My husband inherited a 1968 Caddy with a landau top which has lived its entire life garaged, polished, and pampered. It’s spent the last 15 years in a heated garage in Alaska, and it needs to be repatriated to California. The plan is to road trip it halfway, store it for a few months in Minnesota till we get more vacation time, then retrieve it. Question: does it need to be in a heated garage in Minnesota for winter? Will freezing temperatures in a storage facility affect anything on the car, especially the pristine landau top, the chrome, or the like-new vinyl upholstery? And what kind of storage would be best? We were thinking boat storage since it measures 20 feet by 8 feet.
Normally a heated garage in MN wouldn’t be necessary. But, you are talking about maintaining “pristine” condition. Humidity can be an issue when storing a car. In an unheated garage moisture can accumulate and this moisture can negatively affect the materials you wish to keep pristine. I’d either get the car all the way to CA before winter hits, or find a heated and humidity controlled storage unit in MN. Boat storage in MN means boats are winterized; all the water fluids are drained, they are covered and left in either indoor or outdoor storage. Storing a boat and storing a car for the winter are not equivalent.
I live in Minnesota. And the garage doesn’t need to be heated.
When you go to store the vehicle for the winter, fill the gas tank with non-ethanol gas along with a fuel stabilizer. Once the vehicle is parked in the garage, remove the battery and store it in a cool dry place. Take some stainless steel pot scrubbers and stuff these into the exhaust pipes and the in the snorkel for the air filter housing. This prevents critters from getting into the intake/exhaust and building nests or storing food but still allows the moisture to escape from the engine. Place a note on the steering wheel to remind you to remove the pot scrubbers before you put the vehicle back into service. Then place dryer sheets around the interior and leave the windows slightly cracked open. That’s about it.
Tester
@Tester I agree; we live in a similar climate and no heating is necessary. Just prepare the car as Tester suggests.