Thread: Bundalenes '51 Restoration

The molasses bath is in use, I had a large container with lid (1.2m x .6m x .5m high) which seems to suit the job. Currently we are soaking steering parts, nuts and bolts and an axle housing. I have never used this process before and am looking forward to seeing the results in a few days / weeks – NO RUSH





As recommended I used a 10 to 1 water to molasses mixture with a 20 litre drum of molasses in here













Not everything is going to plan – the radiator / headlight support was badly cracked at the 3 bolts onto the chassis, I broke the junction box – even though there is a brass insert at the inside, the whole insert came away with the lid, and I broke the first bolt I tried to undo on the relay box, it was almost rusted through.



Erich

Erich, when you eventually remove the parts (it can be a very slow process) from the molasses and wash them off treat them straight away with a phosphoric acid solution then undercoat otherwise they start to rust again quite quickly.

Hi Erich,

Thats a good project you have there, Will provide hours of amusement .

Im removing rust from klonks wheel rims atm and had to change the mollassis yesterday as it does go off after a month and smells pretty rank. Remember this land rover work requires planning on all fronts. If you have to put your arms into the soup to retrieve parts dont expect to get too close to your wife for three days.

Cheers Steve

What do you do with the molasses solution when finished - probably OK to water the garden - right away from the house? No chemicals, just rusty sugar water.

This link says water your lawn.

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What do others do?



Erich

Eric,
you could always ferment/distil it and then call it:

"el ron de series one"

Far better than lawn food

Originally Posted by Bundalene

What do you do with the molasses solution when finished - probably OK to water the garden - right away from the house? No chemicals, just rusty sugar water.

What do others do?

Erich

I just tip it on the ground, it doesn't seem to hurt anything.

Elbow length gloves are a good idea to keep the pong off and a lid to keep mould spores out, is an even better one - mould seems to create the peculiar essence.

Molasses seems to to come in different strengths, which affects de-rusting time; my latest batch was mixed 1:10 but seemed to be working too slowly, so I increased the strength to 1:5 and by the next morning some seriously good activity was taking place. If you are not getting some froth on the surface in the shape of the parts, increase the strength or the temperature of the water,

Cheers Charlie

Originally Posted by klonk

Hi Erich,

Thats a good project you have there, Will provide hours of amusement .

Im removing rust from klonks wheel rims atm and had to change the mollassis yesterday as it does go off after a month and smells pretty rank. Remember this land rover work requires planning on all fronts. If you have to put your arms into the soup to retrieve parts dont expect to get too close to your wife for three days.

Cheers Steve

Where possible I suspend the parts on pieces of wire.
Easy to fish parts out to check on progress that way and you get better stripping coverage than if parts are laying on top of each other.

Our good news is that the chassis and firewall have only surface rust. There is a small repair job on the rear cross member as it is bent in. This should pull straight out again (I hope)


I have come to a cross roads on which way to go. Most parts have been removed from the chassis, I have left the firewall deliberately. I had to get to this stage to find the extent of the corrosion before making a decision.

I can either restore back to new or restore back to a mechanically maintained 63 year old vehicle.

For restoration back to new I would either sand blast / prime and paint the chassis and firewall or have it pickled and primed and painted.

For the other restoration I would Dry Ice blast the chassis and firewall and coat the parts with Penetrol (Anti rust control) and cover with a clear coat. I first considered re-painting the chassis and firewall, but where does one stop, it would always look unfinished.


I don't believe there will be a huge cost difference, time difference will , however, be enormous.

I am inclined to go with the second restoration and If I don't like it, I can always get out the spray gun.


Here are pics of the chassis / firewall



































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Erich