winter oil

My situation is probably slightly different; I recently moved the car from 30+ years in the cozy south (California, Texas & Florida) to the cold harsh environment of Quebec.

 

Last time I did an oil change was last May (in Florida), so I used 20w50 synthetic.  I used that one, because at that time I had serious overheat problems.

 

This weekend, I'm preparing the car for her first winter, but I dont' know which oil I should go for given the drastic change in temperature. 10w30 ???

 

And here's another one while being here.  I had my radiator replaced last April or May by a shop in Florida.  I don't know exactly what they filled it with.  Should I not take a chance and drain it and fill it with antifreeze in case they put too much water in it ?  I don't expect freeze in the garage, but I keep the garage at 50 when I'm not there (and I still won't be until next January or February), but you never know; the electricity could fail for over a week....

 

So my plan is to change the oil & filter, then take it for a spin until it reaches the right temp, go fill 'her up and add a bottle of stabilizer.  Add a few pounds in all tires.  Then back at the garage, I will set a tarp and some carton boards on the ground to cut humidity. 

 

As a final touch, like I read on other threads, I'm hoping to scare the critters with some dryer sheets and maybe a scarecrow and I'll stuff some huge potatoes in the exhausts tips to seal it.

 

I'm looking forward some advises....

Good stuff concerning the coolant tester, I didn't know it even existed.

 

For the oil, it makes sense as well, because I won't be starting it until next March or April.  Awesome, my list of "to-do" just got smaller.

 

Thanks for the input.  Everything was actually pretty easy.

 

I got a full tank of 94 octane (the only gas above 91 in Montreal is from Petro-Canada and it's 94....) and I added a bottle of stabilizer.

 

I stopped by a local oil change shop and they had paper test strip for the coolant.  I was on the high end (the good end) of the chart.

 

The car has been started every other week for the past 6 months, but not driven.  So for the first 5 blocks, I stalled at evey stop, light, corner,.... and just to make things interesting it was raining and my wipers has never worked (I never bother fixing them, since I only drive it when it's sunny out, but this time I had no choice.)  I also disconnect most of the electric inside the car (lights, ac/heat, power windows,...) so it started to get really foggy inside the car (it's 35 and raining outside).

 

Since the car hasn't been driven in a while, you can bet that a lot of smoke  & puffing was happening.  I looked like an idiot, but after 15 minutes (and 5 stop so get some of the water out of the winshield on the outside and the fog from the inside), it finally started running correctly.  Right on time to go sit in the garage for another 5 to 6 months...

 

Gotta go buy some tater's now..

 

I also have a question on the74-454. Are the block drain plugs (anti-freeze) located just above the engine mount left side and just behind the oil dipstick tube on the right, both being 9/16" hex heads? Does anyone know an easier way to drain the block than pulling the plugs (messy and real hard to get to).  Thanks.