Acetone + ATF Penetrant: They don't mix!

Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar don't mix either but they get the job done with a crusty French bread.
My 2 cents.

Btw...
Acetone is $16 per gallon from HDepot.
WD40 is also $16.
Why get ur hand and lungs all facked up by mixing ur own questionable brew?

 

WD40 is a Water Displacer, not a penetrating oil suitable for freeing stuck fasteners.

If you have had good luck using it to free stuck fasteners, then your fasteners are not really stuck, or you are very lucky.

 

Lol

 

Seems like a lot of tractor guys like vinegar.

Of course diesels in old tractors can be in really crappy condition and still be perfectly usable.

But vinegar is a weak acid and can only remove so much parent metal. I would think it would remove rust much more quickly than parent metal. Even phosphoric acid can be used quickly to kill rust and not damage parent metal.

I think running a hone in a cylinder would remove more metal than a vinegar soak.
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There was another thread about using old, old, dirty diesel crankcase oil. Supposedly it is loaded with acids and they will actually attack the rust.

What is interesting about this is, how would one spike oil with acid to make it rather than having to "harvest" it?

 

Might as well mention the molasses method for completeness.

You get bags of molasses and make a solution way out in the back 40 and put your part in it and let it "go bad" for a couple months.

What happens is that when it goes rancid (stinks so bad you better have it far from the house), bacteria grow and actually pull the oxygen atoms out of the iron oxides thereby dissolving the rust.

How 'bout them apples???

 

Fermenting is 1/2 way to some good moonshine.

You never said what part of the country you are in.

 

I'm in SW PA - you know, the corner that takes a "bite" out of WV.

I wish Pittsburgh was the capitol of WV. That would make a lot more sense.

ANYTHING to get rid of Harrisburg and Philadelphia (!) which are NJ and NY wannabees.

Think about it, PA is surrounded by OH, NY, NJ which are 3 really troublesome states.

You should see the 55 mph roads in WV. You might squeal your tires going around the curves on some of them (!)

Yeah Baby!

 

Have you given any thought to circulating hot water thru the block while the prisons are chilled to frozen ?

 

Oh yes, thought about hot water a lot. Scenarios:

1. Red line hot water heater and run 100' of hose from the laundry tubs,
2. Splice heater hoses from another running vehicle,
3. Fill with boiling water:

• Boil in house stove,
• Boil by engine on hot plate,
• Rig some kind of recirculating pump to pot on hot plate.
• Rig convection heater to pot on hot plate. A coil in the pot connected to the bottom and top of the cooling system would pull cold water out of the bottom and deposit on the top.

​

Even thought about dumping 400 deg oil in the cylinders(!) to thermally shock the pistons. What is interesting is that the heat capacity of oil is about 1/2 that of water so oil at 400 deg will contain as much heat as water at 200 deg.

I have one of those 1/4" nozzle hi temp heat guns that is used for welding and tile work - the nozzle fits in the spark plug hole. Could probably get the piston almost to 200 deg. But that would just be one.
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I'm thinking of drilling some angle iron to pick up all 6 crank bolts (use flywheel as drill plate) so I can put about a 10' lever (metal telescoping basement beam) on the crank that I can really put some load on.

But just putting a 100 pound dead load on it should produce results as the engine is thermally cycled by the daily temperature swings.

In fact, doing anything else while that dead load is on it would be much more effect - even a measly 150 psi on a cylinder from shop air. Or the grease gun funnel idea to push oil in.
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I should have my Wintergreen tomorrow (Sat) and need to get that in there right away too.

 

Ok. I have been working on pulling some flathead studs for several months. Have been using my usual favorite Kroil as well as anything else I can find, and believe me I have tried them all and have always found Kroil to be the best. Well I have been working on one for several weeks and it is in there, probably since 1946, and it wont budge at 87 Ft/Lbs. I find they fracture at 85-90 so I try to stay away from 90. After seeing Don's recommendation for CRC- Freeze Off I thought I would try it. Applied it exactly as directed and the stud just laughed at me, tried again... same, tried a third time no good so I am ready to proclaim this stuff as "Snake Oil". Take a break pour a Black Label and soda.... Ill keep trying it till I run out the can. Fourth try and guess what? It started to move and came out intact and the block threads are perfect. This stuff worked for me on something I thought was going to take a torch or worse. Thanks for recommending this Don I am very pleased.

