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Tips
Tips

CLR still working well on more parts...

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Brosky

Brosky

Great Pumpkin
Offline
Since our good friend TR6Harris posted the tip about CLR, I've been spending time salvaging parts to refurbish. The heater valve kicked it off and then I decided to try it on a hood support rod for my TR8 that I got which was all pitted and rusty looking. That cleaned up really well after soaking for 30 hours in 50'50 mix. I did not take before pics, but it was not very pretty when I started. This has not been polished yet.

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Then I dug out the backing plates that I had on my for sale list and took off 4 complete original Girling rear brake adjusters which are all apart and now soaking away. I took one out for a quick look and it's coming along nicely. I will strike the plates off of my for sale list and just sell these on eBay after I finish cleaning them up nicely. This mix is 50/50 and has been soaking for about six hours. We'll see what they look like tomorrow.

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And I found two other plates that had original wheel cylinders attached and two original adjusters, but I can't find the Girling name on them yet. I'll degrease these then soak them down for a day or so.

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EDIT: These did NOT come off my original car. Those parts are all packed away, for what I don't know, but they are. This was all eBay buying fits of days gone by.

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very interesting - I missed the tip though - or is it just a 50/50 mix and time?
 
50/50 mix and time. It helps to get the grease off first.
 
Looks like the wife is about to come up short of her CLR stash here... :whistle:
 
She probably will after you see these. I got really lazy the other night and just dropped those really dirty, rusty wheel cylinders and brake adjusters into a 60/40 mix and left it sit for 30 hours. It was really stinky when I uncapped the plastic tub, but this is how they came out after a hot water and toothbrush scrub rinse.
 

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I'm impressed. I've tried soaking in; laundry soap, dish washer soap, paint thinner, and even one of those electric (400mA) current through washing soda tubs. The CLR looks better than my efforts. I looked up the product's contents and see Lactic Acid. Guess I was working on the wrong end of the pH scale :smile:
 
Nice option. CLR is expensive, so any option that works as well is a good thing, IMHO.
 
What a great tip! I stopped by Home Depot yesterday and bought a gallon of water based degreaser and a gallon of CLR, about $23. I mixed the degreaser with water and let it soak for about 3 hours and it worked very well. My calipers are now soaking in CLR and I could see improvement after about 4 hours. I noticed that there was a ZEP product next to the CLR for about $9 a gallon. The formulation was close, but more hydrochloric acid...do you think it would be safe?
Thanks, Rut
 
I'd try to avoid the high hydro percentage if possible. These aren't engine blocks or cast iron.
 
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