{"id":22378,"date":"2022-04-26T11:32:07","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T15:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americancollectors.com\/?p=22378"},"modified":"2023-07-21T17:04:16","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T21:04:16","slug":"how-to-prepare-your-car-for-show-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americancollectors.com\/articles\/how-to-prepare-your-car-for-show-season\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prepare Your Collector Car for Show Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prepare Your Classic Car:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The long awaited arrival of Spring has made its debut, which also means it’s car show season!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before pulling your collector car out of storage and hitting the road, now would be a good time to do some pre-driving maintenance on your car, if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We put together a short list of items that we on the insurance side of the equation, see as important areas to cover (particularly from a claims standpoint).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without further ado \u2013 let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you follow our advice and prepared your classic car for winter storage<\/a>, then you may need to address a few items such as installing the battery in the vehicle, lowering it down off the jack stands, and airing up the tires. If you haven\u2019t done so yet, now\u2019s the time to put that battery on a trickle charger and get it up to full cranking amps.\u00a0 While installing it in the car, pay particular attention to cleaning the positive and negative terminals. Now is a good time to check those wires heading to the starter solenoid and ground -checking for nicks, frays, insulation tears and loose terminal connections. When in doubt, replace with new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the battery and charging system is checked out, move on to the fluids. Make sure to check engine oil, coolant and transmission oil levels.  And when was the last time you checked the power steering reservoir or flushed the brake system with new DOT 3 or 4?  If the car is still in the air on jack stands, remove the wheels, grab a mechanical friend, bleed those brakes and check brake pad and shoe thickness.  (those with drums \u2013 when was the last time you adjusted shoes?  Or checked the brake cylinders for leaks?)  Rubber flex lines? Check those too for wear marks\/bulges or cracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think you’re ready to turn the key and crank her up? Not quite yet. We\u2019ve seen our share of stuck floats and backfires. If you don\u2019t have a good fire extinguisher in your garage yet, put down the tools and head to your local hardware or automotive store to get yourself a good ABC fire extinguisher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro Tip #1:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roll your car out of its garage space before you turn that key and flood those carbs. Stuck floats, leaky bowls, split fuel lines, dried out diaphragms, you name it, we\u2019ve seen them all be the cause of that four letter \u201cF\u201d word \u2013 FIRE.  And once it starts, you open the hood to see what\u2019s wrong, and \u2018woosh!\u2019, the fire is now to the height of the ceiling in your garage. Panic sets in, and we\u2019ve got not only a car fire, but a house fire as well. Take it from us, pull\/push your car outside of the garage, have fire extinguisher nearby, and then proceed with startup. The house\/car you save, may just be your own!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro Tip #2:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tires aired up and checked for pressure? Check for dry rot, cracking, and if you can find them, check the date codes. Most vintage cars never wear out tires, they \u2018time out\u2019 due to age.  When was the last time they were replaced?  And did you know that tires rot from the inside too? Do you want to risk the delamination game whereby the tire turns into a weed-wacker and tears up your fender at 55 mph? Pro tip #2 \u2013 air up the tires before you roll the car out \u2013 it makes it easier to push!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you checked the coolant level, and engine oil? By the way, when was the last time you changed the oil? You can’t remember?! Now that you\u2019ve prepared the car for startup, -fire it up and do a once over while it sits there idling.  Check for fuel leaks around the carb (if equipped), fuel pump, lines, etc.  Oil leaks?  Coolant circulating properly? (hoses aren\u2019t bulging or weeping?) All systems \u2018go\u2019? Sounds like you\u2019re ready for a quick jaunt around the block or even further. But before you do, make sure that you\u2019ve got your most recent Auto Insurance I.D. Card in the car with you. Can’t locate it? Give us a call<\/a>, and we\u2019ll be happy to send you one immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro Tip #3:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make your own checklist before heading out to start the car for the first time. Every car is unique over the 100+ years of manufacture, and there\u2019s no way that we could call out each car\u2019s unique procedure here in this brief article. Make your list \u2013 you know your car best, and make it happen. Car driving season is here and we want you to enjoy it fully without incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before pulling your collector car out of storage and hitting the road this Spring, now would be a good time to do some pre-driving maintenance on your car, if you haven\u2019t already.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"content-type":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548,229,2690],"tags":[],"resource-type":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-22378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-practices","category-collecting-101","category-collectors-corner"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow 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