I was reading a copy of Machinists Workshop magazine and they did a comparison test of several products used to loosen stubborn, rusted lock fasters. They arranged a test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque required to remove the nut from a bolt in a rusted enviroment. This is what they found. Prnetrating oil used Torqe to remove nut None 516 pounds WD-40 238 pounds PB Blaster 214 pounds Liquid Wrench 127 pounds Kano Krol 106 Pounds ATF-Acetone Mix 53 Pounds The ATF-Acetone mix as you know is a home brew mixed 50-50.
I can attest to the ATF/Acetone mix being the best. One caution: I made the mistake of soaking a motorcycle brake cable in the stuff trying to free it up, and the acetone dissolved the vinyl covering. Be careful with it. But it does work wonders on rusted parts. Frank C.
wow! The best I've found has been Sea Foam Deep Creep, but that shit's like 8 bucks a can! I'll have to try the ATF Acetone mix as well! I think you can get a compressed air refillable spray can at horrible freight pretty cheaply to apply it with.
Very good info. I'm just starting disassembly of a 1940 car and 1955 motor. I don't think either has ever been apart so I will certainly be trying the ATF-Acetone mix. Thanks! Mr. Bill
The ATF/Acetone stuff really works! I snapped both thermostat housing bolts off into a 28 Chevy head. There was just enough bolt sticking out to weld a washer and a nut on the end. I let it cool for about 10 minutes and then added the AA mix and let it set another 30 minutes - both bolts came right out.
You can't forget good ol' 'Gibbs'. As a collector of antique (pre WW2) outboard motors, I have freed up some seriously stuck engines with 'Gibbs'! I am going to try the acetone-ATF mix though.
Thanks for the useful info! Woulda helped last week removing the hinges from my '50 Ford - after soaking them in PB blaster for 3 consecutive days and using an impact driver I ended up drilling them out. Eight433, and old fashioned metal oil can might be good too, you cans till find them at your local auto parts store. I'll try this next time I have a stuck/rusted bolt.
.......Thanks for the thread..........I'll try it on 1937 door posts......hope it saves me a lot of time.....
Alcohol, tobacco, firearms and acetone! That kinda stuff gets me all loosey goosey as well Great tip I will be trying that for sure!
i'd second this, hard to believe that atf and acetone would be leaps and bounds better than Kroil, ok cheaper maybe,
Long before this info started circulating around the internet I had used oil solvent in a pinch. If the ATF & solvent works in your case than it was goods enough, but don't expect it to outperform the best penetrating oils. If you read the entire article that goes with those results you will see the test wasn't actually done on rusted/frozen bolts.
Wish they had done that test with some zep 45, i find that stuff blows PB and pretty much anythign else outa the water. The can has a mix ball in it ITS GOTA BE GOOD haha. should give the mix a try though
I'm with CutawayAl on this...think about this "test" for a second guys: How could anyone set up a bunch of fasteners and then "rust" them all to the EXACT same tightness? Since so many factors affect fastener tightness due to corrosion, it would be pretty hard to prove that all the fasteners were the EXACT same tightness before trying to remove them. So how EXACT can the results be? I am still going to try A/A mix, just with a little healthy skepticism
I had found motorcycle chain oil at Harbor freight by liquid wrench worked great, better than PB , was cheap too but price just went up with new fancy can : (
Best I have found so far, is Seafoams "Deep Creep" I also like "LMT" Lawn Mower Tune-up, its like spray Marvel oil. I plan to try this ATF mix...... If it works good enough for Flat-top Bob, Its good enough for me!
believe it or not, toyota brand penetrating oil is amazing. it works the best of any i've ever seen or tried.
Kroil is the best I've ever used, with the price of ATF these days it might not be much difference in price.
I use the mix but the 1st oil can I bought had a rubber hose for the top. the stuff ate the rubber. The second and more expensive can has a metal hose and has lasted over an year. And it work great, I also use the Kano stuff which works almost as good.
After reaching 66 years old I've tried EVERYTHING on the market. when I heard/read about Gibbs Brand my first thought was "another snake oil" product and an expensive one at that. After reading the testimonial on Roadsters.com and hearing Cole sing it's praises I thought "can't hurt to try". I'll never use anything else. When the advice and directions are followed I challenge anyone to tell me about something better. BTW, after my first can I bought a case. Frank
In my experience, strawberry margaritas result in the best penetration with least effort. What? Too soon?
The Jalopy Journal
