- Follow the advice of our experts to keep your car in top shape

~ Julie Crawford
. Contributing Writer

-YOUR vintage car has seen a lot of winters.
. But, rain, salt and snow can undo all your hard
restoration work in one short season.

Here are some tips from the pros on how to prepare your
-/ Classic car for winter storage.
_*Lift- the wheels’ off the ground, for starters,” says John
DeRosa of DeRosa Automotive, | “That takes the weight off
the suspension, engine and tires.”
Leave the parking brake off and instead use wheel chocks
to prevent vehicle movement. Having the tires just touching
: - the ground is ideal; excessive lift may put suspension compo-
“nents into stressful positions.
Next, drain the cooling system and use a good system tush
‘<such” as Autopar 1-2-3. Refill the system with a 60/40
antifreeze /water mix. This will offer the cooling system some

and 10 point inspection.
Most makes and model:

corrosion protection.
Add a small amount of crankcase cleaner to the crankcase
oil, leave the oil filteer/vene off and run the engine at idie for
5-10 minutes. Drain the case and remove the filter. This

should rid the crankcase of a lot of dissolved grime.
ur o:l, no matter how new, will turn jet black with impu-

tities. Refill with your car’s. prescribed amount and grade of

oil.

If you have an oil bath air cleaner, simply drain oil, wipe
clean and refill. Do not use cleaner.

Remove the battery from the car. Clean cable terminals
and battery posts with a wire brush and coat the terminals
with a thin film of Vaseline.

Connect the battery to a charger. every two weeks on a
two-amp cycle, preferably using a home lighting timer. Set
this for three cycles. of four hours ON, four hours OFF, so
that every two weeks there will be a 24-hour period of stag-
gered charge.

Apply a light paste of water and baking. soda to the battery.

Power
Automotive

in Imports”

306 Kennard, North Van

(across from Windsar Plywood)

990-0572

Wednesday, October 4, 2000 - North Shore News —- 27

tray and surrounding sheet metal to neutralize acid residues.
Rinse this off in spring.

“Usually people pay attention to the outside, but don’t pay =
attention to what the inside looks like,” says Edward Staron
of Adepts Autobody.

He recommends rust-prooting with a wax oil, articutarly
in areas such as door panels and quarter panels, fe eaders and
hinge posts, which may have some rust or damage from: earli-
er repair or restoration work,

You might also want to remove the spark plugs and check
their condition.

Are they oily, fouled or grey? Clean them, gap:them and

See Tarp following page.

With These Two Winter *
Value Offers from Suzuki

8 oy! Suna only veld to

Shunsu ony vat to
(Oct 18°00 pius enviea.

18.00 piss emto

That's right, a complete tube,
oil & filter service with factory
original parts!