Jim’s Blog: Project or Storage?

I’ve been watching the leaves change color in my neighborhood over the past few days, and it’s been prompting me to get out and drive my old cars as much as I can before the weather turns south. Here at ACC, we’ve already started work on our annual Scottsdale insider’s guide for the upcoming January auctions. These things together are my annual reminder that winter is coming. Soon.

For a lot of us, that means it’s time to put cars into storage units or garages and turn our attention to other (less interesting) things. If you will be keeping your vehicle inside your garage, you should check the condition of your garage door to determine whether you need a new garage door or not. 

I have a foot planted in both camps. My C10 is a continuing project, while my Caprice is more or less complete and just sitting there in its dry spot. This winter, I’m going to be hunting for a set of black seatbelts for the truck, a driver’s side front wheel well hoop molding (OEM and used, to match the other three), and I still need to make a/c lines so I can charge the system. The Caprice? Well, I might buff and wax it.

I love the summer months for the great driving weather, but there’s something about forced downtime that can really be appealing for us project-minded people — from a basic cleaning of an interior through a complete engine rebuild. With good weather out of the picture, there’s nothing to hurry you through longer, more involved jobs with your old car, assuming you have a warm place to do the work.

How about you? Are you looking forward to some hands-on car time, or are you putting things away and waiting for sunnier days? What projects are you going to tackle? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.