I just wanted to reaffirm how well vinegar works on rusty metal. I have some crusty old bolts and other fastners that are hard to find and I'd like to reuse them on my model A. I did a test with one bolt, two washers and a nut. Soaked them for seven days in the off-the-shelf apple cider vinegar with a label that reads 5% acidity. I would shake the bottle every day (not much) and by day seven it looked like rootbeer. When I took the parts out, there were a few small bits of rust/dirt in the threads but, it all fell off with some nudging. Other than that, the parts looked like they had been sandblasted. Seventy six years of rust and grim gone with little or no effort, this stuff is amazing. If I had done it my old fashion way, it would have take a can of brake cleaner and a bout with the wire wheel. I highly recommend this. Sams has two gallons for less than four bucks. That's cheap folks! Anyway, give it a try.
[FONT="] Next time you try it, soak them for a couple of days and pull them out and blast with a garden hose. I did a couple of fenders that had some rusted through spots and only soaked them for two days and washed with water. Then I'll treat the parts with a zinc phosphate solution to neutralize and protect the metal.[/FONT]
Would this work on the back of chrome pieces, or would it damage the chrome on the front? Thanks Tucker
Vinegar or mollases won't attack chrome. Vinegar will attack aluminum, mag or zinc under chrome though.
i missed the thread.. this is really neat, i do have a couple questions regarding Hydrogen embrittlement, there were 2 suggestions given on how to counter this. 1). polisher's method which is to basically put the part in a 375 deg. F oven for 1hr 2). your method (Charlie Led) is to let the part sit for 45min without doing any type of work to the part iam assuming (dangerous to assume sometimes ) that either method works, i dont think my conventional oven can hold a couple axle's so the next viable option would be to let it sit. what is happening to the hardened metal while sitting, after its electrolysis bath as opposed to being baked? which is the prefered method? as an aside, i recently used evapo-rust on a bunch of parts, its not cheap... im assuming this is a citric acid based product? (bio-degradable)... it is an assumption based on 286merc's post in your electrolysis thread.
I have a little secret to share. We took the clips that hold the chrome on the Dodge that were caked with dirt and rusty. First I tried to wire brush them then after the dirt was off I tried to sand them to get them clean. No go. My wife came out with a quart jar with some hot water in it and dropped the clips in it and then dropped 3 efferdent tablets in it. The clips came out looking almost like new. Gumpa
Boy I'm glad I found this thread: Here are the upper control arms from the 49 chevy. Before: and After: this is one week in the tank (a plastic storage container with a tight fitting lid) and 3 gallons of vinegar from Sams. After 4 days I took a wire brush to the parts to scrape off some of the loosened rust. Then today one more quick over with a small wire brush and then rinsed with the garden hose. Now it will painted and it will look like new with a few pits from stones and where the rust was deep. The white vinegar looks like a fine red wine when it's all done...and I just kept the bottles so I put it back in until I need it again.
Not to throw another iron into the fire but if vinegar removes rust than how does white vinegar also create rust?
I'm glad I read this thread because we tried vinegar once on a part of a body and it flash rusted like nothing you've ever seen. Since then we thought it was just BS. Sounds to me like it was something else.
I would assume that during long exposure, the acidic element of the white vinegar is nullified/consumed that kills the rust and whats left is water. Glenn
I know that TACO BELL sauce, any hot level, makes pennies super shiny again. And vinegar takes great on french fries!!!!!!!!!! KNUX!
Once you get all of the heavy rust off, it will flash rust very quickly...i pressure washed the lower control arms at the carwash and they were flash rusted by the time I drove home. But a little flash rust is nothing compared to what they were before I dipped them. I thiink somewhere else in this thread it says to wash with something to kill the acid from the vinegar...I'm also looking into some metal prep from por-15.
I beleive baking soda is used to neutralize the acid, but I am not 100% sure.My neighbor was telling me something about baking soda and vinegar. I havn't had to scrub any of my parts yet. I just set them in the bucket of vinegar for a week, take them out and spray them off with water. To keep them from rusting again I use a heat gun(hair dryer) to dry them and then put a coat of primer on them. A few parts I have just soaked in oil after the vinegar and they seem to be doing OK though they do have a little surface rust starting again.
Maybe he's making a volcano for science class... Seriously though, it works great! I bought a shitload of vinegar at BJs and on of those under bed plastic storage containers (6" deep, 18"wide and 30" or so long, roughly) and put all my garnish mouldings, door caps, and assorted body wood hardware in there. I left it covered for a couple days and checked on it and it looked sorta crusty like an old sunken ship. I reached in, pulled a piece out and rubbed in with my thumb the rust rolled right off. There were some nasty pieces in there, so I left them a little longer. This morning I checked on it and everything is clean. Even the 70+ yr old paint is off. Good, cheap and easy... A HAMBers dream. Jonny
It works. I had 2 gallons of vinegar in my oil pan refreshed with one new gallonand let it sit for 3 days, scrubbed it with a plastic kitchen thingy, rinsed with water, compressor air dried and immediately coated with WD40 and then Marvel Mystery Oil. Thanks WildWilly68
oh shit that reminds me i stuck a handful of rusty nuts and bolts in a gallon of vinager a month ago when i read a post by...tingler? gonna go check on em now.
