I live in the northeast and will be storing my car around the end of October to around April. I will occasionally start it up, but once the salt its the ground, I wont be driving it.
My question is, should I use a gas stabilizer or do they cause problems. Also, if I should use one, any brand in particular ?
Thanks

I use it. I put it in the boat & vehicles that won't move for awhile. Keeps the fuel from laquering as fast from what I understand & helps keep it fresher. I know that before I started using it I had to clean out the carb on the boat before it would idle. Now it can sit for 5-6 months and just fire right up.

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Steve
67 396 race car project
67 SS 396,4-sp mothballed for resto
67 RS 327,4-sp
72 RS 350/350, under current resto
69 4X4 suburban 350,4-sp
73 3/4 ton 454/400
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Yeah, fuel stabilizer is the stuff! I use it in everything, especially small engines like the lawnmower and any 2 stroke. In the car, it keeps the needle and seat from gumming up, and ensures that the fuel doesn't oxidize and muck up the innards of the carb. Makes for easier starting in spring too.

I will doing some body and suspension work this winter and plan to have the fuel tank removed. I have a newly rebuilt 350 in it. What should I do for winterization? Should I run a temp fuel line into a gas can to start it periodically or run the carb dry and let it set?

Fuels have changed dramatically over the last 20 years. Complete chemical changes have increased the shelf life or tank life of gasoline. This is especially true with high octane fuels with lots of toluene and xylene.

Typical shelf lives of gasoline has tripled in this time period. If you are worried about 100 days..don't. If you are sitting all winter....different story even tho I have done it without harm or gumming.

Sta-bil won't hurt tho....and is cheap insurance.

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STEVE JACK
ConceptOne Pulleys and Brackets
Northern/Southern Rodder Magazine's "Jack'Stands" author and creator
Techical forum/links at www.inccn.net/techforum.htm (http://www.inccn.net/techforum.htm)

If your tank is out anyway, just run the carb dry. If you are worried about gaskets and seals drying out, you may want to just rub a thin film of oil on them with your finger, although I have never had this happen personally. When I stored my car without stabilizer, I used to stuff a screwdriver into the rubber end of the disconnected fuel line (at carb) and run the carb dry. Oh, the screwdriver was just to plug the hose so no fuel pumped out, so a pen or something would work too, heheh.

we do the opposite...here in az,we start enjoying our cars from now untill about july.then park them untill it cools down..unless the car has air conditioning....then its year around use ..

Oh you, why I oughtta... http://www.camaros.net/forum/wink.gif . Lucky bugger, living somewhere where your sidewalk always shows cement, heh. Sadly, up here, I can only drive my car for 3 months a year, give or take. IF it isn't winter, then it is rain, which is just as bad for rust. Ther is one advantage to owning the beast and living up here: it is certain to last longer http://www.camaros.net/forum/biggrin.gif . Us Canucks don't get much of a chance to wear out our engines, even in the race cars, lol.

Take care,
BW

IMO it's better to leave the carb with Sta-Bil treated gas in it ratter than dry. Think it says that somewhere in the label. The only thing that I have to store away is the emergency generator and so far so good. The other day I removed the carb bowl just to check and it was filled with gas and in perfect condition. Not the same with my father's generator, he left it with just gasoline and it has created some kinda white barnish which has affected its performance.

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Our affair with Camaros is a live sentence without the possibility of parole. www.geocities.com/c68ss (http://www.geocities.com/c68ss) http://home.coqui.net/borench

I am a professional Outdoor Power Equipment Technician by trade, have owned my own company since 1996, and I know exactly what happens to small engines when gas is left in them. If you want that unit to start again after storage, either use stabilizer, or run 'er dry. Any other approach will certainly gum up the carb. The jets in these things are so small that the wire from a garbage tie barely fits into them. The slightest oxidization of the fuel will really bugger these things up. Thankfully, the big carbs on our cars aren't so vulnerable to this oxidization. Still, get the gas out if you are going to store it, this is your best bet. Second resort, stabilize it, that way you don't end up with cement parts that used to be rubber 6 months back! As for your father's Genny, ORENCH, if I was thee, I would be a good son and turn your dad on to some good stabilizer, [poke poke], heh. http://www.camaros.net/forum/wink.gif

I recomended to him before, now he has learned his lesson. http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif

Interesting reading on gas shelf life. Around here marine mechanics are having a hay day with the fuel not staying strong for over a month. Folks who leave their 4cycle boat motors sitting for a month cant start them. They have to run a 2 part treatment thru the engines to clean them up. The mechanics at the boat stores say its due to state mandated clean air ingredients in the gas. Ethanol I believe. Now they sell a ton of those treatments instead of hauling the boats into the shop.
Ive used my synthetic 2 cycle oil in weed whip and blower and left it over the winter and its always started in spring. I think the oil does some stablizig or none of them would start. Just my 2cents. http://www.camaros.net/forum/smile.gif
click

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69RS 350/255 LM1, Balanced, TRW forged pistons, .30 over, TH-350 auto.,
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I used to use additive, but not any more. I haven't used any for probably 5 years now. I've never had a problem (knock on wood, LOL!) Snowmobiles, lawnmower, motocross bike, etc...

Just my $0.02 worth. http://www.camaros.net/forum/tongue.gif

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Pics of my 69 (http://webpages.charter.net/gulb93/index.htm)

I agree with Breathweapon. Get the fuel out period! I myself have a hell of a time keeping that 4053 fresh. Holley Tech has recomended for storage any longer than one month to remove the float bowels and spray the carb wiht WD40. I will surely be doing this come winter.

I've been storing cars during our long 5-month winters (in the garage) for over 40 years, and have never done anything to them except to change the oil and fill the tank before putting them away, and have never had any kind of problem with them - just connect the battery and fire 'em up and drive when Spring comes. Starting them periodically when stored is not a good idea - they never get hot enough to let the oil heat up and boil off the condensed moisture and blow-by contaminants that form in the pan from the rich cold-start mixture, and it just adds more acidic junk to the oil. You're better off to take it out and drive it for at least ten miles if the roads are dry so the oil gets up to full temperature, or just leave it alone until Spring. Gas will stay fresh a lot longer in cold temps than it will in hot temps - the light fractions evaporate a lot faster with higher temperatures.

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JohnZ
CRG
'69 Z28 Fathom Green

I agree with JohnZ. Don't start it in the cold !! Leave it alone until spring. I would (and do) run fuel stabilizer though. Make sure you run the motor long enough to get the stabilizer into the carb.!! Don't just dump it in. That is only good for whats in the tank.

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69 Camaro Z28 "clone" - 327 AT
"461" camel back heads,
edelbrock , hooker, ultradyne cam, stewart,
TRW etc.
Vintage Air (not yet installed)
700R4 TPI transmission

Believe it or not it gets pretty cold here in the desert in the winter. Albuquerque is 5000 ft. in altitude. However there are always some 50 degree days or better every month to take the Camaro out to stretch her legs, so I don't bother with the Sta-Bil.