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convertible top care + winter storage
Topic Started: Oct 16 2013, 12:53 PM (1,631 Views)
iwantageometro
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nub

Mods, feel free to move this if this isn't the right section. Not really sure where to put it.

So I opened my trunk today and realized the back of my vert top is starting to look pretty gross. :( Tips for caring for convertible tops?

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Also, my landlord has granted me use of the garage in the basement for winter storage! :thumb Yay! I've never stored a car for the winter, so I'm wondering if there's anything special I need to do? I plan on putting it in there right before the first snowfall. I also know there are for sure mice down there, and I want to keep them out of my car! Not sure if they will be interested in it since it won't be warm, but I should probably take precautions. I've heard moth balls, dryer sheets, etc. Suggestions?

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Edited by iwantageometro, Oct 16 2013, 01:38 PM.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

there's a product called raggtopp that is made for vinyl top maintenance. a soft horsehair brush, like what you use to shine shoes, is a must for cleaning your top.

use a very mild solution of dish washing soap and warm water to wash the top. never use a paper product to clean the vinyl rear window. always make sure that you rinse the rear vinyl window to remove any grit or abrasive junk before you wash it with a soapy, soft cotton cloth. rinse very well with clear water.

never use windex or anything like that. the ammonia in those cleaners will turn the clear vinyl yellow.

never use any solvents, waxes, or silicone based products on a vinyl top, no armor all or son of a gun or nu finish to make it shiny.

there's a product that's marketed for cleaning motorcycle windshields and removing scratches. it's something like nova and that stuff does work on the vinyl rear window when it starts to fog up, but i'm not sure how it affects the rear windows over time.

the vinyl starts to lose it's plasticizer as soon as it is exposed to air and sun. the raggtopp is a topping or a dressing that seals the vinyl off from environmental pollutants and gives it some uv protection. most good automotive trim shops that install tops have it or you can buy it directly on the interwebs.
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geo pet
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" my strange addiction "

great advice t3ragtop . and for mice a cat is best . that's what I got . I rescued a stray cat in the winter time and it was glad to sleep in my garage . I feed it just enough to live nicely but not so much that she be comes fat and lazy . if she's a tinny big hungry I fiqure she will catch the mice . she does a great job at it and I have a shop buddy as a bonus .
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Old Man


go to a local hardware store and purchase some 1/8 inch square mesh rabbit wire. lay it under the plastic under your windshield wipers, Also find a way to block off your intake air to the throttle body--I put mine right where the rectangle goes to round just before the air filter. I came up with that when I stored my vert for a month and found this:
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iwantageometro
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nub

Alright... I can FINALLY use the garage now. It just started snowing (again). :( I'm going to be storing it with very little gas, because the landlord said so, so would it be a good idea to add a fuel stabilizer?

Anything else?
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

storing the car with less than a full tank isn't the best idea. as the temperature swings through the vapor pressure point, condensation will form on the inside walls of the tank and rust it to hell and gone.

it's a common perception, and probably that of the landlord, that the less fuel in the tank the safer it is to store. that's flat wrong. it's not the liquid gasoline that's really the danger, it's the vapors that are explosive. less fuel in the tank, more explosive vapors.

i don't use fuel stabilizer myself. i fill the tank with 93 octane fuel and park the car, covered in my driveway under a good quality car cover, for 6 months at a time. this year i used a battery tender brand trickle charger under the hood to keep the battery warm in very cold temps.

i used to set a stored car on jack stands to keep the tires from developing flat spots but today's tire construction is better and it can be debated as to whether or not storage on jack stands is truly beneficial.

you can't beat dry storage or climate controlled storage. moisture of any kind is a killer for steel and interior components. verts develop a musty odor as mildew grows in the felt carpet backing so it's really important to keep them covered so that top leaks don't keep the carpet wet.

a really profound indicator of how well storage has been executed on a metro is to check the bolts for the seats to see how rusty they are. you can also look at the seat rail mounting points for rust. if you see rust there, it's past time to spray the rocker cavities with a rust remediation product.

there's a direct corrolation between the observable rust on the interior areas of the car and the rust inside the unobservable voids of the chassis. since i recognized what was up a few years ago i have borrowed a neighbor's fiber optic video display to check out chassis voids and you would be shocked to see what goes on in there.

i'm going to borrow a pic from a local friend of mine who has had an ongoing in-depth restoration on a family owned suzuki swift. this car had very few outward signs of rust but this is what internal chassis voids look like on a rust belt car, even with a super clean exterior.
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the cleaner parts were taken from a "rust free" southern chassis from georgia. as you can see by looking at the "rust free" parts that there is developing rust in the right frame horn and on the area that's located under the toe plate at the bottom of the firewall about under the clutch pedal.

this is why i'm always yapping about eastwood company rust encapsulator and internal frame spray. unless you stabilize the inside chassis voids, the clean southern chassis parts will look like the rust belt parts within a year or 2.

my 2 cents. ;)
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Old Man


I would advise you to drain the gas tank completely and remove it. This would satisfy the landlord as well as the condensation thing. In the spring just plan on a couple of extra hours to clean the inside of the tank and re install it.
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iwantageometro
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nub

wow thank you for that post, t3ragtop.
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