I have used it quite a bit and found it works very well if you don't mind a wait and have access to the hot Texas sun. 1. I have a clear plastic container that has a removable top to it. the clear plastic helps to see the condition of the part to a degree, but is not really necessary. It does allow the direct sunlight in and may possibly add to the mix by allowing heat to do it's thing to make the process work. 2. I usually put in 3 scoops of dried molasses per gallon of water, but the stuff is really pretty cheap and a scoop more or less will probably not do all that much help or harm. You can pick up dried molasses at garden shops, feed stores and sometimes at places as big hardware stores. It generally runs about $12.00 or so per 50 lb bag, so you see the stuff is relatively cheap to use. Any extra can go on the garden and is a help in keeping ants away. 3. I then put in one gallon of water, and more if I need to cover a bigger amount of parts. 4. Then, just sit the container out into the open sun light and give it time to do it's thing. It generally takes 5-7 days to do the most effective cleaning, but may be more or less, depending on the condition of the part and all. 5. Be aware that the one drawback is the stench the mixture makes as it ferments. It is not a good smell to inhale in removal of parts, but is not as bad as some things. The wast or sludge can be discarded safely into a flower bed, but not really into a vegtable garden. You don't really want to have the residual grease and crud getting to your veggies. It is pretty environmentally friendly stuff and does not make the sort of mess that electrolysis does. No extra money spent on electricity, stainless steel parts or wash soda. Just some molasses and water with the hot sun light helping to ferment the mix. 6. Remember, the parts will flash rust quickly if you do not clean them and prime immediately. Any blackened areas can be cleaned with a hand held wire brush. I have pics of brake shoes from a 30's Ford that I did, but I'd have to go through a ton of floppy discs and CD's to locate them. Experiment for yourself and see how it works for you. Hope that gives you some guidelines. I like playing mad scientist with the stuff and it is almost goof proof. Good luck, Huey
I tried both the white and apple cider vinegar and since you mentioned it, the ones soaked in white vinegar did flash rust, both had labels that read 5% acidity. I learned to take them out one piece at a time, dry off with rag, and then spray with liquid wrench or wd40. On the other hand, the ones I soaked in the apple cider vinegar didn't rust at all. In fact I carried that one around in my hot sweaty pocket for a couple days showing it off to everyone. It's on my dresser and still looks like it was media blasted. Go figure! I need to look into this further. BTW, the only vinegar I could find at Sams was the white...if that helps.
Good thread!Sorry to change gears,but Muriatic Acid is the shit!It will remove rust quickly,and doesn't affect paint.Word of caution!!Don't get it on your concrete floor!Burns a hole in it right now!Although if ya get concrete splattered on your paint it will take it off.You get it at any pool supply store.Use typical protection(condoms cum to mind!) as this stuff is pretty nasty!!
I'm still soaking mine. Will Borax (Sodium Tetraborate) http://www.dialcorp.com/index.cfm?page_id=56 work to neutralize it..? Or do I need to find the sodium carbonate? Jonny
We used muratic acid at the boat shop on SS props that had suface rust. WARNING: You must use a mask and respirator, and stay upwind of it. It will mess you up if your not careful. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
What about spraying down large body panels with a deck sprayer filled with the vinegar. Let soak... spray down again. Keppe repeating for a day or two and then pressure wash and spray down with Borax or Baking Soda water. Pressure wash again. etc. etc. The hood on my "new" Impala is pretty rusty. I'll try it out next week after I pick it up - unless someone here has already tried it with no or bad results! On a lighter note, if you do the whole car at once, your windows will be squeaky clean! OT - anyone know how to change you login id
My experience has been soaking the parts for several days in vinegar. A friend of mine built a fixture out of 2x4's and then lined it with plastic, filled it with vinegar and then put his hood in. Covered it with plastic and let sit for several days, then washed the hood. After that he poured the vinegar back into the jugs.
Thanks for posting that series of pics at Ahooga. I don't know how to do that computer stuff, so it was nice to see someone else do it. I guess it has been a while since I posted that, as we have moved from Iowa Park, Tx., to Greenville, and now to Arlington. Any rate, it is a cheapo method that does work. Huey
Nasty does not half describe it. It can do a lot (LOT) of damage if you don't handle it correctly. It was a triple digit summer day when I was out in my garage cleaning some parts with the stuff. I got called to the phone and simply pushed the container under the rear bumper of my Model A to keep it out of the way, thinking I'd be right back. I shut the garage door and went to answer the phone. Well, I got called out of town and did not remember to put the pool acid away first. Needless to say, I did not get back to it for several days. When I opened the door to the garage, everything inside the garage was flash rusted if it did not have paint on it. I mean everything. I had drill bits and such inside plastic wrappers that were rusted as if they had been set into water for years. Every wire in the A or part of it that did not have some type of coating was rusted over. The door handles were pitted, and the chrome was green goo dripping off the bumpers. Probably did about $4000-6,000 worth of damage to a restored A. That is the prime reasone this A is being converted to a street rod now. Be very cautious if you use this stuff. Stupid human trick # 4,501 by me. Wish I had never used it now. Huey
Does the vinegar eat paint? I have a '30s Ford antifreeze 5 gallon can that is in super good shape except for some surface rust. Will the vinegar get that off and preserve the paint?
I think that you'll find that the paint won't be affected, but I'd test it a little before submerging the whole thing in vinegar for a couple of days. It is mildly acidic, so it could do something to the paint. I'd throw something that is similar into the vinegar for a couple of days.
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