sorned.

[toneinblack]

Just sorned my tr7 for the winter and had it out for its last drive of the year ( road tax runs out today ) Is there anything I should do whilst its standing in the garage till next year?

[Workshop Help]

Most definitely yes. Place it on a pedestal and lavishly worship it.

Wash all the painted surfaces. Use a clay bar to smooth the paint until it has no discernible friction and apply not one, but two coats of high quality wax. Change the oil and filter. Flush and refill the gearbox. Top up the differential. Vacuum the interior and clean the inside of all the glass. Give the steering box a few shots of grease. Replace any rotted rubber components.

Grease the front wheel bearings and replace the brake pads as needed. Scrub the wheels on both sides. Apply a liberal coating of tire shine to ward off the effects of sidewall cracking. Clean out the inside of the trunk/boot. Clean the headliner with bleach. Inspect/replace the steering column bushing. Inspect the rear shock absorbers for leakage. Inspect the front struts for leakage and the condition of the strut boot. How about the three brake lines? Flush the hydraulic fluid from the brake system. Flush the hydraulic fluid from the clutch system.

Check the condition of the brake shoes. Consider pulling the rear axles to inspect the axle bearings. Air up all the tires. Inspect the radio speakers for cracking and replace as needed. Pull both seats and check the condition of the seat diaphragms. Clean all the electrical connections on the car. On a convertible, clean and apply preservative conditioner to the top as needed. Adjust the headlight beams as needed. Clean the interior of the taillight housings. Clean the spark plugs and test the validity of the ignition cables. Clean the rotor and distributor cap contacts. Clean the points and set the gap. Inspect the air filter and clean/replace as needed. Check/adjust the carburetor air flow along with the mixture balance. Confirm the carburetor inlet valves are in good condition. Perform a compression test. Clean the battery posts and cables. Keep the battery charged up while parked. Clean the main grounding point there next to the battery by the windshield wiper motor.

The above shouldn't take more than a couple of weekends. Once all is done, cover the car to keep the dust off.

Mildred Hargis

[dursleyman]

You could keep driving it a bit longer!
I believe there is a way to pay your road tax by monthly Direct Debit so you wouldn't need to pay for a whole 6 months.

Russ

1980 TR7 Sprint DHC, 1981 TR7 Sprint DHC
Dursley
UK

http://tr7russ.blogspot.co.uk/

[toneinblack]

thanks for the replies, isn't 6 months the minimum you can tax a car for?

[saabfast]

Not sure what the situation is now as you can pay monthly. I had assumed that you could stop and SORN it at any time.

WRT the winter storage, since finding half a tank of water on the spring reawakening some years ago I put I/2 litre of Isopropanol alcohol in the tank when I put it away. It absorbs moisture (ie condensation) and it burns off with the fuel. Not had a problem since.

Alan
Saab 9-5 2.3t Vector Auto Estate
'81 TR7 DHC

[trekcarbonboy]

Raise the wheels off the ground to avoid flat spots. Full tank of gas and fuel conditioner.

Craig '75 2.0 FHC

[FI Spyder]

I pump up the tires to 36 pounds to minimize flat spots. In the first few winters (and a few after) I had it up on jack stands to do winter projects but now I don't as all that stuff is pretty much done, (you're never really done) and drive it on the dry days as our Collector plate program is cheap and good for 12 months. I second Craig's advice about keeping tank full as when there is no air there is no condensation and we call fuel conditioner, fuel stabiliser.

Mildred's list is pretty comprehensive, if you've applied a thin layer of dielectric grease on contacts when you clean them you don't have to do them every year. At the start of the driving year I remove old wax (Mothers three part system) clay bar, glaze and seal, carnuba wax a couple to three thin coats.

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[jeffremj]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by trekcarbonboy</i>

Raise the wheels off the ground to avoid flat spots. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I also lift the car up (on axle stands). In addition, I disconnect the battery and use a battery conditioner/charger to keep it healthy. Finally, I use a dehumidifier to keep the garage dry. Works fine and brake discs never have any surface rust after 6 months lay up and car starts first time, as usual.

[Hasbeen]

I take my hat off to you cold climate folk, who's cars have to hibernate each winter. You all deserve a medal.

I give extreme thanks that I live in a climate where winter is the nicest/best time to drive your special car.

Hasbeen

[saabfast]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">[i] I disconnect the battery and use a battery conditioner/charger to keep it healthy. Finally, I use a dehumidifier to keep the garage dry. Works fine and brake discs never have any surface rust after 6 months lay up and car starts first time, as usual.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Agree with the battery conditioner. I use a CTEK conditioner but leave the battery connected. Keeps it in good order and always starts without a problem.
I would love to be able to use a dehumidifier (although I never had a problem without one) but having just lost my garage space its going to be on the drive with a cover this winter.

Alan
Saab 9-5 2.3t Vector Auto Estate
'81 TR7 DHC

[FI Spyder]

I never used a battery conditioner continuously. Some winters I have had the battery disconnected for projects but usually just put on the conditioner periodically (those last few years when I had it). The alternator charges at 14.75 volts. The battery lasted 7 years.

I have a dehumidifier for the garage (it automatically goes into defrost mode when needed in the cooler garage, while it is heated I have it turned off as it doesn't get that cold in there unless I'm working there) as we get rain in winter and hardly any snow (couple days to couple weeks in a winter).

The last few years as the car has been ready to go I usually take it out into town during winter when the rods are dry.



- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[toneinblack]

I was going to disconnect the battery but leave it in the car and put a charger on it every so often, Ive heard about flat spots but didn't think about putting it up on axle stands, I have 2 so 2 more will be needed, the car is in a dry garage so hopefully come next mot time next april , all will be well.

[Hasbeen]

Do be very careful of axle stands. You have to get them taking the weight equally or you can twist the car. They are not that tough.

A mate had his DHC on stands for about 8 or 9 months while working on it. This was a good rust free car.

He & his mate were pretty careless when setting the thing up on them, & the thing twisted. When he put it down the gaps were dreadful. The drivers side door top was 1/2" higher than the body work behind it.

He had the thing pulled square on a body wrack, & surprisingly to me, it has stayed fine. Still it is not something I would like to put my car through.

I have only had problems with tyres taking flat spots which take more than a few miles to fix themselves, it the tyres were really too old to use. Anything over 6 years should be thrown out.

I had an old pair of Bridgestones on the back of the 7 when I first got it back on the road. I loved them. They were so hard, that even with stockish 7 UK power, I could power slide around roundabouts at will.

One of them did try to kill me by shredding, [not delaminating, but coming apart in strips], on a club run at highway speeds. Not quite as much fun now with nice new gripy tyres, but a hell of a lot safer.

Hasbeen

[john 215]

Hi,

The way I read the new tax disc laws is that if you set up a direct debit from 1st Nov, then the money will come out of account until your vech. is out of MOT / Insurance, you stop the direct debit or you SORN the vech. [?] So you could have her on the road for as long as you like [:D] I always have at least one on the road anyway.

More info here -

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes


Cheers John


LIVE LIFE A QUARTER OF A MILE AT A TIME!

1976 Speke FHC Beauty Now with an overdrive conversion

1979 3.5 FHC(STATUS PENDING!!)

1982 2.0 DHC NOW A 4.6, BUILT NOT BROUGHT !!!!