Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[ukdave2002]

[MikeEdwards]

I've used several different things, depending on the type of item I'm trying to clean. The wire-brush-in-angle-grinder is very effective, but it won't reach into pitted areas if the pits are small, so once you've cleaned it off, you still need some kind of treatment. Same goes for a sanding disc, unless you sand down to the depth of the pits, which isn't always possible. Blasting will help there, but I've read that soda blasting won't remove corrosion, only paint. Never tried it myself.

I've also tried a number of products. I seem to have two different kinds of Jenolite - the first one (which seemed much more effective) is kind of a light pink gel, the second one is a very much thinner liquid and bright green in colour. I've used Kurust Gel as well - I quite liked that, as it leaves a clean metal surface rather than turning black, so you can see clean steel rather than not being sure what's underneath the black / dark purple coating that normal Kurust leaves.

I bought some Deox-C crystals from Bilt Hamber, these are mixed into water to give a solution that you soak items in, and it works very well but is quite expensive. I have also used Citric Acid (buy in powder form off eBay, quite easy to get because of home brewing uses) and I firmly believe this is the main component of Deox-C (perhaps that's what the C means). Works in much the same way, but Citric is much cheaper than Deox. I recently read that if you want to apply citric to a vertical panel or something that can't be immersed, you can mix it in wallpaper paste to apply it as a gel. I haven't tried that yet.

Finally I have also been doing electrolytic rust removal, which is nice but time-consuming. Container of water with some washing soda in it, piece of steel connected to positive side of a battery charger, item to be cleaned connected to negative, switch on and wait. Electrolytic effect is the reverse of electro-plating, takes the oxidisation from your workpiece over to the piece of steel. Obviously be careful about how you work with electricity and water, and I am writing off the top of my head so might be wrong about polarity - google 'electrolytic rust removal'.

It can take some time (and obviously isn't appropriate for the OP) but it's passive time, you can be working on something else while it's cleaning. Once you take it out, clean with a stiff brush and the rust is gone.

[ukdave2002]

This is a very effective rust remover for smaller parts (or large parts if you have a big tank!) made from nothing more than treacle & water (a few 88p tins from tesco!)

Its not quick; parts need to be left for a couple of weeks, but it is very effective, cheap and environmentally friendly

Dave

[colwyn500]

I like this; everyone seems to be coming to a sort of consensus.

[MikeEdwards]

Ah yes, I haven't tried molasses yet but a mate down under has recommended that as a good way of cleaning the inside of a petrol tank - 5L of animal molasses, topped up with water, and left to soak for a while.

[Vifa]

I just found a very old bottle of phosphoric acid. It is 86%, is that too much ?

[colwyn500]

[Penman]

Hi

[Vifa]

Hi thanks for that

I tried the 86% phosphoric acid on some old rusten iron, 20 mins later the acid had turned brown and all the rust were gone ! It was amazing.

The oxalic acid didn't work by the way.

[D4B]

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4892&start=30

[Vifa]

Hey everybody,

First off, I would like to thank you all for all the good advice and suggestions. Here is a little update on the car.

As mentioned in the earlier post I was working on the bottom inside of the car. I tried different things to get rid of the rust, eg sodablasting, but it was to messy (at least when it should be used inside the car). So I got back to the wirewheel on angle grinder method, but because of lack of time and skills I eventually got my mechanic to finish up the car. It was grinded down and given a primer. I haven't got it painted yet, as I am still looking for someone located in Denmark who are allowed to use cellulose paint.

However, I got the car back together last week so my girlfriend and I could go on vacation in it. It was a beautiful 1000 kms trip through the northern of Denmark with Skagen as our final destination.



Someone suggested phosphoric acid, and I have given it a try on different parts, it really works like a charm.
One of my next projects on the car will be to treat the bodypaint of the car for rust, the paint is thin and worn but still original - I would like to keep it this way.

Does anybody know if I could use phosphoric acid on the cellulose paint wihtout damaging it ?

[petermeachem]

I have a nearly empty 5l container of stuff called pyramid plus. It's a phosphoric acid descaler sold by janatorial suppliers and, I think, was pretty cheap and easy to buy locally. I don't know how strong it is though. Does anyone know how it compares to car painters phosphoric acid. I'm somewhat strapped for cash, I have to be very careful!
I'll try the wee bit that is left and see what happens tomorrow

[ukdave2002]

It's probably a diluted phosphoric acid; most rust removers are, in the same way that most cleaners are a dilute caustic soda.

Cheers

Dave

[D4B]

[petermeachem]

I saw that, 10l seems a lot and there is no price. There must be someone local but not with a website
I used it to descale a saniflo which was having issues, wouldn't switch off. It does a wonderful job of descaling. Eventually I bought a second hand saniflo on ebay very cheaply! Fixed the problem