......well my mrs is furious, I’ve spent the day washing my Skoda and reversed it into the living room. Well I said Harry says it needs to be warm and dry 🤣
you can't imagine how good it’s to watch your videos at this stage, it keeps our soul of classic car lovers alive. Waiting for better days to enjoy them. Greetings from Oporto / Portugal
In the old days a through draught of air was the way to prevent condensation. Barns were always full of holes; houses had cavity walls. That, in my opinion, is the way to keep cars free from wet air - hence barn find! Great posts, Harry.
My father has museum registered Opel Rekord 2.0S from '80, driven approx 100k miles. Top notch condition. Unfortunately he doesn't have garage to keep it safe during winter (he would want to), but luckily we live in nordic country where winter temps go below freezing point. What he has done is to keep the car on clean tiled surface, made from concrete ground tiles, so that the ground is as dry as possible. Years ago he also did full rust proof coating to the bottom, wheel arches and even used long hose to spray the wax protection inside the skirts. He puts big felt bag of silicate grain into the interior to keep it dry from moist/humidity. Then he covers the whole car with very thin felt blanket and puts tarp cover for weather proofness, but those do not touch the ground to keep the bottom of the car ventilated. The car has been kept outside storing for past 10 years, and it hadn't rusted at all, not even in any hidden places. He even goes to drive with it on -10 C temps, to keep everything lubricated and to ''ventilate'' it a bit. So if you don't have garage, this is propably the best way to preserve classic/old car, but it requires to have cold climate, not gonna work on UK or similar climate places, where the temps and humidity might be too high.
Just bought a Ctek charger because of this vid. I have always known about them but this pushed me to buy one with a few extra plugs for cars and a bike. So there you go ,your sponsor should be happy.
Mk2 3.8 jag, mk1 transit, cortina p100 in my workshop 35miles away, silver shadow LWB & series 2 land rover outside without covers, i did give the rolls a spring clean today
...and wake up at the end of Quarantine to Huge Orwellian Big Government. The kind we have never seen. ..and don't worry, they'll be coming for our cars soon.
All the other you tubers making videos about lockdown and panicking about content. Harry’s garage, come into my garage, here’s how to look after your car properly 👌👌👌
SanMarino_CS Ha, good point! I don’t watch any other car you tubers anymore, as I find them all (except Harry) self absorbed and just too damn glib in general, but panicking about content sounds like something they would be doing.
What I've been doing has just been validated by Harry Metcalfe ! I've been storing motorcycles and old cars (well, one old car, my wife's SLK, top closed of course) over winter for many decades. They reside in a heated garage which is kept at between 12-15 C even in the worst of a Canadian winter. I couldn't agree more about trickle chargers. Everyone has a quick connector permanently hooked up to the battery and its own charger. I use mostly cheap Motomaster (Canadian viewers will recognize Canadian Tire's private brand) "smart" chargers and they've never let me down. Around here we have another reason to brim our tanks with premium unleaded: almost all our regular unleaded contains 10% ethanol, which is fine for daily use, but not so much for months of storage. Fortunately, non-ethanol premium is still relatively easy to find. Personally I also add fuel preserver, but that's probably not essential.
Great info, thanks. 10% ethanol coming here in the UK in a few months time. Going to make matters even worse for longterm storage of collector cars and bikes.
@@harrysgarage I noticed a drop in performance with V-Power in my car and wrote to Shell as I thought they'd filled up the petrol station tanks with regular and not V-Power fuel. They wrote back explaining it was because they had to add biofuel to the mix now. Might as well have added water for all it did!
@@carmadme I'd worked out that Shell Optimax / V-Power gave me 10% more MPG over standard fuels but only cost 7% more. Therefore you were better off spending more. Plus the car felt smoother to drive, both my turbo car and NA one. Up until that point it was worth buying. After that, buy the cheapest. At that point it's all the same stuff that comes out of the refinery anyway.
We keep a 1970s 911 targa in Istanbul in our garage. It starts every month we go there and has never failed us. We also get cheap servicing from a local specialist because I bring him some parts from the uk for his garage.
Dont forget mice like heated garages in winter ! I tie-wrap plastic bags around the exhaust and air intake, and leave softening sheets in the cabin. Mothballs also work but the smell lingers. Cheers and stay healthy.
