My first winter with my 75 corvette.

I am Keeping it in an unheated garage.

I Have a nice custom cloth cover that's made for it, on it.

I figured I would just go out and move the cover away from the hood, grill and tail pipe areas and start it up and let it idle for a while every other weekend to keep it through the winter. Cold OHIO winters. Let it cool off and then put the cover back on it.

This C3 has an analog clock (original?) that actually keeps good time, so I figure it will run the battery down and then possibly quit working. I Don't want that or anything else bad to happen.

I Thought about putting a trickle charger on it, but since I keep it covered I thought that battery gasses would collect inside the car and cause big problems.

Any suggestions on how to best put my baby to bed for winter would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks in advance.

-trent-

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I'm from the school of thought that you don't start it until spring when your going to drive it. My cars are kept off site so I remove the battery and put the battery tender on them the first of every month.

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I agree with John. Cover it up and forget it until spring. Don't let your battery run down. That will ruin your OEM analog clock. Disconnect it or put a battery tender on it.

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

I'm same as John and Sarge, old school Vette mechanic said worse thing is to start them to let them get hot and then cold....condensation will form every where instantly.

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LIFETIME MEMBER 151

Thank you for the reply. Any thoughts on not letting the analog clock go dead?

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Thanks for the reply.

So do you think it would be OK to put a battery tender on it with a car cover on the car?

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I would guess that you might have one of the newer AGM or Gel Battery that are sealed with no venting?

I've had one mounted on it's side in a motorcycle for 12 years now with no spilling.

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Either disconnect the battery completely or leave the battery connected with a battery tender to keep the battery up to snuff.

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

I do my vette that way. I have my drivers window cracked just enough to run the power cord out. I don't think gasses from the battery will be an issue. These cars aren't very air tight. I occasionally peak in my cars to check on things over the course of the winter. I even have a tender on my '13 Challenger with a car cover on it. Never had any issues. 

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

Disconnect the battery, but also put a "Maintainer" type charger on it...one that only puts out less than 1 amp(mine use only .75 amps). This will both keep the car from catching fire if the points in the clock burn together(it has happened), and it will also keep the battery fully charged without much gas venting or overcharging.
Another good thing to do is air the tires up to around 40psi if you are leaving it sitting on the tires. This helps prevent flat-spotting the tires.
Look in the "Car Care" section here for more tips and tricks on storage.

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

I use a battery tender with an optima battery all the time when the car is not being driven. I have my drivers side window open completely to run the power cord out. In any event, I do not believe gasses from the battery are an issue. On the driver side I put the car cover over the driver side mirror. My '68 is not very air tight. I have been doing this for years now, and never had any problems with the battery which is about 7 years old.

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Thanks guys for all of your help. For some reason I wasn't getting email notifications on your replies. Think I have that fixed now.

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