Liquid Rust Removers / Converters - Any Of Them Actually Work?

As some may know I have been re building 924s/944/951/968 intermediate steering shafts. Business is percolating along well. Every now and then I get a core in that has a lot of surface rust and to properly clean it up it takes the better part of an hour.

Normal clean up of a typical core involves stripping the parts back to bare metal is usually less then 10 minutes with a 6" knotted wire wheel. I don't mind this as it gives me time to inspect the parts for cracks or other defects. But an hour spent getting surface rust off (it is very stubborn stuff to remove) is just to much time. There has to be a better way!!

I have seen products advertised that all you do is soak the rusted part in it and the surface rust magically disappears. Do these work? Anyone tried them? I don't mind soaking things for days or even weeks if it works.

Ideally if I had a container of this magical stuff that I could take disassembled cores that I removed caked on dirt and any heavy scale and let them soak for a while that would remove all the surface rust. Then all I would have to do is wash them down and if needed a light going over with a wire wheel to prep for paint.

Anyone tried any of the products? Any recommendations.

At the Mitty I got a bottle of Evapo-Rust and I cannot wait to use it. I spoke to the chemist who invented it, and it sounds like magic--sweet, sweet rust-fighting magic.

Muratic acid is a liquid. :)

Evapo-rust works as advertised. I used it a few years ago for some parts of an old motorcycle we were building. The parts came out looking damn near new.

I've used generic vinegar for many years, it does just fine.

I've also used electrolytic for fun. It also does just fine.

Chileating, which is what evaporust does, is another process. Evaporust did not invent it, it's been around for centuries. It's slow and stinky, but it works.

All of them require washing and cleaning the surface prior to painting.

Electrolytic:

It's Chelating, don't google Chileating it's NSFW.

foxtrapper wrote: I've used generic vinegar for many years, it does just fine. I've also used electrolytic for fun. It also does just fine. Chileating, which is what evaporust does, is another process. Evaporust did not invent it, it's been around for centuries. It's slow and stinky, but it works. All of them require washing and cleaning the surface prior to painting.

Woody wrote: Electrolytic:

I have had very good luck with the above method.

I used electrolysis to do all the suspension bits from my Miata. Works just fine.

I've had good success with Evapo-Rust. Best if parts are clean (mostly bolts in my case) beforehand. They will need to be treated ASAP after coming out of the bucket/tub, as my parts had a tendency to flash-rust real quick after their evapo-bath.

+1 on the Evaporust working well. The parts they treated during the Mitty came out looking amazing.

www.evapo-rust.com

Maybe a molasses mix for cheaper chelating? http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/old_wro/articles/columns/wp0906/wp0906.html

Maybe a rhubarb leaf mix? http://jbosh1972.hubpages.com/hub/Rust-removal-by-chelation Scroll to the Oxalic section. It would be great to have a productive use for the rhubarb leaves from my garden.

I've never tried either.

Any of the ones I have used involve (done pretty much all of the above) a final clean with a wire brush in the angle grinder to get rid of the gunk and whatever the black layer is. So, to be honest, it would not be much different than wire brushing the part in the first place.

glass bead or walnut blasting?

I use Ospho often enough that I keep it on the shelf.

Blasting, most definitely !

Not for small nuts and bolts, but for everything else Easy Peasy, can't be beat !

Also a vibratory tumbler will cleanup the nuts and bolts as well as smaller parts.

After degreasing I dip in Muriatic Acid in a plastic container. Should be rust free down to the metal pores w/ in an hour. Rinse w/ water. Does not remove paint. Use full strength only on steel, no aluminum. Be careful, only use outdoors, don't breathe the fumes.

I can confirm what David Wallens said earlier about Evapo-Rust. They were one of our sponsors at the Mitty and several people brought by some pretty gnarly rusted out parts and were soaked in Evapo-Rust and came out in great shape.

It is a product you can trust and I think you guys know by now that we "tell it like it is" when it comes to product testing.

What about rust on panels of cars? Is there anything that can actually convert rust so it won't keep spreading? Seems like the only good method is grinding to bare metal.

In reply to miatame:

I believe they do. I remember seeing their display at SEMA and they had a door of a car that was rusted and the progression using Evapo-Rust.

miatame wrote: What about rust on panels of cars? Is there anything that can actually convert rust so it won't keep spreading? Seems like the only good method is grinding to bare metal.

After seeing some of the above links, it looks as if painting molasses on your sheet metal and leaving it on for a week or so might do the trick.

Then prime over it with POR-15?

miatame wrote: What about rust on panels of cars? Is there anything that can actually convert rust so it won't keep spreading? Seems like the only good method is grinding to bare metal.

There are Ospho-like products used in the autobody world that you can use to convert rust. Of course, you still have to grind off most of it.

Clarification point. Evaporust is not the same product as Evapo-rust. Different companies, different products, maybe different ingredients.