It's hard to put your pride and joy into winter storage. You know how it goes — you spend all winter waiting to drive the thing, and then it's winter again before you know it. But winter car storage doesn't have to mean total separation. The car's right outside in the garage, you know; it's not like you've sent it off to Siberia.
In fact, winter's a great time to catch up on all the little projects you haven't found the time for yet! Here are a few of our favorites.
1. Paintless Dent Removal
Paintless dent removal guys really are artists, and they don't close up shop just because there's snow on the ground. Since your car's sitting around all day anyway, why not do an inventory of all the dings and dents on the door and body panels, then have your local dent specialist come by and pop them out? If you take action now, a few hundred bucks at the most will buy you peace of mind come spring.
2. Full Hand Wash and Polish
This is definitely a DIY, and for some it's an annual tradition. When it's time to store the car, hose it down in the driveway to get the surface stuff off, and then roll up your sleeves and get down to business. All you need is a jug of car wash solution, a nice big sponge and a lot of elbow grease. You'll want to go over every inch of the sheet metal with that sponge. Try to make it cleaner than it was on the first day of spring. Then wipe all the moisture off with a microfiber cloth to avoid streaks and water spots. For the grand finale, get a hold of an orbital polisher and some high-quality Meguiar's polish. A whole winter is a long time for a car to sit still; it's only proper to put it to bed with that like-new shine.
3. Clean and Deodorize Interior
There are countless approaches to cleaning your car's interior, but when it's time for winter storage, focus on two aspects: upholstery and odors. For upholstery, start with leather cleaning spray if you have leather seats. Let it dry for an hour, and then finish with plenty of conditioner. If you do that every year, your leather should be good till kingdom come. As for odors, look, even if you're careful about keeping food out of the car, things just start smelling musty over time. You can get in front of this problem by treating your interior with Eagle One E1 odor eliminator. They say the stuff actually changes the chemistry of odor molecules. However the science works, it keeps cars smelling fresh all winter long, and that's all you need to know.
Place a few dryer sheets in the cabin and under the hood. This helps prevent mice from making their way into your car or engine bay and building nests over the winter.
4. Check your cooling system
Check your vehicle's antifreeze to make sure it protects against even the coldest evenings. To help with this, pick up an antifreeze tester to ensure that your car's cooling system does not freeze solid. A cheap antifreeze tester may be the key to a smooth ride next spring.
5. Fix What Needs Fixing
Last but not least, winter is the perfect time to bust out your tool kit and get your hands dirty. Hey, it's not like you're going to be busy driving the car, right? Think about all the time you're saving by not getting behind the wheel — and devote a few of those hours here and there to DIY projects of your choosing.
Preventative maintenance
For instance, a lot of folks might put off replacing their spark plugs because the car's running fine, but why wait for it to start getting rough? Get yourself one of these handy magnetic swivel sockets, if you don't have one already, and give your engine a new spark for the spring. For those of you who have room to get a floor jack under there and raise your car up, there's a bunch of sensible preventive maintenance you can do while you're on your back, including fuel-filter replacement and retorquing all your suspension bolts to factory spec with a quality torque wrench.
Upholstery repair
A couple other projects worth considering are upholstery repair and chrome upkeep. For the upholstery repair, you're gonna have to be handy with a sewing machine, but it's not a terribly difficult job if you've got the time. Plan on spending a few days, though, if you have to remove the seat covers for re-stitching — and plan on rejuvenating the foam underneath, too, because if you've got rips, you've also got cushion compression from years of butts.
Make it shine
As for chrome upkeep, whether you're talking about wheels, bumpers, tailpipes, headers and such under the hood, you're gonna want a bottle of Mothers California Gold. Go after any tarnished surfaces with that stuff first. If they don't get shiny enough for you, I would consider calling in a professional, but you can also get a DIY chrome kit and try to do the job yourself. Be careful, though, because the process involves an acid bath and some pretty freaky chemicals. It's one you can definitely brag about if you pull it off.
At the end of the day, you know better than anyone what kind of mechanical TLC your car could use this winter, and now's the time to do those nagging repairs you've been putting off. Our suggestion? Make a list of priorities, and check them off one by one until it's driving season again. Your future self will thank you when the car's performing better than ever.
Spring's around the corner!
Don't let the chilly season get you down, my friends. Pass the time with some targeted DIY projects and before you know it, it'll be time to hit the road again. Any suggestions for some good projects this winter? Let us know in the comments.
