Just wanted to try this for myself...VINEGAR BATH...***UPDATE May 27th***

With everyone raving about how well vinegar works, I thought I'd try a controlled study...(I have no life)

I've got a damn-near-perfect '35 wire wheel that has a lot of surface rust, but no pitting, and a totally fugged hubcap

Went to Atwoods and bought a 15 gallon plastic Stock Feeder...$21

Went to the store and bought all the vinegar they had...9 gallons...$25 (everyone looked at me kinda funny)

Took before pics to show actual condition of the wheel and hubcap

Covered it up and used a traditional cover weight...1936 Ford rear spring

I'll check it every 24 hours and give updates on its progress...(I need a life)

Does anyone know how long this should take?

 

Traditional cover weight, gotta love Larry

 

I'll be watching the outcome here as I've got some valve covers and other small items I want to try. BTW: for less than $10 you can get a plastic tote from one of the Dollar stores, and it comes with a cover at no additional charge.

 

I'm also interrested in seeing how this turns out.

 

Oh boy I can hardly wait for the ending....I have 2 - 1935 wheels in slightly better condition that I DO NOT want to sandblast all those spokes.....I hope this works.....
popcorn anyone?

 

You should set it up for electrolosis tank... would be faster hahaha

 

you have my attention. i will be checking back in to see the results.

 

anyone know if this controlled study project would be eligible for gov't funding?

 

This will be fun to watch , results should be interesting.

 

Doesn't take long!
1.5 to 2 days
http://www.themapleboard.com/wordpress/?p=7

 

This is a very cool thread idea. I will be watching for sure.

 

I heard that it works faster if ya throw a few crutons in the mix!!

 

I'm betting 5-7 days to get it as clean as you'd want. Take it out once a day and scrub it lightly with a wire brush to knock the big chunks off and it'll help. I did this to an A grille shell about 8 months ago and it worked great.

Although I found just how pitted and shitty my grille shell was under all that flakey chrome!

 

Done yet?

 

...... And some clams.. LOL

 

patience grasshopper...

 

Well so far we have a whole bunch of guys who are car crazy and all of them are watching to see if this works.

I guess this is what you do when you get old and car crazy it's amassing the things we all do this because of our love for old cars.

Just kidding this is really a cool test to see how well it works.

Jimbo

 

Vinegar also workes excellent on glass items,(int., tail and headlight lenses). Brass too. Submerse and leave for a week.

 

Ya, Didn't ya know Larry? Obama is giving out free money out his secret stash(and ours) to any non essential program or project. This should most definitly qualify. But only if you "promise" to vote for him again.

 

Shish, I can’t believe this. A bunch of guys sitting around a bucket of vinegar watching rust fall off a wheel. Uh, I’ll have another beer if you don’t mind.

 

Personally , I hate to say it , but I would have kept that coupe. Just sayin.

 

From my experience, I would say about 5 to 7 days. The warmer the better! Microbs work better in the heat. Sams has a good buy on vinegar, 2 gallons for about 3.00 if you have one near you.

 

Thanks for documenting the process Larry!

For those of you thinking of using this method, I've read not to use vinegar on cast iron. The acid in vinegar will attack the cast iron faster than other methods. I used phosphoric acid in a similar method as Larry on some rusty cadillac exhaust manifolds with good results. The phosphoric acid attacks the cast iron much more slowly than vinegar. It also leaves a dark protective coating on the cast iron.

 

A REAL Scientist would have done the test a week ago,took pic's,THEN do a thread! Instead of starting the thread the same day as the experiment,hahaha! COME ON LARRY!!!!!!

 

here is my vinigar results. this was after about a week and a half. does work. dont know if the pitting came from the vinigar or the rust though.

 

3 days should do it....

 

So after you get the new rust free parts out of the nasty vat of vinegar what steps have to be taken before paint?

I too hate sand blasting, thats why I definitely will be watching this thread.

 

too bad you couldnt set up a live streaming webcam so we could see the vinigar in action

 

I'm glad someone took the bull by the horns. I was thinking of doing the same but on a smaller scale. I will be watching your post with anticipation

 

This will be history in the making Bob...you won't want to miss it