I have a 92 carbed automatic that I have decided to take off the road for a few months in order to avoid salt and high insurance bills.

What are some things that should be done before storage? I'm mostly concerned about the carb gumming up so was planning on taking it off and draining it.

Any other ideas?

 

As for the fuel system, fill the tank up with gas and put a bottle of Sta-Bil into it.

If you're going to keep it in your own garage, start it up once a week or so. If not, then there are some things usually mentioned for more "permanent" storage. Usually suggested is to drain the coolant along with some other things. I'm in class right now so I can't say a whole lot, nor do I remember a whole lot about it right now.

Throw a bunch of silica gel packets in the car as well.

 

If it's only a few months, there's no need to drain anything, just put some fuel stabilizer in your tank, and run the car for sometime to have the fuel reach the carb.
For good storage info look at WWW.ENGINEWISE.CO.UK
the evaporation oil is very good!!
Consider to charge the battery every month (take the leads of!)
Put some more air in your tyres, to avoid flat spots.
Clean the car inside and out, maybe put a breathable cover over it, that's about it.
Oh, and DON'T start the car every once in a while, the condensation built up inside your engine will do a lot of harm to it!

 

I am asuming you are going to store it in a garage? A garage is a good thing.

I wouldn't go as far as to remove the carb, I would put some Stabil (or other gas treatment for storage) in the tank and top it off. Then drive it around for a few miles to get the treated gas up into the carb. Park it, then cover it. Just my humble opinion.

Mine has been in storeage for 2.5 years during a restoration, and the gas is still good. Just fired up engine 2 weeks ago with treated gas that has been in car for 6 months or so. Popped right off.

I did have to get a dehumidifier for the garage to keep the humidity down. The body is in real nice shape for a 17 year old car, and it is getting a complete resto in April 05, but the humidity was starting to grow a little rust. In the winter months, if you can, put the car in a garage that has a heater (electric or vented only), and maintain a temp around 50*F, you will limmit the temp swings, and reduce condensation in the garage which will also reduce corrosion.

I know that not everybody is fortunate enough to have a heated garage, but at least a $50-75 per month storage garage with a concrete floor is better than a barn with a dirt floor, or driveway out in the weather. Its a small price to pay to preserve your baby. (make sure you have fire insurance on it, so when the guy running the meth lab in the stall next to yours burns the whole storage garage down your covered)

EDIT: Don't forget to change the oil before storage and right after, as the moister build up in the oil during storage can create a build up of sulfuric acid in the oil (Carbon + water = acid). I don't know how much of a concern this really is, I read it in a mag article a long time ago and it is cheap insurance to just do it. So I do.

 

Do not start your car every week. Just let it sit. All of the oil will settle and slowly drain to the pan and you only want to start the motor once while it is in this state. Not 30 times or so throughout the winter. Invest in Bounce Dryer sheets. Proven to deter rodents. I use them constantly after they proved themselves effective. Fuel stabilizer is good and so is a full gas tank. Don't worry about jacking your car up or anything crazy like that. If anything put a few carpet sqaures under the tires. As always, please search. This topic has already been discussed a dozen or so time this year alone. Add up all preveous winters this site has been around and I would say you have a lot of reading to do.