 

So 100 lbs dead load on a 10' pole is how much at the crank ?
So a measly 150 Psi is how much on a 4" bore piston ?
How's your wintergreen working?


I'm going to try the freeze off, can't wait to try it.

 

I had no trouble mixing the ATF and acetone. I have been trying to free up a stuck 241 Dodge for 6 months with PB Blaster, two pistons were still stuck. So I put this mix on top the piston for a week, then turned the engine upside down and filled those two cylinders up from the bottom. After one more week they came out! Now I'm soaking them in the ATF mix to get the rings off.

 

Rather than vinegar and oil, I would try EvapORust as step 1 and ATF/Acetone as step 2 if necessary.
EvapoRust works great for rust and seems to penetrate pretty good.
I recently filled the case of a 39 trans from a flood zone with lots of internal surface rust.
I almost have it clean and free turning again.

Info:
http://www.evapo-rust.com/
Evapo-Rust will not harm metals, rubber, plastic, PVC, Viton, most paints, most chrome, or non-rusted steel.

 

FREEZE OFF and a rose bud torch work for me every time.

 

Sweet baby Jesus, just pull the heads already.

And vinegar will remove more material than honing - if the part is exposed to the vinegar too long, it will promote rust.

 

Why are we still talking about this? By now, any number of us could have driven there, rebuilt the entire engine, and driven home.

 

Haha, I'm glad it worked for you. I have a flathead like you do and every few days I walk past it and shoot a little more Freeze Off on the 48 studs. I figure that if I do it enough it will work it's way down in there and loosen them up. I also tap the tops of each stud with a hammer to shock them a little, figure it can't hurt.

Since the catalytic convertor thing, I have used it a couple of more times on rusted bolts and it did a good job on those too. It may not work for everyone, but so far I am impressed.

Don

 

I worked over 30 yrs before another old guy mechanic told me this one. Sure enough the next week I broke off a small screw holding a cam sensor. Took a few soakings but it came out.

 

Last night I was at the shop working on my daily and decided to see if the soakings I have been giving the head studs on the flathead I have sitting was doing any good. I haven't bought a 7/16 stud puller yet so I just clamped some vice grips around one stud. After a couple of taps with a hammer it started to move and I was able to screw it all the way out with only a little resistance. The threads on the stud and on the block still look great, but if and when I ever get around to doing something with the motor I will put new studs in it.

The can says to get maximum effect from the Freeze Off you have to keep spraying the part for 10-15 seconds (I guess to let it chill the part sufficiently) but I haven't done that, I just sprayed each stud for a few seconds each time. But it still seems to have wicked down in there and freed it up. I'm pretty impressed because those studs were really frozen in there initially.


Don

 

Good write up, this thread! Thanks Don, I wondered if the 'repeats' were going to help
and eventually free it up.

 

1 part Dexron II, IIe or III Automatic Transmission Fluid - GM Spec D20265 or later


1 part K1 Kerosene


1 part Aliphatic Mineral Spirits federal spec TT-T-2981F (CAS# 64741-49-9) or Stodard Solvent/Varsol
(CAS#8052-41-1)


1 part Acetone (CAS#67-64-1)

 

I just tried the "freeze off" stuff today.
I don't know why eehheaeem I was expecting the area being sprayed to experience a drastic temperature change, but it didnt.

I'm working on some 78 year old fasteners that are less than 1" away from the finished paint. So I thought this stuff would do it. We will see but so far its gotten 4 spray downs at 15 seconds and its not even chilly.

 

You misunderstood the whole concept of Freeze-off. See, you're the one that freezes your berries off out in the cold spraying that crap for 15 seconds at a time while cursing those rusty fasteners.

 

Lmao - it's very cold outside!
Toasty warm inside and I've got the gas bills to show for it too! Ouch!!!