Have a MC and some Wheel cylinders I have to rebuild, was going to do the vinegar soak on them,,but wondered if the vinegar would ruin the smooth surface ( bore )
If it has rust inside the vinegar with go after it. Does a great job taking the rust away. You have to hone the cly anyway so maybe it will be good.
I'd say you are OK cause you are going to hone them anyway. Unless the bores are already pitted, than there is no thing going to help. The little bit of vinegar derusting I've done, leaves the surface smooth. Just removes the rust, dosen't add to the erosion.
Vinegar does etch the metal, leaving it kinda rough. Maybe you could hone them back out.....I've never tried it. Maybe throw a scrap piece of cast iron in first to test?
I use apple cider vinegar all the time to clean scrap for forging. Never have used it on machined surface stuff. I would use a test piece with a machined surface and check it every thirty minutes or so. Then base your pickling time off of that.
The chemical reaction between vinegar & steel will produce oxidation, aka rust. Vinegar is a weak acetic acid (5%), not too far off from acid rain. So it should break the parts free, you may have another reaction to consider if aluminum parts are present. I'd keep an eye on the parts, maybe check after a 1/2 day soak and wing it from there. Bob
Uhh half day soak is to long if experimenting. Id check every thirty miunutes if using straight undiluted. I use straight out of the bottle on very rusty parts and in thirty minutes can see a difference. I will send photos of before and after. I have stuff that I pulled out, wiped off with a rag and sitting on the shelf. It gets a slight tan color but Im not sure it is rust. Once out of the vinegar solution maybe rinse in a parts washer or hit it with brake cleaner right away to stop any reaction with the vinegar???
Have done it before with stuff so know the basic process,,was just teh bore surfaces that I was concerned about
Plug the holes. Eastwood sells a pretty cool plug set that threaded and a set that is not. Have used them for many things, works good.
The reaction is so light that a rinse on a part washer or other solvent should do it. If you want to be AR about it, mix up some baking soda and water for a rinse. Personally, I wouldn't use vinegar at all. I'd use a light penetrating oil instead. Bob
what happened to the saying---use only brake fluid on brake parts? I would say you would have to boil(yes in a pan) to remove all the acid in the metal so it don't react with the brake fluid.
How about a molasses dip? Someone here a while back immersed a whole engine in a vat of it and got good results. Bob
I tried this with muriatic acid, stronger than vinegar, and took nearly three days to clean a container of nuts and bolts. But they were super clean when I finished them. Afterwards I nutralized the bolts and solution with baking soda. I seriously doubt that soaking the cylinders for 30 minutes will even touch the rust.
Good point, but I'd say as long as you're using a solvent to flash clean everything BEFORE honing / installing fresh rubber boots & seals...you're usually good. Denatured alcohol works. That's what they recommend flushing things out with before switching from DOT3 to DOT5. I would hone only with brake fluid and make sure you don't use anything oil-based. That stuff will find its way back into your brake system and ruin the new rubber parts.
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