Thread: Rust removal with molasses.

Vinegar?

See Cookie's Crap Corvette Tips No.1

Lots of pics. It looks well worth a try.

He uses malt vinegar. Do you reckon any vinegar would work, or only particular types of vinegar. He doesn't give too many details.

vinegar = mild acid

Don't think it would make too much difference.

Originally Posted by slug_burner

vinegar = mild acid

Don't think it would make too much difference.

All proprietry rust converters are based on acids anyway - the most common is phosphoric, but there are others that use tanic acid. The acid soaks into the porus iron oxide (rust) and, in the case of a phosphoric based rust converter, converts the iron oxide into iron phosphate - which is hard, and forms a strong bond to the parent metal. The vinegar is soaking into the iron oxide the same way, but not into the parent metal, so it releases the strong bond that the iron oxide has to the metal. As shown on the pics, it is then easy to brush away. If the metal is washed clean of all traces of the vinegar after treatment, then protected properly afterwards, there would be no ill affects to the metal.

Cheers - Gav.

Originally Posted by POD

Used molasses at a place I worked at about 20 years ago to clean up rusty superphosphate gear on potato planters. Anyone who's worked in agriculture knows what super will do to metal.
We were told to mix it 50/50 with water and leave the stuff a couple of months. Of course we forgot about the stuff and found it about 6 months later, tipped the bits out and hosed them off with a pressure washer. They were like brand new, looked like they had just been cast, no wire brushing required.

Fertilizer is an absolutely deadly corrosive. Supplied skid steer loaders to several fertilizer works when I was selling them. Usually they were throw away after three years. One actually got so bad it broke in half on the job. One company started an evening shift and fitted work lights to the machines. All OK until they got a wet night and within minutes of switching on the work lights all the spade terminals disappeared and the harnesses fell off the lights under the corrosive influence of electricity and wet fertilizer dust. The relatively low cost of these machines and the amount of damage they sustained precluded extensive and expensive anti-corrosion coatings and maintenance thereof. Just buy more.

Originally Posted by Mick_Marsh

Would this process be able to be done in at old metal (enamelled) bathtub? Would it eventually corrode the bathtub?

In my experience (15 years) the molasses will eventually corrode through the steel but it takes quite some time and I have never lost a part despite being forgetful. I use plastic baths, the biggest I made was builder's plastic draped inside a dry-brick enclosure in which I did my S1 axles. Line the bath with plastic

Murray; items such as springs are best disassembled and wire brushing by hand every now and then, speeds the process up considerably and molasses will completely remove every bit of rust, whereas many rust converters tend to work on the surface and don't penetrate to the bottom of the pits.

Using hot water makes the process even faster I use Ranex on the clean bits and then paint,

Cheers Charlie

PS Thanks for posting - I wish someone had told me about molasses when I first started fooling around with cars!

Great idea, pity the trailer is too big to go in a tub.

This whole idea is new to me, but I wish I knew about it earlier. I have been fixing up an old chevvy for a while.
What effect would this have on rubber seals, say in a water pump off a small block chev? I have just pulled one off the engine and need to give it a quick clean up to paint it. It's fairly new, but has been sitting around unpainted for a few years after gong through the salt air on the boat from the US.