Barn Storage Tips

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Bigdibbs88

Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
5
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Location
Midwest
My Car
1971 Mach 1
....other than "don't" :D .  I'm planning to buy a new house in a year or year and a half, but until them I'm stuck with what I've got.  It's either this or outside.  The barn is about 150 years old and is structurally sound but is obviously not at all air tight or insulated.  I live in Michigan, so the weather sucks and humidity can too.  Anyways, the barn is built into a hill with a lower level (where the car will be stored) with 2.5 sides beneath ground level.  I've repaired windows and closed up as many large openings as I can to prevent animals from entering.  I've been told to put plastic or a large tarp under the car, and cover it with a breathable car cover, and maybe loosely put a tarp over that.  I'd appreciate any other recommendations!

 
One thing I did that seemed to work well was to soak cotton balls in peppermint extract. I then placed them in packs of aluminum foil and placed them all over the cars, inside and in the trunk and motor areas.

Ray

 
One thing I did that seemed to work well was to soak cotton balls in peppermint extract. I then placed them in packs of aluminum foil and placed them all over the cars, inside and in the trunk and motor areas.

Ray

+1  I do this to my car every year.  Poke small holes with a pin in the aluminum foil too.  Few other things I have done in the past that has worked for me is to put dryer sheets in the car just like the peppermint balls. My parents store their mustang with Irish Spring bar soap cut up into chunks and placed through out the car.

 
Good tips, BUT take it from me, DO NOT PUT MOTH BALLS in your car!!! The vapours will take every bit of "chrome" off your plastic trim.

Back in the early 80's, I was told to use moth balls (didn't know moth's had balls!) in the car when I stored my 72 Mach 1 in a barn for 5 years. When I finally went to bring it to my new house, all the chrome was gone from the trim.

Geoff.

Edit note: I forgot to mention that I still had a rat family in the car. How it got in I have no idea. There were no holes anywhere, no rust, nothing and the car was up 18" on custom jack stands. A mystery I never figured out. Damn thing chewed a hole in my pristine rear seat!!

 
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Ok I am a pro at this, lol. My car sat in a pole barn for 37 years. Yes I had plenty of mice get in, snakes and other critters, lol.

I did put plastic down under the car. If you can jack the car up and put at least two 8" concrete blocks under each tire that gets the floor up away from moisture also.

Yes on the car cover. I always had a cover on my Mach 1.

Never leave a battery in the car remove it and wash the area with baking soda to kill any acid residue there.

I would completely drain the gas tank if possible.

You can mix up some oil and gas and squirt down carb while running to lube the valves and cylinders good before shutting off.

If you put jack stands under the car you can ruin your rubber bushings on the shocks and radius rods unless you block the upper control arms from dropping too low.

Now to keep the critters out. There are a couple places that they can easily get into the car. The most obvious is the cowl vents, cowl drains and a couple places in the trunk.

I have put pictures of the cowl and this is what I am doing during the clean up of my car and I have already done to my 73 vert.

I got 1/4" mesh wire from hardware. I zip tied pieces under the plastic cowl vent covers. I had the heater box out so I also put a piece over the cowl opening to the heater box. For the two drains on the cowl I push stainless steel scrubber pads into the opening. Water can drain but mice cannot get in. You do not have to pull the fenders just pull the plastic grills and reach inside and push into the drain holes. You might find a nest in there now.

In the trunk lots of times the rubber plugs in the drop offs get pulled out. Perfect place for a mouse to get in.

I use the electronic repellents in my 4,000 sq. ft. garage. I keep bags of corn in there to feed the deer and turkeys and have not had any mice in three years. You could put them in the barn and one in car also.

A mouse can just 3 feet up. One time we had a smart mouse that you could not trap in the kitchen. Me and my son sat and waited for it. It came out and climbed up the cabinets to get to the bread. We rushed in and it jumped off the counter and ran down the steps to the game room. On the way after it I grabbed a tennis racquet hanging on the wall. We cornered it and that thing was going crazy jumping up. So I gave it a good forehand with the racquet while in the air and bounced it off the wall, lol.

I think the mice use the dryer sheets to build nest with, lol.

You can see in the pics of the car the paint stayed in great shape. The aluminum trim did not. So go around the aluminum trim on windows and drip rails and tail lights and apply good coat of wax to help corrosion. I just finished polishing all the aluminum that was a chore.

The first series of pics is how the car looked after 37 years sitting in the barn and had not been washed. I have the interior out, suspension off and engine coming out when helper can show up. Got one more month to have back together to go to museum.

































 
Hi guys- thanks for all the reply's. I should have mentioned in my original post that the car is basically a barn find that I'm going to fix up. So right now its in its unrestored state, theres not much of anything in the interior and the motor/trans etc need to be pulled and rebuilt. The body is solid with only air rust and I'm trying to keep it stable and prevent it from advancing. I've got big tarps down on the floor and will try to set it up higher and also try the peppermint extract and mothballs around the exterior.

 
Ahhh, barn finds... they always illicit magical thoughts... but, the reality is far more concerning... I think other's have come up with some good storage ideas here... I bought this car sight unseen, so, the only magic waiting for me was when it first came off the delivery truck and I realized what I had gotten my self into :) Moisture control is the key... Good luck.

429cj Convertible in barn.jpg

convertible34.jpg

convertible32.jpg

429cj Convertible leaving barn.jpg

 
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The best way to store a barn:

Find a flat piece of ground (better yet, a concrete slab) and place it down. Put a fence around it, and then paint the barn red. If possible, keep it out of the weather. It should last a good 50-100 years if kept away from tornadoes.

 
has anybody used a carcapsule in a similar situation? If so, im curious if they work in humid environments? According to the website the carcapsule works by circulating the air and thereby prevents condensation from forming, but not humidity. So essentially you're just circulating humid air over your car. I dont see how that solves anything...what am i missing?

 
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