Novice With a lot of questions

[FSJPorsche]

Never owned a porsche before. Bought a 1971 911E. I live in Northern Canada.
Previous owner said he ran 20-50 Castro. Does this sound right?
Will be storing the car in an unheated garage for the winter. Any recommendations on what to do to store it for the next six months? Should I start it monthly and let it run for a bit? Based on some of the posts I have read, this does not sound like a good idea.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Flieger]

Use Brad Penn oil or Swepco as a first suggestion.

[vulcan300]

Welcome to the forum!

There are a ton of threads about winter storage on this forum so the advanced search is your friend. Search storage or winter storage in the 911 forum and you should find plenty of excellent advice.

Since it's already about the time to get your car into storage I'll share some of what I do and what others do. You'll have to search for more.

- Change your oil and filter so your car is nice and fresh when you take it out in the spring (I use Mobil 1 synthetic but everyone has their own opinion about what is best. Non-synthetic can leave a lo of gunk in the engine from what I've seen)
- Get yourself a good battery tender that won't fry your battery, or disconnect, remove and store your battery indoors for the winter if you don't want to leave it in the car
- Add fuel stabilizer and fill your tank to the brim. Then run your engine for 5-10 minutes so the stabilized mix fills the whole fuel system. A full tank will help prevent condensation from forming in the tank
- Give the car a thorough washing and waxing
- Put 40 - 50 lbs pressure in the tires to keep them from flat spotting
- Put steel wool in the exhaust pipe to keep critters from nesting in your exhaust system
- Put a piece of paper on your seat reminding you to lower the tire pressure, remove the steel wool, reinstall the battery, etc. when you get the car going again in the spring
- Lock the car (you may want to leave the windows down a touch so the interior breathes a bit; only if in a locked garage)
- Throw on a car cover and wave goodbye until spring

Hope this helps.

J

[Zef]

Welcome aboard. 20-50 is perfect for our climate. Any pics of the beast...?
Porsche Club of America, Russell's Tech Tips

[wowzer911]

Why is 20-50 perfect for our climate (I'm not too far from Montreal).
It's my understanding 20-50 is better suited for warmer climates.

[NewfieMZ3]

targamaniac got it covered, but I would add something I do and that is clean and lubricate all rubber seals to prevent from drying in cold frosty climate. Also with regards to starting. Some here on this board do it, but they may not be used to the cold extremes we experience and starting would only be creating condensation when cooled down. So my rule of thumb is after the first frost......change the oil, stash the battery in a warm spot, and let her freeze for the winter. Make sure your washer fluid has some sort of anti-freeze in it.

As for the oil, I'll save you the trouble of researching that, because once you get into The OIL Question you will be lost for days of reading and will only end up cross-eyed and more confused. My 84 ran on Castrol GTX 20-50 for most of its known life, but due to the change in formulation in recent years it does not contain enough anti-wear additives(ZDDP) for proper protection of our flat-tappit engines. My conclusion, and many others on this board, is a switch to Brad Penn 20-50..........has the right levels of ZDDP and detergents for continued use for regular change intervals.

Enjoy the car.........how far North are you?

[TV74911S]

+1 with targamaniac. I will follow most of these steps this Saturday as I put my car away. In addition, I put a pie tin of moth balls in the trunk.

[pioneer1]

Don't put moth balls inside the car-you'll never get the smell out.Simple place a ring of them around the car to keep the mice away.

[bdisco]

A good mouse is a dead mouse.

My mouse saga ^ good luck.

[marcsalleras]

the previous owner had my 86 911 sittin in the garage for three years......i found wasp nests in the transmission and on the smugglers box.....wasps apparently have great taste in cars, cover up any exterior holes you have, exhaust, etc....

[88-diamondblue]

All the above advice is good. Mine is getting put away this weekend and will not be started until I get it out in the spring. Starting them and letting them run without taking it out and really bringing it up to operating temp will just allow moisture to collect in the engine. Put the cover on and look forward to spring

[Zef]

Originally Posted by wowzer911

Why is 20-50 perfect for our climate (I'm not too far from Montreal).
It's my understanding 20-50 is better suited for warmer climates.

Because we don't use our Porsche cars in the minus 20 C temp. in 30 inches of snow. So yes, the 20-50 is perfect for our climate. It's my understanding 20-50 is better suited for warm climates and 30-32 C temp. is a warm climate