I have two cars, one inherited, the other a long term project I won't be getting to for a while. There is space in the yard to park them nicely out of the way and basically out of sight. Its a dirt/moss/grass surface.

Can anybody recommend a good cheap way to prepare the surface to park the cars over? I don't want to park them on bare dirt and grass for rust reasons, I was thinking about buying some gravel or plywood and making a space, any suggestions?

The idea is to try and keep the rusting down while they sit out there.

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Gravel would be ok, or, you could just lay a tarp down. Spray the under side of the car with wd 40 or some other water repellant.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

get a few jack stands and let the car sit above the dirt, that way you wont get a flat spot in your tires etc

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Put 3-4 inch's of gravel under the car, you have to keep the moisture away.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Gravel over dirt wont keep the moisture away. Cheepest way is to buy a roll of visqueen(plastic) park car on top of and weigh down the edges. I've parked on gravel over dirt before and it does not block the ground moisture.

I agree--use polyethylene sheeting to prevent moisture from the ground affecting the car.

Its cheap, quick, easy, and it works. If you'd like to spread some gravel on top for aesthetic reasons, go ahead. If you do that, you should use at least 6mil poly under gravel.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

great suggestions thanks!

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On the ground DUH!!

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You get lots of rain/snow? That will mix with dirt, leaves etc. and end up molding on top of the tarp, so be sure to wash that off regularly or it will be just as though the car were on the ground. If you can keep people (particularly little kids) away from it, consider setting it on concrete blocks so it's up some, that will attenuate the moisture issue.

Ixnay on the plywood.

Use a load of large crushed rock trucked in.

As time goes by, the crushed rock will be consumed (covered) by the grass - but the subsurface will be an acceptable parking surface. Keep this area mowed short!

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

Four sleep-number beds. "My car's number is 2000..."

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Try to make sure the car cover you use is water repellent. Some of the cheaper car covers just soak the water up and let it get to your car's surface.
They make water repellent car covers with downward facing vents to promote air flow to some extent as well. Nothing too fancy, but could reduce or eliminate chances of surface rust forming, etc...

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2006 BMW M5 "Heidi" @ 109,000 miles
2005 MBZ C55 AMG "Lorelai" @ 165,000 miles
1991 MBZ 300E "Benzachino II" @ 165,000 miles
1990 MBZ 500SL "Shoshanna" @ 118,000 miles

(On the hunt for a good used M103 engine as of 6/10/23, PM me if you have one to sell!)

also be aware of mice. they love to live and chew on long term stored cars. I store my car inside an attached garage so I havent had any issue. but I always flip down my sunvisers as it is a perfect perch for chewing the headliner. metal jackstands and remove the tires makes the most sense to me as it limits their access a little better, and if you can crawl under and stuff any openings with stainless steel or copper wool. car covers are a toss up for an outside stored car, they can blow in the wind and any dust that gets under will act as an abrasive.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

In a barn with a wood floor. Hands down the best unless you want to spend a fortune on climate control. The wood floor should be at least 18" above the dirt or gravel.

I have seen a great many cars come from wood floor barns and look new underneath. But I have seen cars on concrete with plastic and they still rust because the moisture can still float around the room when the concrete sweats.

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1991 560 SEL / 185k miles
1992 750il / 17k miles - project car

Hrmm I wonder if you got a giant foodsaver bag and just vacuum sealed the car in a giant baggy. haha.

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