When winter arrives and you live in a cold climate, it's time to get your vintage car off the road and ready for storage. The one thing you should not overlook is how to get the car battery ready for winter storage. If you do not do this properly, come spring you'll have a dead battery or worse. It's possible the battery will crack, leak acid and pose an explosion or fire hazard.
Use a socket wrench to disconnect the negative cable from the battery. Then disconnect the positive cable. Do not reverse this order or you could get shocked or short your car's electrical system. Remove the battery from the car.
Mix a 1-to-3 ratio of baking soda to cold water in a cup. Use a stiff scrub brush with the mix to scrub off all corrosion and rust from the battery holder tray in the engine compartment. Dry the tray with a towel. Scrub the ends of the battery cables clean with the mix as well and apply a light coating of anti-corrosive grease to them. You can find this grease, also called terminal grease, at any auto hardware store.
Clean the terminal posts on the battery with the baking soda mix and a terminal brush. Terminal brushes are specially designed with the bristles inside a round holder. Push the brush onto the post so the post is inside the terminal brush. Twist the brush to clean corrosion off the terminal. Lightly coat the terminals with the anti-corrosive grease.
Store the battery in a protected environment like a garage or basement. A protected environment should have a temperature that never goes below freezing.
