Rust removal via chemical means

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moparmat2000

moparmat2000

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I have read in depth about rust removal via chelation with molasses and water, watched a bunch of you tube vids on this too. For those of you who dont want to deal with molasses and water method, which is the way to go for large parts because of economies of scale, there is another way. Common vinegar, like what you put on your salad. Set up a plastic bucket or pan with your steel parts in it, and fill it up with regular store bought vinegar. Let everything soak for a few days to a week. The barracuda fender bracket shown in my pic was left in there for 3 days. I only soaked half so the difference could be seen I didnt prewash it or do anything to prep it. It was dropped in the bucket in an as removed condition. The vinegar method would probably be best suited to body bolts, clip nuts, fender nuts, small parts like that. Swish em around every few days and let it do its thing.

Hope this helps
Matt

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I use cheap Vineger and I just let parts sit in it and wire brush them every day until rust is gone,4 gallons of vinegar in a 5 gallon bucket will last quite a while.
 
FJ5 Duster said:
x2... Love Evaporust! You can find it at most auto parts stores.
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Yep, a big fan of that Evaporust product.
Use it all the time, in my rebuilding of Mopar suspension, and brake parts.
Parts come out of my 5 gallon pail, looking like the day that they were made.

LCA's B Body Set 2 001 (Small).JPG
 
growdude said:
I use cheap Vineger and I just let parts sit in it and wire brush them every day until rust is gone,4 gallons of vinegar in a 5 gallon bucket will last quite a while.
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You need pure 20% Vinegar. Rust will be gone in a day. But wear protective clothing, and your nose will never forgive you.
 
Evaporust is a great product. Much easier to use than some of the more acidic products that are high in phosphoric acid. I have witnessed rusted metal placed in muratic acid and the rust converts in a matter of a few minutes but should be neutralized with TSP or a similar product. Its very aggressive and you better wear proper protection. Phosphoric acid can we washed/rinsed with water after to stop the process.
 
Do you have an off the shelf name in a spray bottle, like something i may be able to buy at lowes.
 
(Muriatic) Hydrochloric acid is a lot faster. :D
The fumes are dangerous though, so you need a well ventilated area to use it.
It can be gotten at most any hardware store by the gallon jug, and is the same stuff they use for concrete and construction block cleaning.
I use it to remove the rust from our swamp cooler panels every year so we can repaint them because it not only removes the rust down to clean steel, but removes all the mineral deposits at the same time.
 
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Yep Trailbeast we use it at work in an industrial setting but it's out in a very open space with a rubber gloves and goggles. If you want bare metal clean and quick it does an excellent job but comes with some precautions. Dealing with any acid should be used with caution. I used it just the other day for some suspension parts because I had it laying around. 3 min in muratic, 10 min in a phosphoric/water dilution bath, wipe clean with water and a rag and 30 min later started priming and then paint. Suspension parts were covered with heavy rust in some areas and heavy grease in others. Looked like brand new within 15 min. I did wear heavy rubber chemical gloves and goggles and a whole lot of caution. I did all this in the driveway so the vapors were not as much of a hazard.
 
Yes TSP is trisodium phosphate. I use it if I have it handy and if not I wash it with phosphoric and water. It hasn't came back to haunt me using either the TSP or diluted phosphoric wash.
 
TrailBeast said:
(Muriatic) Hydrochloric acid is a lot faster. :D
The fumes are dangerous though, so you need a well ventilated area to use it.
It can be gotten at most any hardware store by the gallon jug, and is the same stuff they use for concrete and construction block cleaning.
I use it to remove the rust from our swamp cooler panels every year so we can repaint them because it not only removes the rust down to clean steel, but removes all the mineral deposits at the same time.
Click to expand...

Muriatic acid is some bad **** to work with, plus if your using it in an area where other parts are bare metal, it will cause flash rust from its fumes. Better use some serious PPE in the form of gloves, eye protection, respirator etc. It is also hard to dispose of. Molasses and water mixture can be dumped in the ground, and doesnt require any special PPE. i suspect vinegar can be dumped in the ground too. Muriatic acid will continue to keep attacking the metal if you dont neutralize it good enough. My vote is for something that works a bit slower but is easier to work with, less hazardous.
 
