Get your classic ready for the spring and summer

Classic car maintenance is something every enthusiast should be familiar with – and it plays a crucial role in how quickly you can recommission your car for the spring and summer months. While warmer weather is – for the most part – kinder to an older vehicle, the way in which it sits out the winter months is also significant.

That’s saying nothing of the hardy souls who drive their classics daily throughout the year, come rain, shine, sleet or snow.

Their ongoing routines will centre around preventing corrosion in cold weather, with more regular mechanical maintenance required than a car left in winter storage.

1. Get the car looked over before you take to the road

Tax exempt historic vehicles may not require an MoT, but they have to be roadworthy at all times.
Before you commit to any kind of trip, no matter how small, it’s worth taking your car to a classic-friendly garage to have a professional check it over to see if anything has deteriorated.

Once a classic is more than 40 years old, the MoT can either be voluntary (you can submit the car for a test) or you can ask for the car to be tested to MoT standard without a formal test taking place (your garage may still charge a fee).

Concerns were raised when Classic Car Weekly found that 13,000 historic (pre-1982) vehicles failed voluntary MoT tests last year.

2. Is it licenced for the road?

Remember to take your car off Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) and declare it road fund licence (tax) exempt when you use it again.

You may not have to pay anything to ‘tax’ the car but you could be fined if the car is still on SORN on the highway or undeclared yearly as a historic vehicle.

3. You may have more to do if the car sits outside

Winter storage is entirely dependent on budget; cars like to be used and keeping them outdoors without moving will put the bodywork, paintwork, brakes, tyres and exhaust at risk, eventually hastening their demise.

A car cover is a definite must for outdoor storage, whatever the weather – though debate rages as to how good such items are for the car’s paintwork. A moving cover can scratch the paint, trap moisture and allow the surface to bloom or crack.

The better covers will be breathable to a degree, fitting the car’s shape so that it can’t easily break loose.

Any known rust spots will of course be open to the elements – places like wheel arches won’t have water or stones flung into them, but pre-sealing any breaks in the paint or scuffs with a rust blocker will leave you with less rectification work in the spring and summer.

If you’re not looking to repair bubbles or slowly emerging rust spots, you’ll have to periodically check the treatment (and re-apply it if necessary).

Waste oil, grease or rust blocker can all help protect vulnerable surfaces, particularly if the car remains outside after you’ve begun driving it again.

4. There’s still plenty to do if the car is kept indoors

A car cover is more useful indoors as, without weather, it will stop dust and debris clogging the pores of the paint provided the garage is well-ventilated. Putting a car indoors won’t make invulnerable, but deterioration is slowed down.

Mechanical checks still apply if the car is garaged, too. Tyre pressures need to be checked; ideally, you’ll have placed the car on axle stands off the ground to take the weight off the tyres, which, if not over inflated, may have flat spotted.

While you’re there, check the tread depth and the sidewalls for cracks; tyre experts say that tyres, even if kept in dark storage, should be replaced every five years, with a decade being the upper limit.

If you’re prudent enough to run winter tyres on your classic, now’s the time to change them for summer equivalents. In the same way soft compound tyres struggle in snow, mud and deep rain, winter tyres aren’t designed for warmer temperatures.

A trickle charger is useful all year round, even when recommissioning a classic for spring or summer, as it keeps the battery maintained. Electrical connections tend to fail in older vehicles, especially in the boot area as they’re normally exposed to whatever you’ve placed in the boot, particularly if you’re storing things in there.

Check the levels in the engine bay before you move the car – brake fluid, clutch fluid and engine oil. Washer fluid isn’t a bad idea, either. It’s a good idea to replace (or at least gap) spark plugs before you fire the car up again for the first time.

It's also wise to see if any animals have taken up residence in the engine bay – mice and birds can nibble on wiring, eat sections of rubber hoses or connectors to make nests, and store nuts inside empty spaces.

If you forget to check for things like this, you could easily damage other components, start leaks, or even end up with a fire.

Climb inside the cabin, and repeat the process, making sure you free off the clutch pedal (if applicable) and checking all essential controls move and function as they did when you left them.

The fuel tank is also important. You’ll have hopefully brimmed the tank before leaving it any amount of time; consensus on fuel is that it’s good for around 6-9 months before you get problems, but you can get products like fuel stabiliser which will extend the life of the fuel without it varnishing.

If not, replace any fuel filters in the system and (depending on the amount of time the car was left for) consider flushing and draining the tank to prevent any issues with rough running.

Maintenance routines also need looking into – but you’ll need to check your owners’ manual for intervals. Oil has a limited lifespan as well as one based on mileage; if a car sits for more than six months, its useful life will have been reduced.

An oil change is probably wise after a period of sitting around; check what sort of oil (mineral, synthetic, part synthetic, fully synthetic) and the viscosity recommended by the manufacturer; handbooks and workshop manuals can help with this.

Brakes can also suffer if left, particularly if a handbrake is left on (better to leave the car in gear or chock the wheels instead); their surfaces will flash over quicker outside than in, and if you have space to free them off before taking the car on a run, consider changing the brakes pads as their faces may be scored or damaged cleaning off the rust (they can remove light surface corrosion but not heavier oxides).

After all that, exercising the car regularly when recommissioned is a must – after checking your lights and wipers work correctly.

The shock of leaving the car in direct sunlight (in the UK) can cause interior trim to wear out faster than you’d like after a long period in storage, so a sunshade for the glass and a dashboard protector is also a worthy investment; store it with the car when it’s out of action.

With your car back up and running, it’s time to scour the event listings for shows to attend – remember that the national event for classics, Drive It Day, coincides with the start of the new season; no matter where you are in the country, it’s a chance for your car to take to road!