Good afternoon all… getting ready to do some rust repair and paint on my bed sills for my ‘57 GMC and looking to try a vinegar bath/soak to remove the rust. Here’s where I am at; my wooden frame dimensions are 13” x 58” x 5.5” inches , will hold approximately 18 gallons of fluid if my math is close, I am going to have 6 pieces of really rusted metal including the step hangers, how much of the 18 gallons or so should be vinegar? How long should they set or is it a check it daily kinda of thing? Thanks in advance. If I posted this is the wrong section redirect me and I will gladly repost.
You mentioned bleach, and also mentioned vinegar How about ordering some citric acid powder, I use about 1/2 cup per gallon of water. Your parts will displace solution in the tank, so you don't need 18 gallons of mixture. I also fill empty gallon and quart water bottles to displace more solution in the tank. None of the acid treatments work well on grease, cleaning the parts first will help greatly and also allow you to keep reusing the acid solution tank with small refresh of chemicals.
Green gobbler vinegar weed killer is 30% acid grocery store is only 5 % be careful with any pot metal if you use gobbler, it will attack eat it up quick
Feed grade molasses. Any livestock store should have it. For what you have, maybe a gallon or two and fill the rest with water. I derusted my 95 year old roadster body with it. Came out looking like virgin metal!
Vinegar works well, its expensive versus citric acid but no wait time to start - they're the same wait time to derust. Check them once or twice a day, ot helps to agitate the solution and brush loose rust away, or you can leave it alone for days at a time too. Really, some degreasing and rough wire brushing helps greatly. Molasses works well, its much slower to derust, starts to stink and is a mess. See how it goes, I've tried them all. Electrolysis, molasses, citric acid, oxalic acid, muratic acid, phosphoric acid, evaporust, coca cola, wire wheel, tumble in concrete mixer. If you can submerge the part, degrease it and citric acid works best in my opinion for best cost / result / speed. I prefer oxalic acid for chrome I've been mixing phosphoric acid and a food thickener into a gel for topical application that can't be submerged.
Second the Molasses. Warmer weather increases the action. For smaller parts I use a crock pot, set de greased parts in a warm solution "set it and forget it" as Ron Popeal would say.
After reading here on the HAMB I was going to try citric acid but when I went to Amazon to price it they had so many different kinds it seemed like…my luck I would buy the wrong type of CA…
Second the Molasses. Warmer weather increases the action. For smaller parts I use a crock pot, set de greased parts in a warm solution "set it and forget it" as Ron Popeal would say.
I bought some off Amazon a year ago and may have done just that. I haven't tried it but have some pieces that I would like to take the rust off. I have and do use Evapo-Rust on small pieces and just put the stuff in a Plastic tray from Dollar Tree and then pour it back in the jug and go again next time. It's pretty cost effective for small stuff because you can reuse it again and again until it quits doing it's job. It does leave a black oxide coat on the stuff. Now, where the hell did I put that pack of Citric acid.
I have used the Evapo-Rust on smaller parts myself and love the stuff. Would be too expensive for this job.
Molasses is slow, but safe. You can leave parts in it for ages and the only thing it attacks is the rust. A drawback is that after a while it starts to really stink. Vinegar is a mild acid, but it's still an acid, and it slowly attacks everything--the rust and the metal. I have damaged parts by leaving them in vinegar too long.
I've used vinegar, molasses and citric acid. Of the three I prefer citric acid: cheap, mix the strength you want (see @indyjps mix ratio above), does a good job. Just monitor it to determine how long it takes for your parts/mix ratio. Thoroughly rinse, neutralize with baking soda, and dry. My wife buys an approx. qt. sized container at Wallyworld for about $9. Molasses is my second choice because it does get smelly and messy, same process as acid, BUT you can safely dump it on your lawn or garden! Good luck!!
The last time I looked at WM …they only had spice jar size of CA…I might look one more time tomorrow when I run to town…I really don’t have a preference between vinegar of CA…it just seems for me vinegar is going to be the most convient.
I don't know what type it was, my wife had some so assuming it was food grade, but mixed that citric acid with water and nicely cleaned up some Model T running boards for shelves. I don't know that it matters what type of CA.
I just buy the cheapest citric acid powder in bulk from Amazon. Ive bought from a few different vendors and all the acid worked just fine. A quick search I just now found a 2lb bag for under 20$ and can be here by sunday. The beauty of this stuff is there is no stink to deal with, or nasty old molasses or vinegar to dispose of. I just dump the used sauce in my sideyard or on the gravel drive when Im done. Heck if all you can find is that spice jar size locally give it a try, thats probably about all ya need. I usually use a regular coffee cup of CA mixed w a 5 gallon bucket of water.
Big fan of Rust 911, much cheaper than evapo-wallet, err rust. Just did both water jackets on my flathead with it. Very impressed.
For removing rust, the active ingredient in molasses is citric acid. So you might as well just use citric acid. The active ingredient in vinegar is acidic acid and will attack the metal itself. I wouldn't use acid of any type on machined surfaces.
Look in the canning supplies section. I like it because a one quart jar is easier to handle than 10 one gallon jugs! Huh..Huh...he said "jugs"!
Yep, I first heard about citric acid here on the Hamb, and was very skeptical. Tried it and woweee...soaked parts in a 5 gal. bucket for 24hrs and like new. I used a stronger brew, with 1 cup per 1 gal of water. I found it at Walmart, in the canning section for around $4 a jar. However, this was during canning season so not sure that they have it on the shelf year-round, at least at my store. Ace also had it but wanted more $$$$.
I've been using citric acid for a long time. I go with 1 pound per 5 gallons of water. Which has taken off the worst rust so far. Parts have to be clean, remove as much grease as possible or it mucks up the solution. It can re re-used, but eventually loses power and becomes less effective. It is safe to dispose of. I neutralize it with baking soda in a pail of water, a 1 pound box is all I use.
I know it seems like I am changing my mind mid-stream, just thinking things through based off of what I am seeing posted. Would this specific type of CA work?
The Jalopy Journal