moparmat2000 said:
Muriatic acid is some bad **** to work with, plus if your using it in an area where other parts are bare metal, it will cause flash rust from its fumes. Better use some serious PPE in the form of gloves, eye protection, respirator etc. It is also hard to dispose of. Molasses and water mixture can be dumped in the ground, and doesnt require any special PPE. i suspect vinegar can be dumped in the ground too. Muriatic acid will continue to keep attacking the metal if you dont neutralize it good enough. My vote is for something that works a bit slower but is easier to work with, less hazardous.
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Ok :D
 
in my work around for rusted metal..I like the phosphoric acid...while you need to keep it away from non ferrous metals, it will only react with the oxide (rust) and therefore will not continue eating at metal like the other more active acids mentioned will do. The stop bath is a clear water rinse. It is also much safer to work with. While many will know this as Naval Jelly or other products with various levels of phosphoric acid content...85% is technical grade and 55% is a common off the shelf mixture that works wonders. I do try to sandblast all my panels...and yes a DIY setup with cautions toward flow and pressure will result in good removal with no panel warping whatsoever. Do not think commercial where time and money equals high flow and high pressure attack by the employee. It is also my go to rinse when I blast metal use this as a picking step prior to priming. Other have different approaches, will not say one is wrong or better but am only mentioning this as a safer solution to you and the beast you working. Vinegar...keep from using in a prolonged contact to cast iron...
 
lee g said:
Yes TSP is trisodium phosphate. I use it if I have it handy and if not I wash it with phosphoric and water. It hasn't came back to haunt me using either the TSP or diluted phosphoric wash.
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Is there a name of an off the shelf product you use thats trisodium phosphate? Like something i can buy at lowes. This way i know what to look for.
 
look for a red and white box with the big TSP letters in blue

alternate...arm and hammer super washing soda
 
I decided to give the molasses and water a try. Its cheap, and i have seen a bunch of youtube vids on this showing it working, so it cant be a fluke right?? I got a huge plastic tub at walmart on sale for $7. The molasses i bought is feed grade 1 gallon at tractor supply for $10. Its stinky **** but wow does it work. I put a complete set of 4 front bumper brackets in it, a rusty battery tray, some little odds and ends and a crusty hood latch. I did this on friday afternoon. I checked it on sunday, the bumper brackets are 1/3 of the way to completely clean bare metal the hood latch almost looks brand new, and actually will latch and unlatch now. And the battery tray has several locations of clean pitted steel.

I have this plastic tub in the shop and will probably move it to behind the shop just because of the stink when you pop the lid. I recommend wearing good rubber gloves, but not for the reasons you would think. This stuff wont hurt you, but it will soak into your skin, and you wont be able to get the stink off very easy. I washed my hands 4 times with dawn dish detergent and still smell a little bit on them this morning.

Heres before pix of the contestants innthe rust removal game, and when this stuff is clean i will shoot some after pix. The nice thing is its cheap, non toxic, biodegradable, and doesnt keep attacking the metal once the rust is gone.

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20160708_173219.jpg
 
moparmat2000 said:
I decided to give the molasses and water a try. Its cheap, and i have seen a bunch of youtube vids on this showing it working, so it cant be a fluke right?? I got a huge plastic tub at walmart on sale for $7. The molasses i bought is feed grade 1 gallon at tractor supply for $10. Its stinky **** but wow does it work. I put a complete set of 4 front bumper brackets in it, a rusty battery tray, some little odds and ends and a crusty hood latch. I did this on friday afternoon. I checked it on sunday, the bumper brackets are 1/3 of the way to completely clean bare metal the hood latch almost looks brand new, and actually will latch and unlatch now. And the battery tray has several locations of clean pitted steel.

I have this plastic tub in the shop and will probably move it to behind the shop just because of the stink when you pop the lid. I recommend wearing good rubber gloves, but not for the reasons you would think. This stuff wont hurt you, but it will soak into your skin, and you wont be able to get the stink off very easy. I washed my hands 4 times with dawn dish detergent and still smell a little bit on them this morning.

Heres before pix of the contestants innthe rust removal game, and when this stuff is clean i will shoot some after pix. The nice thing is its cheap, non toxic, biodegradable, and doesnt keep attacking the metal once the rust is gone.

View attachment 1714950105

View attachment 1714950106

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Rust removal by Electrolysis...
Now you have that plastic tub you should try this method which I've used, works like magic ...
 
^^^ I have this rigged up and it works well. But I run it outside as I believe a by-product of the process is Hydrogen.
 
gdrill said:
^^^ I have this rigged up and it works well. But I run it outside as I believe a by-product of the process is Hydrogen.
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Yes and also Oxygen ...Use in a well ventilated no spark/smoking area, always research b4 doing scientific experiments... :thumbsup:
 
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