Workshop
Winter lay-up done properly: the club's ten-point checklist
It is June, so naturally we are talking about winter. The point of putting this out now is that half of the list wants doing before the weather turns, not on a cold Sunday in November when you have lost interest.
None of this is new. It is what the club has worked out between us, mostly by getting it wrong first.
- Fuel stabiliser, and brim the tank. A full tank has no room for the damp air that turns into rust on the inside of the sender.
- Battery on a conditioner, not a charger. A conditioner keeps it topped up all winter, whereas a charger left on will happily cook it by February.
- Tyres to 40psi, or the car on axle stands. Standing on soft tyres for five months gives you flat spots that no amount of driving will talk out.
- Wax the brightwork before it goes away. Chrome corrodes quietly under a cover, and you will not notice until spring, when it is too late to do anything but swear.
- Change the oil before storage, not after. Old oil is acidic and you have just paid to leave it sitting on the bearings for five months.
- Block the exhaust and the airbox against mice. A mouse will build a nest in a silencer in a fortnight and there is no dignified way to get it out.
- Leave the windows cracked open. An inch of air moving through stops the interior smelling like a canal boat.
- Handbrake off, chocks in. Left on all winter, the shoes bond to the drums, and freeing them is a job with a hammer in it.
- A breathable cover, never plastic. Plastic traps every bit of moisture against the paint and does a very thorough job of it.
- Start it monthly or leave it entirely alone. A ten-minute idle warms the engine just enough to make condensation and not enough to boil it off, so either take it out for a proper twenty miles or do not touch it until March.
Anyone who wants a hand with any of it should come to spanner night. Bring your own tea.