Great video, some good ideas. My twopennyworth: You can still use your car during lockdown. When you make your essential journey to the supermarket or whatever, take the classic, The carparks aren't as full so it's easy to find a nice big space to park it in away from everyone else. Don't run the car at idle for long periods. The oil doesn't circulate properly (or at all on some because the lift pump won't operate) so you are running the engine starved of oil. The idea of leaving a car running at tickover to warm up is one of the great classic car myths and can really do a lot of damage. To warm the car up, just drive it gently to start with, that way everything else also gets warmed up, then give it the berries! If you can't take the car for a run, still jump in and push the brakes, pull the handbrake on and off and move the gears to stop things seizing up. If you jack the front up you can also move the steering. Even in the winter, if the weather has been mild, the roads are dry and any salt on the roads has been washed off by recent rain take the car for a run. Cars like to be driven, so go out and enjoy them!
Something I think you missed is mouse traps. I cleaned 17 dead mice out of my 60 year old Sprite last year and had to put a new interior in as a result. Thankfully there's not much to the interior! The garage is drafty and is shared with the mower and animal feed but it's all we've got :)
The best way is to figure out where the mice are getting in and seal it up. If you set a load of traps, that means using a load of bait, which attracts even more mice. Steel wool is brilliant for plugging holes and filling voids at the edges of garage doors etc. One of the only materials the little b**tards can't chew through and it's cheap and readily available.
‘H’, would you advise to put a Petrol additive into the Tank to preserve your Fuel. Also before filling your Tank to the brim to preserve the Tank make sure the Tank is of sound condition. I hope you don’t have the situation I did, walking into the Garage to find it full of Petrol Fumes from a worn Rubber Hose from the Tank to the Fuel Pump, Fuel all over the Floor. 😀👍
Anybody without power in their garage can place an old piece of carpet under the car and also use a few non electrical dehumidifiers(Unibond aero 360) approx £10 each, one inside the car and another outside. I found this method helped me.
Ive got 3 cteks mxs 5.0 and all my cars have the comfort indicators it makes having multiple cars a bloody dream when it comes to keeping batteries alive. good vid harry!
Nice video. I use sticky moth traps to control moths. They have an appetite for car covers and if they can get inside for carpets/clots seats etc . For this reason I leave windows shut. Also poison/traps for rodents. Many a wiring loom on a car in storage has been lost to mice.
A thoughtful and, obviously, timely video Harry. And I think there is a message for those of us who don't have multi car garages (or even garages, I have one but it's full of 'stuff') which is to keep on top of batteries and tyre pressures etc. I'm using my car (Maserati Levante) a bit but I'm probably doing less than 30 miles a week... my wifes Q2 has not moved in the last couple of weeks and I need to deal with that. One thing I am really particular about doing is a brake drying run after I wash the car(s)... does not need to be far but you gotta get some hear into the disks and callipers to discourage rust.
Great and thorough video, as expected, but my experience with car covers is that people don't know the best practice methods of removing and installing the cover leading to the ingress of grit and debris. Careful handing and never ever touch the floor is fundamental. I have witnessed salesmen yanking a reveal cover off and dumping in a heap onto the showroom floor only to pick it up later and drape over an innocent, soon to be scratched, car.
i have my garage heated to about 45F all winter... 7C. The Porsche branded charger is a CTEK...works well. Battery Saver chargers also work very well. I second pumping up the tires.
I've had great experience with the 'cheap' dessicant dehumidifers you can get on Amazon etc - a £120 with around a 300w consumption on 'high' & an external drain & it keeps an un insulated brick/tile double garage & it's contents devoid of condensation over winter. They add the heat to the internal btw.
That dehumidifier that throws hot air out of the building could be connected to a heat exchanger so the damp air gets condensed and drained outside and most of the heat is retained in the building.
Another very informative, great video - thanks, Harry! I keep my vintage car in a Carcoon inside my garage and apply silicate bags which I change / dry every other month. Keeps moisture down to 60% and needs no electricity. Best regards - stay healthy everyone!
As far as flat spots on the tires, I order a sheet of 1/2", or 7mm, crepe "medium to hard shoe foam" and cut four squares and place them under the tires. You can mark the floor lightly where the tires sit and place them before pulling the car in. This dramatically reduces the occurrence of flat spots on the tires. It also insulates them from the cold floor during winter months.
Great video as always, thank you! I second the advice about the Testarossa, my 348 has a more modern Bosch Motronic 2.5 system but if she sits around too long afterwards I always get some hesitation/unevenness at low throttle. Fortunately, all she needs is to be driven spiritedly for 30 kms and things return to normal. BTW, I have a CTEK charger too, no sense skimping on an item like this, buy the best.
