Drive my old cars on a very cold day?

[michel88]

Here in Maryland we got almost two feet of snow and I haven't been able to drive my 40 Buick for a while. I like to drive them at least once a month at least 10 miles to fully warm them up,when there is no salt on the roads. I don't like the idea of storing them all winter without ever starting them. My theory is the oil drains off of the pistons, rings and cylinder walls after some time passes and this could cause rust. This could also could happen to the transmission and also the ring and pinion gears. Today would be a good day to drive my Buicks because we had very hard rain all day a few days ago and the roads are salt free. The problem is it really cold (24 degrees) and I am wondering if starting with cold thick oil and a longer warm up is doing more harm than good?

Edited December 29, 2009 by michel88 (see edit history)

[old car fan]

I would say drive them,they did in 1940.Sounds great,but salt and brine on the roads here.

[Rusty_OToole]

If it was mine I would winterize it and leave it till spring. Properly stored, 6 months in a deep freeze will do less harm than 6 weeks in the sun.

I don't think driving it will preserve it any better. Of course if you like driving in winter live it up. As long as you pick a sunny day with clear roads you should be OK.Just clean it real well underneath when you put it away.

[Dave@Moon]

I would never drive my cars in salt, especially dry salt, unless it was absolutely necessary. So unless my garage catches fire it will take a large rain storm right now to wash away the salt before my car sees the street.

Meanwhile I do start and run my cars up to temperature (and for 15 minutes thereafter) at least once a month, usually at least backing out of the garage and back in. At the very least I try to have the tires turn over once, and (for automatics) go through every gear. Doing this keeps seals lubricated.

[old car fan]

drive the car,roads clear ,drive

[Marty Roth]

If environmental conditions make driving inadvisable, put the rear-end on GOOD jackstands,

warm it up, and run it through the gears -- then drive it in place, being careful to properly disperse the exhaust. Through the gears, and a 10-20 minute run at varying rpms is a decent way of keeping almost everything lubed and excersized (not excorsized). It wouldnt hurt to spin the front wheels and work the brakes too !!

We used to live where winter really takes its toll, but no longer have that concern -- we don't mean to rub it in, but top-down driving all year long is a true delight. Anti-freeze? - we don't need no stinking Anti-freeze !

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

nu ff,Marty, nuff.

Ben

[Ron Green]

I don't like the idea of storing them all winter without ever starting them. My theory is the oil drains off of the pistons, rings and cylinder walls after some time passes and this could cause rust.

My vehicles are stored in the winter without ever starting them up. Some have went almost 3 years. Typically I have too many old car projects in the winter and don't have the time to drive them, plus some are blocked in. By pulling the coil wire you can crank them over getting the oil circulated. Don't touch the gas pedal or crank them over to long getting excess fuel into the carburetor. This will also keep the valve springs from setting in the same position all winter.

[Shop Rat]

Never, ever put any kind of vehicle away with road salt on it.

About fifteen years ago we left in a previous RV to go to Huntington Beach, S.C. (17 miles below Myrtle Beach) for Thanksgiving week. It was snowing near Beckley, W. Va. and the W. Va. Turnpike crews were out putting salt down. We had no choice but to follow the salt truck as there wasn't a safe place to pull off and they were the first ones on the new snow.

I tried to get Bill to take the RV to a car wash with an open bay for big vehicles but he said no he wasn't going to bother with it. He would wash it on a nice day back home. Guess what? No nice day came that winter so it sat with all that road salt on it, which in some areas had turned to brine which went everywhere, and the salt from the air down in S.C.

Come spring he found all the damage even up under the lip of the hood. It was a MESS of rust and salt. :mad:

The moral of the story, don't take a vehicle out in bad weather if you can't remove the salt/brine from it before it is put back into the garage/storage.

[junkyardjeff]

My 37 probably wont be fired up again untill spring,its covered up and I dont feel like messing with it. My 55 has been sitting since october but will soon be fired up when I move it to the other garage to reverse the damage I done when I lowered it,then it will be put back in the other garage and sit untill spring.

[Guest Earl]

I used my '41 Buick in a funeral yesterday. It was 3 degrees F. when I started it to get it warmed up and ready for the day. It must have gotten up to about 18 yesterday. I have to say that the heater in that works a lot better than the heater in my '98 Dodge pickup. It started right up and ran just fine. I ran another '41 Buick I had 25 years ago in her Mother's funeral and Dorothy said a number of times how nice she thought that was. So I figured I might as well do the same for her. I'll wash it all off tomorrow as there wasn't time yesterday and it was just too cold out. Some old coot standing by the church shook his cane at the car and said to his wife "Now that's what a real car looks like!"

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Woody,

I grew-up in Ellicott City, just a ways around the Beltway from you.

Even though two feet of snow is kind of rare down that way, MSHA was never stingy with the salt.

The roads may seem clear, but there will be salt residue into April.

If you're really concerned and "must" start your collector car, I would suggest Dave's plan - start it up, let it run until temp needle hits its normal mark, then let it run another 15 minutes, at about 700-900 rpm. This will get everything good and warm, "boiling-out" the condensation and excess fuel that got past the rings while initially warming-up.

Running the car for five minutes at a time, once a week, is far worse in the long run.

It's killing me, not driving my long-lost Rambler, but there's LOTS of salt on the roads up here... and I yearned for this car for too many years to bugger it up by driving it on salty roads.

[michel88]

Frank,

We just got some more snow and of course a lot of salt back on the roads. I guess I will use Dave's method for now. I hope we get a day long rain storm that washes away the salt. I would really like to drive the cars if conditions are right. I agree the worst thing you can do is start a car and run it only a short time without a full warm up.

[michel88]

Marty,

I think your method of putting the car on jackstands and running it through the gears would be a good way to exercise the car. Since I have to take it out of the garage to avoid exhaust fumes, I think I will do this and make sure it is fully warmed up.

[Guest mercman86]

Theres lots of salt and snow on the ground around here, I would love to take the Ranchero out for a drive but its just too cold out to wash it off afterward!

[Marty Roth]

Woody,

To avoid having to take the car out of the Garage, use flex-tubes attached to the tailpipes, and extend them out of the garage - some shops even have adapters built into the door or wall.