Can I soak a Stromberg 97 in vinegar?...

Larry don't do it
"Doc"

 

Patience, is the answer to using penetrating oils..Let them soak, hit areas to shock it so the rust will crack and the oil will find it's way there..
Duane

 

Molasses works really well on sheet metal and it doesn't affect pot metal or rubber.

 

I think this is gonna be a mostly mechanical fiddling/penetrating oil soaking job. I've never known rust removers to get into the crevices of sized up parts to any useful extent. If the job is not urgent, I might just drop the whole thing into a coffee can full of diesel or heating oil and forget it for a while.

 

Been fighting five Holly/Ford 94's for the last month. One had the throttle base rusted closed - and the carb was full of trash. Off a '52 COE engine that had set outside for some time. I mixed a 50/50 batch of ATF & acetone for another project and used it to soak the carb base for couple days. Started tapping on the butterflies and PRESTO! they started to move very slightly. Just a little more soaking and now it works like new...

 

Is this the stuff Kano makes? If so, I've used it. It left heavy, dark spots on the metal where the rust was.

 

Go to search and type Pine Sol. Read this a while back and the stuff works great on carbs.

 

I just used Evapo-Rust on a choke plate from a 94 i'm rebuilding and it really did a nice job of removing all the rust even in the pitted area. I let it soak over night. I also used it to remove the rust from the cast iron base (small amount) ,again it worked very well and no smell.

 

x2 on acetone and ATF

or even kerosene

external rust and crap is easily removed with a soda blaster with no damage to anything, even the fine engraving on the carb

 

just throw it in a bucket of water till its freed up enough to disassemble and then get rid of the rust.

 

soak it in a can filled with kerosene

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I was gonna post pics of the carb, but you all know what rusty screws and linkage looks like. I didn't want to mess up the heads of the screws trying to bust them loose because I wanted to re-use all the original pieces.(It really is a nice carb otherwise.) That's the main concern.

They're on pretty tight. And all the linkage is frozen as well. Choke and butterflys are stuck, but the carb is definitely a keeper/rebuilder...and it's never been f*cked with in its life.

I'm thinking I'll do what Bruce said and let it soak in some kind of solvent/oil bath for a week and see where I'm at then....I'm in no hurry.

 

I'll chime in and give props to the Pine-Sol.

It works well and doesn't dissolve or damage any of the rubber parts your carb may have.

Well....it didn't damage any of my motorcycle carb rubber bits.

dv

 

You may also want to look over this thread on "Serious Rust Removal":
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=505058

And as for the guys recommending the 50/50 acetone/ATF, they're right on target with that one. http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/ot-penetrating-oil-196347/

A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best!
Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil ..... Average load

None ...................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .............. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............. 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds

~Jason<!-- / message -->

 

Vinegar will disintegrate Potmetal, dont ask me how I know


Sent from my iPhone 5 using TJJ

 

Rather than start a new thread, lets bump this one.

Ive got a junkyard 97. Can't get the screw out of the arm that the accelerator pump hooks to. I've soaked the whole carb in carb cleaner over night. And have been spraying this linkage/screw for a few weeks now. I got the screw to turn a tad, so i know its not stuck in the aluminum. arm must be stuck on the screw.

Also, the base is STUCK. I've been spraying that for a few weeks also, tapping on it also. It will not budge. I also broke a screw head attempting to take a butterfly off. This is the part I was thinking about soaking in vinegar. Would there by any issues just soaking the base. It has an aluminum piece at the end of the shaft, but that gets shit canned for a multi carb setup anyways...

 

I disagree..... I soaked a deuce grill shell in molasses and it ate the rad cap bezel. The molasses made the pot metal crumble into crunchy goo.

 

I found something good...Evaporust, available from Harbor freight. Removes rust, and I have tested its claim of safety on paint, zinc, rubber, etc.
The stuff is actually completely harmless except to rust!
Home Depot has a new jug on their shelf that I think MAY be same...I have not yet closely compared labels or tested on carb stuff.
The Evapo will get the steel parts clean, will help even on buried threads, is harmless to the little springs (any acid solution will kill them) and length of soaking causes no problems.