Hi All,

Friend of mine is borrowing our garage to store his Fiesta for 6months (the boss!). Any advice on how to lay it up, or would you simply drive it in and leave it..

Current plan is to remove the battery, thus on his return we can fully charge it before starting it up..

Cheers

Dan

There will just be a rusty stain on the garage floor where the Fiesta used to sit when you go back in next spring, so I wouldn't worry about it either way

Only for 6 mohts id drive it in leabve it in gear with no handbrake on, disconnect the battery and leave it there,.

As zil said itl rust away either way.

Disconnect battery and leave handbrake off.

Also , pump up the tyres hard or put on stands/blocks - 6 months is enough to deform them if left in the same position.

I have to do this every year to my car engined boat ( water gets very stiff in December till end of March)
Wash the car. Put fresh gas in the tank with stabilizer, go to the marine store and get engine storage spray.
Upon returning the stabilizer will have worked it's way through the system.
Take the aircleaner off and squirt the storage spray into the engine until it stops running.
Put a plastic bag over the exhaust, and between the aircleaner and throttle body or carburettor and replace the filter. Place a note to remove the plastic from the air intake before attempting to start engine.
If you have the equipment jack the car up and put on axle stands letting the suspension hang down.
Place a few moth balls in the interior to ward off rodents.
Now pull the battery and place off the floor on bench or piece of wood.
If the garage floor is concrete or asphalt throw a tarp over it, if dirt floor leave uncovered.
Now you can leave it as long as you like.

Most important thing is to put it away on a dry day and get it warmed up fully before you put it away --- warm up everything including the brakes and clutch
If it were mine I would change the oil for fresh 5w/30 fully synthetic a few days before putting the car into storage and put Redex in the fuel tank to protect the injectors and valves and cylinder bores.
Also top up the coolant with correct grade anti-freeze (ie Blue green or pink-orange OAT)

As suggested earlier in the thread always leave the handbrake off.

Fuel should be OK for 6 months over the winter.

Battery will have to be disconnected but leave it in place. Every month or two giving the engine a start and working through gears is a good idea --- stops the clutch sticking to the flywheel. But if you do get the engine properly warm ie at least 30minutes running.

[Edited on 28/9/09 by britishtrident]