Mustang Storage

these are just ideas...

Fill up your gas tank as full as possible...less chance for condensation to form in the tank and thus water down your fuel.

STABIL is a good fuel additive.

Rounded car dollies help keep the tires round and not get flat spots, but jackstands are good as long as you have them in the right spots!

Hook your battery to a trickle charger to help it stay active and in charge

I put dryer sheets in my car for the odor help, and to help keep the air dryer.

I would put rags in your tail pipes to keep critters out of your pipes/muffler assuming you have mufflers! LOL!

I have also heard that putting a sheet of cardboard under the car helps with temperature changes and possible condensation/evaporation on the underside of the car.

Mothballs in the interior

Fresh oil change

Windows up

Personally I find it a great time to do a DEEP interior detail also.

There are other things I am sure I am missing, but I think this is a good starting point.

When you start it just make sure it gets to operating temperature, this keeps any aluminized piping in the exhaust from rusting and keeps you from getting a bunch of water in your mufflers.

I suppose it depends on how long it's going to sit for. Mine only sits for four months, so there isn't much to it.

I fill it with ethanol free fuel + Sta-Bil and drive it a few miles.
I sit it on concrete blocks with a 2X4 on top of the block and disconnect the battery. That's it.

It gets it's annual oil change before startup in the spring.

When you start talking six or more months of storage, it starts to become more complex. The longer your going to go, the more you need to do. A few months over a winter is pretty minimal if the car is going to be kept inside.

Your biggest concern should be mice, seriously they love the wiring harness.

Mice pose the biggest threat to the car, they are probably already nesting in the engine bay and using the injector lead insulation as snacks.

My injector leads were damaged by mice.

Dryer sheets, moth balls, and D-Con are needed ASAP!

Jackstands does'nt do anything for the tires. Your not going to flat spot them just sitting over the winter. All I've ever done is full tank of gas, put in some Staybil, and throw my car cover over it.

Seems easier to just drive it at least one day every week. Are the roads there that bad for months on end?

Ateup said:

Seems easier to just drive it at least one day every week. Are the roads there that bad for months on end?

Click to expand...

That costs a lot of money because you'd have to carry the insurance through the winter. When you're looking at $60-$80 a month, it adds up.

It's not that the roads are "bad". It's that they're covered in salt.

be 4 i store it i detail the hell outa it... fill tank up all the way have stable in tank/lines.. disconnect the battery cover it up and there she sits... nothing with tires... i think the tires are fine now they no longer will be flat...im not positive but i had no problems last year

agreed mine is an 04 and had been stored as log as i have had.. id guess 1st owner did to with low millage on it... but it keeps it nice mine is near mint still

Somebody explain to me then why my 03 F150 has been driven daily for 7 years and doesn't have the first sign of rust, or any other blemishes for that matter? Never seen a day parked indoors. Don't get me wrong, I believe in taking care of my vehicles, but I'm not going to deny myself the enjoyment on the nice days in the winter if it's not hurting my car. I'm not planning on keeping my car forever either, maybe that's the difference in the paranoia?

While I was having an affair with a 2003 Honda S2000 for 11 months, I had my '01 GT in the garage.. Took the battery out, pumped the tires up to 40 PSI, put a full tank of gas in to minimize rust at the top of the tank, and put in "Stabil".

The S2000 was totaled two years ago (not my fault), so to bring the GT back to life, I just pulled the spark plugs and dripped some oil down the heads to get it a little lubed up, and put a new battery in.

All was good after the smoke cleared and she's been running flawlessly since. For longer term storage you'd want to take some additional precautions.

Well for the OP, it sounds like you are doing an adequate job for winter storage here in MI. Here are some of my thoughts and experiences from storing my '01 for the past 8 MI winters...

If you were storing the car for a very extended amount of time (ie - deployment, etc), then you might want to follow through with some more "drastic" measures (discussed much further below).

However, since you won't be storing the 'stang for several months on end, it seems like you are on the right track already. Change the oil (personal preference for some), top off the fuel before you garage it, inflate the tires up, and hook up a battery tender device.

Stabil is kinda optional for the fuel tank - for short term storage (month or two), IMHO. Placing mothballs/baking soda in the interior is probably up to the owner as well (an air freshener may suffice).

Starting the engine up every couple of days (or weeks) varies by person as well - I'm not a fan of it personally, at least for short periods storage (couple months, etc). People have been debating the damage of "cold engine" starts (lack of oil pressure/damage to engine upon start up), condensation building up in exhaust piping and speeding up the rusting/oxidiation process, etc, etc. If you are going to start it up, at least let it get up to full operating temperature for SEVERAL minutes - I won't dwell further on this part so my post does not get too side-tracked.

Further, before you tuck the car away in storage, definitely vacuum inside, clean/wash/wax exterior. Having a car cover (or a duster) is a plus too.

Definitely make sure your garage/storage area is sealed up good and able to resist rodents/mice/squirrels/other animals from invading your vehicle and garage. They will chew through wiring and/or call your car home by building a nest in some creative area of the car. LOL

Putting it up on jackstands and removing sparkplugs (and spraying fogging oil into the cylinders) would be what I consider more "aggressive" steps to be considered for "long term storage/parking." If you are running straight water in your cooling system you will want to drain and switch to a mixture that contains closer to 50/50 (antifreeze/water) so you don't "crack" certain engine parts from water that is sure to expand when frozen (northern owners beware).

Again, it probably depends on how "long" your length of storage time will be and what type of climate you live in.


While having to tuck away the 'stang during the MI winters is tough, it does have one upside to it. When spring rolls around it is like having a "new car" all over again...

Those are some of my thoughts and personal experiences - like I said. Some other good advice was already mentioned so I may have duplicated some of it.

G'luck.