Rust gone

[mezy]

Made a small rust buster last night out of a 5 litre container.

Just right for small items.
Just the distributor base plate and a throttle link of the carb
After just 20 minutes you can see all the crud on the surface and the rust accumulating in the corners where the anodes are.

 

[JHaydon]

That looks like a how-to article that's just begging to be written!!

And if it's not begging, I am. PLEASE!! Tell us how you did it!

 

[mezy]

That looks like a how-to article that's just begging to be written!!

And if it's not begging, I am. PLEASE!! Tell us how you did it!

its a simple set up.
you need a plastic container big enough to fit what you need to de rust.
find four ferous metal rods or flat bar.
fix one in each corner
connect all four rods together with copper wire, make sure you have a good connection.
fill container with water and mix in some soda christals, make sure its sodium carbonate. bicarbonate does not work.
a good one is arm and hammer. you need enough to just make the water go cloudy.
hang watever it is you want to derust from a copper wire into the water,
connect positive from a battery charger to the outer rods
connect negative to the bit you are de rusting
turn the charger on, works best at around four amps. and sit back and watch it sizzle.
This works by line of site between the part and the rods, so turn the part now and again,
this will only remove rust, it will not attack the good metal, so it is safe to leave in for as long as it takes.

I have removed rust from all of my suspension components in a large tub this way,

 

[Gliderman8]

its a simple set up.
you need a plastic container big enough to fit what you need to de rust.
find four ferous metal rods or flat bar.
fix one in each corner
connect all four rods together with copper wire, make sure you have a good connection.
fill container with water and mix in some soda christals, make sure its sodium carbonate. bicarbonate does not work.
a good one is arm and hammer. you need enough to just make the water go cloudy.
hang watever it is you want to derust from a copper wire into the water,
connect positive from a battery charger to the outer rods
connect negative to the bit you are de rusting
turn the charger on, works best at around four amps. and sit back and watch it sizzle.
This works by line of site between the part and the rods, so turn the part now and again,
this will only remove rust, it will not attack the good metal, so it is safe to leave in for as long as it takes.

I have removed rust from all of my suspension components in a large tub this way,

I have used this method many, many times with much success.

 

[JHaydon]

Stupid question, I have a bunch of surplus steel stock (~1" square tube) which I could use, but it has surface rust. I'd need to wire-brush that off before they'd be useful as cathodes?

 

[mezy]

Stupid question, I have a bunch of surplus steel stock (~1" square tube) which I could use, but it has surface rust. I'd need to wire-brush that off before they'd be useful as cathodes?

Just get a flappy disc on the grinder and buzz over them.
Remember all the rust migrates to them so you need to clean them off quite often.

 

[Gliderman8]

I successfully de-rusted the tank in my TR6.
I filled the gas tank with a solution of water and Arm & Hammer soda. I connected the negative terminal ~directly to the tank~. I used a large rubber plug with a hole in it to insert a ferrous rod into the center of the tank. The rubber plug was inserted at the gas (petrol) cap hole and the positive was connected. The tank was supported on blocks of wood. It did a wonderful job of cleaning the tank.

 

[mezy]

I successfully de-rusted the tank in my TR6.
I filled the gas tank with a solution of water and Arm & Hammer soda. I connected the negative terminal ~directly to the tank~. I used a large rubber plug with a hole in it to insert a ferrous rod into the center of the tank. The rubber plug was inserted at the gas (petrol) cap hole and the positive was connected. The tank was supported on blocks of wood. It did a wonderful job of cleaning the tank.

I did exactly the same with my panther tank. After I made it I filled it with water to check it for leaks. This made it go rusty inside.

 

[NutmegCT]

For those (like me) who need a few visuals ...

Electrolytic Rust Removal Aka Magic

Electrolytic Rust Removal Aka Magic: This is a relatively simple, safe and cheap way to remove light or heavy rust from any ferrous object. I used this process to restore an old wood plane that I bought for $1 (it looked totally un-usable because of the rust). As opposed to grinding, h…

www.instructables.com

I used this method on some suspension parts on my old TR years ago. Definitely "magic" - but be careful about possible hydrogen buildup.

 

[mezy]

Never use stainless steel it gives of some nasty fumes you don't wanna be breathing in