Excellent tips Harry. Can I say the Shadow needs using regularly. The brake fluid is hydroscopic and really should be completely changed every two to three years. Otherwise the calipers seize solid. Hoses every ten to twelve years. Thanks for these wonderful videos.
Excellent tips, and you are exactly right about insulating your garage. One thing to watch that caught me out if building a new insulated garage in a UK domestic setting. Local authority planners are not car people and if they see plans for an insulated garage they will assume you are actually building living accommodation and trying to slip one past them so will refuse permission. They don't understand why anyone would want an insulated garage - so talk to them, explain about your cars and offer to accept a covenant that the building will never be used for living accommodation. You'll still likely get a raised eyebrow but also approval. And, best way to gently heat a garage if you have the option is underfloor heating, that gives good thermal mass so you don't loose all the heat when the door is open.
Brilliant video Harry. I already do everything you say apart from humidity control and leaving the windows open. I do leave a moisture absorber inside the cars though. My top tip is to not start any engine unless you plan to get it to operating temperature. Cold combustion byproduct is water, so you need the heat to burn it off. Else you risk having watery cylinders and oil contamination. Going to look at a heating solution now. Handily its a very small space! All the best
Harvey Smith Indeed sir, and I suspect Show Jumping used to remunerate you and the other good burghers of your sport very well, especially in the 1970s when it drew 8 million viewers on Tv. Houses no doubt that were bought where well stocked with Fondues, Mateus Rose Lamps and Goblin’ Teasmades’ (no sexual innuendo intended)
Informative video, Harry! Unfortunately my '08 R6 is stuck half the way around the world under a (albeit nice Oxford Stormex) cover, but in a warm humid climate. Battery disconnected and a tank of petrol though, and a friend to give it a breathe and a push now and again. Reckon I will need to be spending some time on a few things when I eventually get back. In better news, I was sorting out the garage a few days ago and found a bunch of photos from the '87 Motor Show which I had taken as a 9 year old and one of them ... a photo of a red Countach on the Lambo stand drawing quite a lot of attention!
If it hasn't been mentioned... if washing before storing make sure it's a dry day and take for a run out after washing/drying to use the brakes so they get dried off too. Otherwise they'll rust due to the washing water. This also air dries the underside of the car.
Thanks, Harry, very useful. I swear by Ctek chargers, I’m sure the 3 I use have all paid for themselves in giving a much longer life to the batteries. Must admit, I don’t pump up the tyres, so will do that in future. The only issue I’d raise, in addition, is that Silver Shadows particularly hate being left unused. I paid top dollar for mine, but ended up spending even more again in maintenance purely due to a lack of use. I learned to take mine out in the winter for the occasional blast, when the road conditions were right. “Rallying” a Silver Shadow around was always surprisingly good fun, goodness knows what any onlookers thought!
Sound advice regarding not letting older vehicles with fuel injection sit for too long. With Bosch K-Jetronic (or KE-Jet) the fuel distributor units, injectors and other components really seem to suffer with a lack of regular use. Fuel varnish, sticking components, dirty fuel filters etc can cause a lot of headaches. Unfortunately if you have a Testarossa then it’s ‘double trouble’, as it’s got a pair of fuel distributors (plus 2 each of many of the other fuel injection system parts).
Very good recommendations Harry 👍 I have a compressor dehumidifier and a CTek trickle charger too. I didn't think about over inflating the tires, sounds like a very good idea!
Maybe fitting a couple of skylights in your garage that lows sunshine to come through is a good idea also, it will raise the temp and dispel any moisture. Also having a bit of air circulation would help. Never put your car into the garage soaking wet, allow it to dry outside if you've just washed it. What I do is run it up to working temp once a week and move it outside for a while to keep everything free. Anyway, you can still drive your pride and joy in times like this but not to events or large gatherings, so my advice is to take it for a decent half hour spin in the dry then put it back in the garage. I can understand Harry's theory is for longer term storage over the Winter but we do get dry days even then, so try and take it out for a short drive if poss to keep things good.
‘97 SL 500 Merc battery eater solved. Spin left battery disconnect on the earth post. Spin right re-connect is all that is required under a car port in - 30 C conditions for storage only started above zero temps however. 👍✔️ Works for me every time.
