Spring Still Hasn't Sprung in Canada

I seriously had hoped to take the Shelby out of storage and switch the RS to summer tires this weekend.  Then southern Ontario is hit with a freezing rain ice storm that  so far has lasted two days.

Okay Winter, Now I'm Ready

Things are certainly cooling off here in Canada.  So with that I reluctantly put away the Shelby this weekend which consists of jacking up the the car and putting jackstands under all four corners.  Every year I dread doing this because of my small one stall garage doesn’t allow much wiggle room, so I don’t feel very safe.  I can’t get to the right side of the car which makes the front passenger side a sketch procedure.  I have to get under the car to do it.  Scares the crap outa me.  But now it’s up and safe from the winter salt and bad drivers.

To also combat the winter issues my wonderful girlfriend bought me an early Xmas gift.  She ordered me some WeatherTech floor mats for the Focus RS.  They have a perfect fit and she even picked up the cargo mat for the back.  So now I have the electronic rust protection, the clear film on the nose, and some WeatherTech mats to keep the winter woes at bay.  So even though I’m driving the RS daily I think I’ve done as much as I can do to protect it.  Now if I can just keep the bad drivers away.

Fall / Winter Update

old pic without newly painted garage

I guess car season is sort of over.  Well at least for the Shelby.  I kinda put the GT500 away for the winter.  I still need to get it up on jack stands and put the trickle charger on.  Secretly I hoped we’d get another warm day but I don’t think it’s gonna happen. So it's pretty much in hibernation.  I switched the RS over to snow tires because in Ontario you never know when the snow is gonna start flying.

The Daily Drive video creation has slowed accordingly.  I might get in a autumn leaves drive in the RS and I’m definitely going to record any heavy snow days to see how well the RS performs in the snow.  There really hasn’t been much automotive news that has any interest for me so not much to talk about lately. 

My job has also been in “crunch mode” so a lot of late nights which doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else.  Only really fun thing has been that now that it’s been getting dark earlier I’ve been able to use my radar detector on my way home.  They are illegal in Ontario so you’ve got to be a little sneaky.  It's fun because in general the police don't expect people to have them so it's a HUGE advantage.

So things are slowing down here at American Motoring but will not stop.  The frost has started so look forward to the RS snow videos. 

Cobra's Do Hibernate

This week Ontario already started spreading salt on the roads so that means it's time for the Cobra to go to sleep for the winter.  Today it was in the low 60s so it was possibly the last day to do outdoor activities without freezing your ass off.  As well as taking down the backyard gazebo and hammock I took the opportunity to put the Cobra into hibernation.

I wanted to get the tires off the ground so they don't get flat spots over the following months.  My garage is tiny as hell so jacking up the car high enough to get jack stands under it was some sketchy shit.  Eventually I got all four tires off the ground and the car is solid without crushing myself.

Next I hooked up a trickle charger.  Normally with my previous cars I would just disconnect the battery for the winter but then you have a whole procedure you need to go through to reset the idle in the summer and I'd rather not do that with the Cobra.  So instead I chose what I hope to be a reliable charger from Canadian tire.  Supposedly you connect it and sort of forget it.  It's supposed to be intelligent enough to know when to battery needs topped off and when it doesn't so it only does what it needed.  The idea of that makes me nervous though.  I don't really want to leave it unattended for weeks in the garage.  So I got it all ready but I'm not going to plug it in for a week or two.  Maybe I'll even just let it run for a bit instead of connecting the charger and only use it when I return to the States for the holidays.

Lastly I put the cover on.  I've never had one before but it came with the car so I might as well use it.  I'm not sure if it's weather proof or not but it's in the garage so I'm sure it will be fine.  Over all it kind of sucks to have to put it away but when everyone is sliding around and cars are caked with salt in the following months I'll be glad it's safe and covered in the garage.  Usually it'll stay there until late April depending on the weather.

Now my attention turns to the Hummer.  It's been acting really damn strange lately and I have some serious concerns regarding it getting me through the winter.  Unlike my Mustang GT I can't really get out the Cobra and drive it of the Hummer was to break down.  So I really need the Hummer to be there for me.  I was thinking of taking it into the shop Monday to see if they can diagnose the issue.  Fingers crossed it won't cost me yet another $2000.  I've already dumped $4000 into it this summer getting it ready for winter.