Stored car is rotting from the bottom up, stored in garage!


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Old 01-15-10, 08:11 AM
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Stored car is rotting from the bottom up, stored in garage!

The gods are against me, so it would seem. Here you store away a car, only to find water beeds on bottom side of car, the brakes, door panels, every front end part/attachment point, etc.

If any of you are doing this, be sure to look and make sure this is not happening to you!!!

Although my garage is a machine shed, with no concrete floor. Has dirt floor with carpet on it. Over moist land. Even with the extreme cold weather, I believe warmer moisture must be rising from below, and then when it hits the metal of the car, it forms condensation beads due to the principles regarding the dewpoint, and then the rotting process begins. Here I even had previously oil - treated inside the doorpanels - and even THOSE areas are rusting!!!!

Any of you remember this lengthy thread?, from maybe 8 months ago?, where this knowledgeable guy was explaining scientifically why he did not believe a mobile home should rot out from beneath, even though a lake of water could be under the trailer? And there was discussion as to whether venting of the trailer skirting was needed or not? Remember that thread? This comes to mind now, with my garage scenario. Maybe if the car were say 1 to 2 feet higher off the ground (like a trailer), this condensation would not happen. But the Dodge sits very low to the ground. Low enough you cannot even slip a compressed scissor jack under front end parts near the wheel to raise it.

In due time, if I were to say strip parts off that 91 Dodge and put on my 90, and then have whats left towed out of the garage, it conceivably could fall apart while doing this, in a number of years!, in theory.

I recently swapped out wheels/tires from this car to my present 90. What a rusty mess. And rust like this also likes to pick on welds like how they weld tire wheels together! Lucky I was pleasantly surprised I was still able to remove the lug nuts.

Here I thought I might resurrect that vehicle. Now it is looking less probable. While trying to jack up the car, the rocker panel started crunching and caving in and popping outward, so I had to jack up somewhere else.

I thought this post might make others aware of a similar situation in their garage. Something worth checking, anyway.

Perhaps if one were to first lay down heavy visqueen plastic on the garage floor first, might be the answer. Right now I cannot do that to mine since too many parts have been stripped, and a tractor that is not going to start very well in the winter, is parked in front of it.

A word of advise would also be to first wash all the salts off from the car, including the bottom, as salts attract moisture!
 
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Old 01-15-10, 11:37 AM
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Years ago a coworker who had a hot rod in a detached unheated garage said he put a plastic tarp under the car just for the reason you stated. He said moisture comes up from the ground.
 
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Old 01-15-10, 02:58 PM
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Ya live and you learn. Sometimes the hardway first.

It would not be too late for that car if I could move it. But I might just junk out the carcas anyway. So far it has a severly blown head gasket or cracked head (she really let go right after I tightened down the headbolts more with a cheater pipe lolol ), to the point coolant sits in the #1 cylinder like an aquarium. And I stripped out the ignition, and the turn/wiper arm switch, and the headlight bulbs, and 2 of the best wheels/tires. The radio might be next, unless I can figure out why the current car radio buzzes (with no other reception) out the speakers more often than not. It be my luck I'd scrap the thing and one of my windows will get broken out the next day, or something. I know I can't let that car stay in that garage forever anyway. Sometimes you just haven't got room to store things for just-in-case scenarios, unfortunately.
 
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Old 01-15-10, 03:49 PM
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It sounds like you thought about taking the potentially useful parts out of it for your '90 and having the rest hauled off. That sounds like a good idea.
 
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Old 01-15-10, 05:47 PM
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My landlord told me a similar story about 20 years ago with all the same conditions.

It was somekind of rare restored muscle car that was stored in a detached garage with a dirt floor.
The entire under carriage rusted out!

I once stored a rust free 1967 Buick Skylark in a rented barn in Pennsylvania with no doors and within 2 months all of its original chrome had pitted.

Bumpers, door handles, sideveiw mirror.....you get the picture.
I should have left it sit on the street instead.

I went to check on it and to my surprise saw how the fog from the farm pasture was rolling right through the barn where mine and another guys classic was stored.
I got it out of there shortly after.
 
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Old 01-16-10, 01:00 PM
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Originally Posted by mickblock
It sounds like you thought about taking the potentially useful parts out of it for your '90 and having the rest hauled off. That sounds like a good idea.
Yes. And I'd hang onto the thing (in the garage) indefinitely for more of the same reason. But I cannot keep it in there indefinitely as this will lead to family bickering.
 
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Old 01-16-10, 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Mackey
My landlord told me a similar story about 20 years ago with all the same conditions.

It was somekind of rare restored muscle car that was stored in a detached garage with a dirt floor.
The entire under carriage rusted out!

I once stored a rust free 1967 Buick Skylark in a rented barn in Pennsylvania with no doors and within 2 months all of its original chrome had pitted.

Bumpers, door handles, sideveiw mirror.....you get the picture.
I should have left it sit on the street instead.

I went to check on it and to my surprise saw how the fog from the farm pasture was rolling right through the barn where mine and another guys classic was stored.
And this is why I thought this thread was of great significance. How many people would think your vehicle could turn into a rust heap when stored in the garage?!!!!! Ranks right up there with concentrated sunlight melting/warping vinyl siding!
 
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Old 01-16-10, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by ecman51`
Ranks right up there with concentrated sunlight melting/warping vinyl siding!
Hey, I heard that!

I guess living in colder climates has its disadvantages when it comes to car preservation.
 
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Old 01-18-10, 03:53 PM
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Extreme cold for cars isn't good. Fluids can congeal. It can make tires run out of round for a while. Tires lose air pressure. And if below zero far enough one starts getting that uneasy feeling that even metal part could just snap off - like fearing your wheel spindle could snap off if you rounded a corner too hard while hitting a bump at the same time, for example - let alone plastic parts, hoses, etc. Then there is shrinkage of metal parts, including electrical connections. Or your belts getting loose, slipping and/or squealing. Or having the engine tolerances have to put up with a swing in temperature from way below 0 to hundreds of degrees. Having your new wiper blades glued to the windshield with ice - or turning them on and having them wipe back and forth over lumpy ice. And having snow-ice jamb below the bottommost point of the wiper blade travel. The fear of chipping ice on your windshield and maybe having it crack. Then there is road salt. And having melted saltwater form crystalized rings on your carpeted floor or mats. Etc.

But who would have bet that storinng a car out of the weather, could make it turn into a rust heap on ya.?
 
 

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