68 hemi aluminum waterpump housing.

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ssba

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I picked up a race hemi aluminum water pump housing and have been working on getting it
cleaned up to go on my engine.
I got this housing from Adam Adamic several years back if anyone was curious of its origin.
His father Al ran a BO29 in ssba named "Al's Toy" out of Ohio when new.

Anyway being a race part it never saw antifreeze and is coated with rust stains and some corrosion on the inside passages. I have been cleaning what I can reach with a small brush
and some rust remover. (naval jelly)
This has worked pretty well where I can reach but would like to clean the areas I can't reach also.
I was hoping someone knows of something I can pour in or soak and rinse out that will work on the rust stains. The naval jelly requires a lot of scrubbing and doesn't work by soaking alone.
I am trying to avoid the blasting method if possible. Any ideas?
I will try to get a good picture of the rust problem up.
 

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Here's a photo of Al's Toy in action just for fun.
 

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CLR will get rid of the rust also the ZEP brand calcium,lime and rust remover works very good and is half the price of CLR
 
"THE WORKS" toilet bowl cleaner does a good job on rust and is cheap.

I dilute it down a little like 1-1 parts water or use it straight
 
After a ransak of all the little lady's cleaning stash I didn't turn up any of the products suggested above. Looks like a trip to the store is in order.
I did find a product called super iron out stain remover and can report here for everyone's
benefit to leave it under the sink.
Didn't touch the rust and had a horrible vapor that I can still taste when I mixed it with water for a parts bath. To be continued another day.
 
You can always plug the holes, fill it halfway with water/rustremover, some coarse sand and shake or tumble it for a while.
 
Many products say "don't use on aluminum" so be careful. Citric acid works well on similar deposits in radiators, and I think is safe for aluminum. Active ingredient in Prestone SuperFlush. I bought 5 lbs on ebay (cheaper). Leave soaking in the sun since heat helps. You could let your engine do the work, just install the pump, then flush in place. I always put a screen inside the top hosee until I have flushed all the crud.
 
Many products say "don't use on aluminum" so be careful. Citric acid works well on similar deposits in radiators, and I think is safe for aluminum. Active ingredient in Prestone SuperFlush. I bought 5 lbs on ebay (cheaper). Leave soaking in the sun since heat helps. You could let your engine do the work, just install the pump, then flush in place. I always put a screen inside the top hosee until I have flushed all the crud.

I did do quite a bit of searching on this before I posted my problem and you are very correct.
I would say 99 % of the rust removers I read about are not to be used on aluminum.
Even the naval jelly I used that did do a very good job where I could reach said right on the
label not for aluminum. I was cautious with it at first till I seen it wasn't doing any harm.
It was a slow cleaning process and I didn't see any kind of a reaction like you would expect
from a acid. Gave it a try because I had it here already.
 
Here's what a quick web search found:

1 - Start by trying a commercial rust remover product such as Whink, CLR, naval jelly, Rust-Oxy or an organic rust remover. Apply with a cloth or a nylon scrubbing pad, rubbing to remove rust stains. These products are best for polished aluminum surfaces because they don’t contain abrasives.

2 - Use steel wool for really stubborn rust stains. Use grade four-zero to six-zero (very fine) to rub out rust stains, then wash off residue with water or mild detergent and water. Steel wool can also be used to remove the white powder that forms from oxidation of aluminum.

3 - Try a method for light rust stains that appears in many Internet sources. Ball up a piece of aluminum foil about eight inches square, with the shiny side out. Rub the foil ball over rust spots to remove surface rust.

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_4480346_remove-rust-from-aluminum.html



Also, have you tried WD-40? I've seen that work before to remove rust stains on aluminum.
On #3 above, I saw another suggestion to pour Coca-Cola on the aluminum foil before rubbing rust spots.
Also saw a suggestion to use SOS pads.

I haven't used any of these methods. Good luck and let us know how they work!
 
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