I've got a BMW E92 330i from 2007 sitting in the garage. Full tank, handbrake off. No battery charger though. This is its second battery, the first one lasted 11 years from factory. A new battery cost me 70 euros installed. I try to move it every two weeks or so for grocery shopping. On the driveway sits a 2003 SEAT Leon Cupra R with almost 300k km on the clock, still going great. I try to move it once a week, guess what for. Yep, groceries. Then a SEAT Ibiza diesel from 2007 sitting in the street. Again, shopping. They all shopping trolleys at this point.
Another important point is to put a few baited mouse traps down, they get in anywhere! My garage is well insulated but I catch at lest one mouse per week.
Don`t forget to check the rubber fuel lines after a longer period of storage, modern petrol with ethanol and rubber hoses can be a problem and it`s not a good start to the season if your car burns to the ground.
on k-jet cars the fuel distributor pluger tends to stick when distributor get dry. Can be very tricky to unstick it without damaging anything. Good advise to start (at least once a month?) a mechanical fuel injected car. Saludos desde Argentina
This is great information. Thankfully, I live in a area where I'm actually able to take my car out. I'm trying to take mine out for at least 1/2 hour every 2-3 days. Any longer, I have a CTEK. I used to employ a cover. But, I've found it to be more trouble than it's worth, if storing inside. Besides, I enjoy taking an imbibe-ment out whilst enjoying the my car as stationary bit of artwork. I also wish to thank you for taking me along on those outings. As I sit here in semi-lock down, it's nice to be in those amazing cars I'll probably never get a chance to drive. Anyway, It's a nice day today...sunny...high 50s...hmmm...I'm hearing my name being called from the garage again....
Great tips Harry. I use the Ctec chargers. Very good. My Aston and Range Rover loses the plot if the charge drops. I use the cut off on the Ferrari. Older stuff Tr6, Mini etc never needs charging. Worth trying the new ethanol free storage fuel for winter. Won't rot out the pipes, carbs etc as the rubbish E5+ fuel we get at pumps now does on the older cars.
@@harrysgarage you can get it at www.aaoil.co.uk. down here in Dorset. The guys at Haynes Museum put me onto to it who maintain some of my cars. They are going to trial it on some museum cars too. Aaoil were also at the recent London Motorshow. I've had fuel leaks on my E-type and early Mini's caused by ethanol. It is basically race fuel, but it's now being sold as storage fuel too.
Thank you! This is great real world (unfortunately) advice. May I request another video on how to keep a classic car in good shape while being used as daily driver?
Filling the tanks with super unleaded? 15 cars, possibly? That fuel could be in those tanks for years! I'm happy to volunteer my services to use it up before it goes off. I'd like to start with the De Tomaso Pantera, you do have one, don't you Harry?
It would be a very useful option for exotic car manufacturers to add a connection point for external power so the battery can get disconnected and not get drained by all the electronics.
I'm not sure about turning the engine over without starting it because petrol will get into the cylinders and wash oil of the bores. I prefer to drive the car just outside the garage and run the engine until it's properly warmed through every few months. A cover is particularly useful on convertible hoods which are difficult to clean.
Based on your advice Harry, I have just bought a Ctek battery charger, sadly it was too late to save the battery in my self isolating Mercedes but I hope it will keep the new battery topped up. Lots of other useful advice too, thanks.
Would love to hear about long storage in high temp low humidity areas, and combatting the dry rot of rubber, plastics, seals etc.. For those that may live in arid parts of the Mediterranean, North Africa, US/ AUS desert regions etc. I have countless repair bills and maintenance from failed seals, early expiring tires, leaky window seals, cracked plastics. I combat it as best I can, but expert level tips would be helpful. Even many care products that are highly touted, end up having a dessicant effect, they make a nice show, but they degrade the materials more readily. Its a real costly battle. Saving grace is lack of road salt and condensation, but there are still very real issues to conquer to keep a vehicle long term.
Yes ... Harry , could you speak to Mrs.Davey and explain that l would much prefer to have heating in my garage switched on !!! Apparently it cost over £450 to have 1 oil filled radiator on low one winter 10years ago in my double garage!! Ah yes , l 'll just get my dustpan and brush and sweep up the "e"type and then Hoover up the TR6😂😂 I do have a dehumidifier though...thank goodness!
Think of humidity in cold and warm temperatures as a beach towel v’s a flannel. The beach towel is warm temperatures and can hold more water, before it gets wet through and drips. The flannel is cold temperatures and can only hold a little water before it wet through and drips.
Excellent advice Harry. I really enjoy your videos. I would love to have a well insulated garage for my cars - maybe some day I will get around to building one ! Thank you Harry, I appreciate your helpful advice.
