Stabil in 20's era Dodges?

[Bob Zetnick]

I want to be prepared for my first Colorado winter (after living in Texas). I think my cars, except for starting them every so often, will be in the garage for 4 or 5 months this winter. With gas in the tanks I was thinking about using Stabil, but wasn't sure about using it w/ these old engines. 

[franklinman]

Shouldn't be any problem at all... in fact would be a good idea. We use it here regularly and always try to avoid ANY use of ethanol gas as well.

I would further suggest that you run the vacume tank and carb dry before putting it up for the winter. It's a simple matter of disconnecting the line

from the gas tank at the vacume tank and letting the engine run until it's burned all the fuel and starves out.

[Spinneyhill]

And should the tank be full or empty?

[cahartley]

I used to use Stabil in all my off season things.

I know for a fact it works as I had a teens Avery tractor that I didn't start for two years due to a problem (time flies).

When I got around to fixing it and it was time to start it I smelled the gas.

Amazingly it smelled good so I fired it up and it ran like always.

I stopped using it when I forgot to "Stabilize" my stuff 2-3 years ago.

I start my stuff every other month, or so, during the off season more to keep fresher gas in the carburetors than anything else and never experienced any trouble without the Stabil.

Suit yourself but in any event store your vehicles with full tanks to minimize atmospheric exposure.

[JACK M]

11 hours ago, Spinneyhill said:

And should the tank be full or empty?

 

This is a good question.

My career was boats.

In the past it was recommended that a tank be full over a winter.

And would probably still be a good idea if there are no octane extensions in the fuel. (ethanol, ether etc., or alcohol) as it should hold stable for the winter months.

I worked on a boat a few years ago that was stored full but the gas had gone bad over e relatively short period of time.

It turns out that the boat was stored in a place that funneled the wind across the vent in the side of the hull and over the winter the wind literally sucked the octane out of the fuel.

The owner always bought the highest octane available. In this case it was a mistake.

These days with the alcohol gas I would say store it empty as this fuel tends to draw moisture and that will lead to rust.

Bottom line I guess is to be aware of what fuel you have in the tank.

Stabil would be a good idea in any case if you anticipate a long storage.