Living in snow country for the last 20 years I've picked up a few tips. One is to top off your tank and or try and not let it drop below half full. The reason I've always heard was to reduce the amount of water contamination from condensation. Funny, the only water contamination I've encountered was in the California bay area...where its pretty warm. I'll toss a bottle of gas dryer (grain alcohol) mid winter in my daily driver. I have been warned off on the fuel stabilizers...they are safe for small engines and I have used them for that many times with great results. My dad had a bunch of valves stick in his 55 Cad as well as my Honda motorcycle. Both were stored with Sta-Bil. A local repair shop said it is known to cause that exact issue. So is that what caused it? Hard to say. So now I let the cars who are stored over the winter run down to like a quarter tank and next spring I just toss in 5 gallons of fresh fuel and drive to the gas station to top off/dilute the old fuel. I don't stabilize them any longer. That has worked just fine for many years. I'd like to hear from someone with a more scientific explanation.

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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?

I don't add anything to mine. I use the car when I can over the winter and have never had any problems.

Dave

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Lifetime Member #116
Dave's '82

   

I dont do anything to mine either. I drive it till the first snow falls and the roads get treated with salt and chemicals and then it goes in the garage till the spring after some road cleaning rain. I do pull it outside on nice sunday days and start it up and let it run for 15 - 20 minutes. I also make sure I pump the brakes every couple weeks as well. So far no issues.
Rodney  

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The owner's manual for my '75 (which is the first year for the rubber bladder in the tank) says to keep it topped up when storing the car to preserve the rubber bladder or remove the bladder and coat the inside of the bladder with a light oil.

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The theory behind Stabil is that is slows fuel oxidation.  I'm not a chemical engineer, but it sounds like snake oil to me.  The best way to inhibit oxidation is to keep the tank full, which someone already mentioned. 

Then again, it's cheap insurance.  The best way to fight winter storage issues is to move down south, where we drive our cars year round!




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"Let them that don't want none have memories of not gettin' any."
- Brother Dave Gardner

'75-'77 have the rubber bladder. (removable)

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GEN III 5.7L "LS6" Engine swap
TKO500 5 spd.

By the way Daryl, I tried that moving south thing 2 years ago but the wife rejected it. Think you would have better luck then I did, I do want to drive mine year round!
Rodney


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I was told to top it off to reduce condensation in the tank.

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That's a new one on me...never heard that. Guess some particular recipes/brands might be able to cause problems like that, tho...

I've never stored any of my cars with anything in the tank other than fuel & air. The '74 stays in the garage under a cover, with a fan blowing under it 24/7(has for the past 10 years or so), the '85 stays outside, under a cover. Now...I will usually add a bottle of snake oil(Heet) to the tank when I take the '74 out of hibernation, just to break up some of the funk that has settled in the carb. So far so good on both of them....noc on wud....


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

"Heet" is grain alcohol often labled as "gas dryer" etc. Same ideal as swimmers ear and you put a drop of rubbing alcohol in her ear...it absorbs the water. Its real..it works. I have 3 small honda engines stored waaaay up in the Sierra mountains at my gold claim. They sit in plastic barrels with a full tank of gas in each. We always add stabil, run it through the system, turn the fuel off, run the carb dry and store. We have engines with 3 year old gas in them that light up on 1st pull. This is harder to do on a car unless you have an electric fuel pump but is the best way to insure bad gas does not thicken and gum up your carb. But in the big pic, sitting for 5 months is not going to be an issue for most folks. I'd just leave room for a few gallons of fresh before firing. Dilute the crappy oxygenated new fuels we all now use.
Dave

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My Christmas present to ME! Bought Sat 11-30-2013. 72, 350 4 spd, Silver with blue interior...Can't you just hear Pablo Cruz playing in the background?