Military-Vehicles: [MV] Rust Removal of Smaller Items

[MV] Rust Removal of Smaller Items

David Prince (davprin@gil.com.au)
Mon, 28 Jul 1997 11:51:20 +1000

G'day Gang,
A method I use to remove rust and take steel back to
bare grey metal is to immerse the items in a water/molassas solution. I
use a 44-gallon (200 Litre) drum, place the parts in the drum
(preferably with a wire attached to each piece for removal), pour in
sufficient water to completely cover the items and then mix in molassus
with a ratio of about 5 to 8 of water to 1 of molassus. Cover the drum
with a sheet of iron or hessian bag. This will take up to a week to eat
away the rust but progress can be monitored by lifing out an item
occassionly. It appears to be the chemical process of fermentation that
removes the rust.

WARNING! This process will STINK so probably not a good idea in
surburban areas. DO NOT put any aluminium or similar in the solution -
it magically disappears. All metal must be completely free of any oil or
grease and the solution will not work on any painted areas.

Once the metal is clean it should be hosed off with clean water and
dried in the sun. It will start to oxidise again very quickly unless the
items are buffed with a wire brush. A rust inhibitor should be applied
and the metal primed as soon as possible.

I have even used this to clean up cast iron cylinder heads although in
this instance the head needs to be hosed out every day to get rid of the
buildup of gunk in the water galleries and then put back into the
solution until it is clean. It does not eat away the steel or iron, just
the rust.

--
Dave Prince
davprin@gil.com.au

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