ounces per gallon, to stabilize, demoisturize and keep the fuel fresh until spring.

Make sure all scheduled maintenance is up to date. Oil/filter changes, cooling system flushes, transmission service, brake fluid changes, air, fuel and PCV filters -- if it's close to the mileage or time for any of those services, do them before parking the vehicle for the winter. It's far better to remove acids, moisture, fuel and other soluble contaminants from the crankcase by changing the oil now, rather than leaving them in the oil to slowly eat away at expensive engine parts. I'm told -- but can't confirm -- that on a very quiet winter evening you can actually hear this occurring if you listen closely under the hood.

If the vehicle will be parked on dirt, wood or concrete -- all of which attract moisture -- park the vehicle on top of a plastic drop cloth to help prevent condensation on the undercarriage, and spray exposed metal components like brake rotors and drums with a light lubricant or preservative like Deep Creep to minimize rust.

Don't worry; this will burn off upon first brake application next spring. If you're worried about it, clean these components with an aerosol brake cleaner before you head out for the first time next year.

And don't worry about modern tires, either. They won't take a permanent "set" or flat spot from sitting all winter. Just make sure they're aired up a bit above normal so any minor leakdown won't leave them flat next spring.

For the battery, you've got three choices:

•Remove it from the vehicle, keep it in a warmer environment like the garage or basement, and charge it periodically to keep it topped up.

•Leave it in the vehicle but disconnect the positive cable and remember to hook up your battery charger periodically to keep it fully charged.

•Leave it hooked up in the vehicle and start the engine once a month or so to keep it charged.

Speaking of starting the vehicle during the winter: For the engine, transmission and the rest of the drivetrain, there's no benefit at all. In fact, each cold start takes a little something out of the components. With that said, there's no serious harm in starting the engine periodically; just make sure you run it long enough to reach full operating temperature to evaporate any moisture, acids and combustion byproducts produced by the cold start. Obviously, make sure you back the vehicle out of the garage when doing so to avoid any carbon monoxide buildup.

If you do decide to start and warm up the vehicle, turn the heater on high to fully warm the cabin. Then, with everything up to full temperature, switch to A/C to operate the air conditioning through several compressor cycles to circulate and distribute the compressor lubricant carried through the system by the refrigerant.

Drop a handful of dryer sheets on the floor, seats, dash and rear deck in the cabin, in the trunk and even under the hood to discourage furry little visitors taking up residence over the winter. Leave the vehicle clean and dry, with the windows cracked open just a fraction of an inch for air circulation, and cover the vehicle with a lightweight, breathable cover -- or bedsheets, if nothing else is available -- to keep it clean.

If the vehicle is parked outside -- and there's no great harm in doing that -- leave it uncovered so that the paint won't be abraded by the cover flapping in the wind.

That should do it. You can do more if you like -- like spraying Deep Creep or fogging oil into the throttle body while the engine is running, or into each cylinder after it's cooled down -- but the above covers all the basics. My '70 'Vette, which has been parked every winter for the last three decades (and still runs reasonably well) is proof.