Servicing and Useage during the Winter months

[paul wilks]

(Alastair Gregg needn't respond to this because he already has through the North West website. Thanks Alastair! Just thought I'd open it up to others in the club to get their thoughts and perhaps get people thinking)

This is a serious question so please don’t laugh! Well, not out loud anyway.
Having got my Javelin 'Yellow Peril' back on the road after an absence of 35 years I want to make sure I do 'the right thing by her'!

I have often been reminded that it’s not good for classic cars (especially Jowetts!) to lie idle for too long so my question is…….. What do other Jowett owners do with their cars during the winter months?
Do they start their cars and give them a run ’round the block’, say five or so miles, just to get the engine upto temperature and keep everything going? If so with what frequency- weekly, monthly?
Or do they lift their cars and place them on blocks for the duration of inactivity and just turn the motor by hand and pump the brakes and rotate wheels to ensure no seizures?
What about engine oil and filter changes? How often should this be done whilst the car is not ‘fully’ in use?

I regularly check the acid levels in the battery cells and I use one of those very low trickle chargers as recommended for cars out of use and it has kept my battery in fine fettle for the past few years, so I have no worries about a flat battery!
I also jack up the car and grease regularly etc although she is not being used that often.

Paul

[TedAllen]

Hi Paul.

I generally don't do anything other than start the Black Pig up avery few days.
I either run her out of the garage and let her warm up or, if it's wet, I shove an old vac hose up the back end and do the job inside.

Having locked gates and, like you, two other cars in the way , means I can get on with something else at the time. I would take her out more but it's a bit of a faff to move the other two just to have 5 minutes round the block. I usually move her a foot or so backwards or forwards to move the tyres a bit.

I don't seem to need the Aldi ' optimate ' too much, so I hitch that up to the bike instead. I'm going to get another when they come in....great bit of kit at only £12.

Ted

[Forumadmin]

It is not good to start cars and let all the water vapour and unburnt petrol wear the bores, rust the exhaust and polute the engine oil. It is better to get the car really up to to temperature and not by idling, say 3000rpm. Also to have the wheels off the ground and exercise the gearbox, diff, clutch and drums. Even better if you can switch off the petrol supply and turn the engine by starter or handle. If there is no salt on the road or it is wet then take it out for a long run.

[paul wilks]

Another daft question but......... I do understand how you can ensure the drums and clutch don't seize whilst car is on axle stands and I guess you can put car in gear and turn engine over using handle to keep the diff and gearbox free but not sure how to switch off petrol supply. Will turning engine over with handle without turning off petrol supply cause any harm?

Thanks for your patience

Paul

[Forumadmin]

If electric disconnect wire to pump, if mechanical disconnect petrol inlet. If you turn engine without firing you get neat petrol in bores which will rust them. If you just start engine and do not get hot enough the petrol turns to water. This rusts exhaust system and also blow past the bores rusts inside of engine.


I frequently have clutch plate locked to flywheel and have had to unbolt clutch to remove once. Starter blip in second gear with foot on clutch sometimes clears (but could damage starter and be careful it does not start and plough through the end of the garage) or rocking in second gear (but could hurt transmission) can free. Another method is to put foot on clutch and somebody else put knife between plate and flywheel. (There are some small gaps to do this)

Also clean and polish before you put away as any bugs will eat into the paint and chrome. But if you have used water to clean then make sure it is completely dry from the seams (doors especially). Perhaps use a hot air dryer. Do not pressure wash as this will put water everywhere. Use your favourite Waxoyl, WD40, Dinitrol to drive out the moisture.