- Winter Projects for When Roads Are Slick - Friedrich Bohringer
The end of summer can be a sad time for car enthusiasts living in northern climates. The air picks up a chill. The leaves turn color. The days get shorter and shorter. The car shows are over for the year and it's time to put your sweet summer ride into winter storage.
Don't despair, car lovers, winter offers up some special opportunities to enjoy your ride even if you can't take it out for a cruise. Icy winter months are the perfect time to take on winter projects. Winter projects are the tasks and repair work you might have put off in summer because you didn't want to be left without your car when the fun was happening.
Types of Car Winter Projects
Winter projects can be as simple or as complicated as you like and there are three main types.
- Mechanical
- Exterior cosmetic projects
- Interior cosmetic projects
Mechanical Winter Projects
Mechanical projects can be further broken down into major mechanical projects and minor mechanical projects.
- Major mechanical projects are just what the name implies. These projects include things like changing an engine and overhauling a transmission. They are the things that take your car completely out of commission, for a while, once they are started.
- Minor mechanical projects are also things that take your car out of commission, but only for a day or two. The advantages of taking on small winter projects is, you can take your time, make sure there are no mice setting up house in your car, and you get an extra chance to dream about the fun you're going to have in spring; and that can help brighten a gloomy winter day.
Exterior Cosmetic Projects
Like mechanical projects, exterior cosmetic projects fall into two main categories, major and minor.
- Major exterior projects for cars are things like getting body work done and painting your car. If the car is convertible or has a vinyl top, replacing those are also major projects. Just like big mechanical projects, once major exterior tasks are started the car cannot be driven until the work is done.
- Minor exterior projects include things like touching up paint chips, polishing rims, and making small hand-sewn repairs to lightly damaged convertible tops.
Interior Cosmetic Projects
Interior projects make up the third category of winter projects for your car. Following the theme of the other two project categories, you can go major or stay small with these tasks.
- Major interior projects include a total interior redo or trimming one of the major interior parts. The interior work that counts as major, for most trimmers, includes headliners, carpet replacement, seat reupholstery, panel replacement, and trunk lining.
- Minor interior projects are the things that can be finished up in a few hours, like hand-sewing a loose seam and gluing a loose piece of fabric or carpet back into its original position.
Using the winter season to take care of major and minor car repairs means when spring rolls around, bringing its nice weather, your car will be ready to roll, too.
Laure Justice - Laure is a Topic Editor for Suite101, covering three topics. View her full profile for details and contact information.
