Vinegar to remove rust? Old guys rule!

This is my Dodge 440 Head. It has been sitting in the corner for some years now.
My buddy on the H.A.M.B. ask me to try this experiment with the vinegar.
I am hooked now.
Rusty Head , Head sitting in the vinegar on week 2 and after spraying the head off with hot water. I used a Arm and Hammer Soda solution to wash the head in..One 5gal bucket of water and add about half of box of the Soda..Wash head in this solution to neutralize the vinegar.
I sprayd the head with PB Blaster to protect it .Until i use the heads I will put them in a tank of kerosene. These heads are now ready for a port and polish job.
Thanks to my buddy RAY C's son for asking me to complete this experiment.
More to come I am hooked.

 

Not a mystery really. Vinegar is an acid, make sure you neutralize with a base, e.g. baking soda, or the part will rust again.

You can also use concrete cleaner, it works faster but contains hydrochloric so don't breath it and don't leave the part in for very long (10 or 15 minutes max) or you will not have a part any longer. Oh and don't forget to neutralize the acid. And by all means don't stick a bare hand in it or get it in your eyes.

You could also use a strong base like sodium hydroxide.

As a side note if you were to purchase some litmus paper and after the vinegar trick check the ph of your part you will find it acidic, rinsing and neutralizing until the ph is neutral will ensure your part will not degrade over time.

 

Bringing back an oldie from the dead. I found the old lights with very frozen bolts. I was afraid to use heat so close to the chrome, really no place to bang on, definitely no way to get any leverage and PB just wouldn't work.

I cooked up a little vinegar bath and soaked only the nuts. Three days in vinegar and everything came apart with little struggle. A wire wheel and some grease and now they are ready for the road again.

 

I forgot about this thread so I'm glad it was brought up again. Found a vintage iron plant holder with leaves soldered/brazed(?) to it, carefully monitored the soak and after a couple of days it was rust free. A bath in baking soda and water, good dryout, prime and paint and it looks great. Made the missus real happy!

 

what would happen if a steel panel with some quite heavy pitting was dipped in the stuff.would the pits all turn to holes.dont want to blast.cos it will end up holes.

 

If the vinegar eats aluminum and cast iron, How does one dispose of a couple used gallons of it? are not all the drains cast iron?
-Pat

 

I just made the PVC vat last week an submerged my '61 Plymouth Bumper Grill guard in it. Yes the vat has a lid to keep the vinegar from evaporating. The back side of the grill guard was heavily rusted inside of this guard. I let it soak a week and took course steel wool to the inside after I pulled it out of the vinegar. I then washed it in hot soapy water and rinced and let it dry in the hot sun. I then painted it with Rustoleum. Vinegar will not hurt the chrome.

 

It should eat all the rust, which may or may not leave holes. The important thing is to get rid of all the rust and then neutralize with a baking soda and water solution. The holes can always be filled.

 

Pour straight baking soda into the vinegar/rust , but do it SLOWLY. It will foam up as the chemical reaction takes place that neutralizes the acid in the vinegar. The trick I learned is to add some baking soda, let the mix settle down, then add more until you don't see a reaction. When all is calm, add water till the container is full, mix and dump. On bigger containers I did this process over a few days.

 

thanks for the reply
-Pat

 

I see what my next project will be!

 

It won't eat the metal only reacts with the rust. It will eat through anodizing as was the case with my speedometer head.

 

Thanks for the reply, 59Apacegail.

 

Can't hack the smell of vinegar, but have been using citric acid on parts with the same results. I use about 1 lb to 5 gallons of water.

 

Be careful don't turn your car into a batch of pickles ha ha.

 

Has anyone used vinger to clean a cast iron engine block? I'm currently rebuilding a 350 chev and was researching ways to clean it at home and came across some mixed reviews about vinger and cast iron. I was wondering weather you can put the block into vinger once it has been stripped down, and weather it will be cleaned sufficiently.

Thanks

 

leftover vinegar solution can be used to kill weeds. won't hurt Mother Earth.

 

Shop around for your vinegar, there is household vinegar that is fairly mild. There is also vinegar marked Cleaning Vinegar, that is several percentage points stronger solution. This works faster than household vinegar. The higher the Acetic Acid percentage the faster the rust removal. Plain water will neutralize it just fine, add baking soda if it will make you feel better. BTW several on this thread mentioned that it will harm cast iron....in my experience it doesn't faze cast iron. I've soaked cast iron cookware for several months without issue.

 

I got my citric acid on Amazon, 5 lbs for around $9. Works really well and not hazardous.

 

I soaked some wheel cylinders in white Vinegar for a week. Turned all the rust and scale into a kind of paste that washed off easy in water.


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Yes. Vinegar does remove rust.

Sent from my SM-G930T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Shop around for your vinegar, there is household vinegar that is fairly mild. There is also vinegar marked Cleaning Vinegar, that is several percentage points stronger solution. This works faster than household vinegar. The higher the Acetic Acid percentage the faster the rust removal. Plain water will neutralize it just fine, add baking soda if it will make you feel better. BTW several on this thread mentioned that it will harm cast iron....in my experience it doesn't faze cast iron. I've soaked cast iron cookware for several months without issue.

I recently checked at Wally World. Their cleaning vinegar is 5% just like regular vinegar. Regular white vinegar is cheaper.

 

a 1/2 shot of vinegar once a day is supposed to be good for you. keeps the internal pipes clean.

 

Now you understand why your Girl Friend uses vinegar after you been playing around down there!!! I was at Wal Mart a cpl week ago and they had gallons of vinegar on the discount shelf for $1.00/gal.