Rusty rear end..

I just picked up an 85 RX7 GSL-SE.

The chassis is pretty rust-free, but the running gear is crusty. The rear axle assy and springs are covered in scaly rust, which I can flake off with my thumbnail.

The springs are a simple enough fix...chuck 'em.

What about the rear axle housing? What's the best way to clean it up? (By 'best way' I mean best way to clean it up in <6 hours for ~$50.) ;)

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-needle-scaler-1108.html

$44.99

I have and have had several rear ends for these. The rust never really bothered me. I just scraped off the flakes with a wire brush then slathered on POR 15.

as Greg stated.

a couple of wire wheels mounted in a drill, some degreaser, and a can or two of semi gloss black Rustoleum spray paint will fix you right up.

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

This is how i clean mine up before i cut'em to resize them for dwarfs.

44

44:

Do you completely disassemble the axle/diff and just dip the housing?

Anyone got any before/after pics for POR-15? Or any experience with Eastwood Rust Encapsulator?

I normal strip the rear to just a housing and parts. I do all the parts one by one. If the "chuck" is realy nasty crusty rusty. I will put a grease gun down by the pinon seal and fill that area then top off with a cup of oil and hand the chuck from above to do the outside of the chuck. The gease keeps out the water if the seal desides its going to leak... Afterwards I'll flush out the inside with the parts washer. Dwarfs use the toyota mini version of the 9 inch ford.

In reply to 44Dwarf: Just remove the rear and have it sandblasted. Wrap some twine around the seal areas to prevent sand beating up the seals then paint. If you look at the rear diff pictures in my Grand Marquis in my rides. The center section is Rust Bullit. The black is some high end 2 part epoxy left over.

In reply to 44Dwarf: Just remove the rear and have it sandblasted. Wrap some twine around the seal areas to prevent sand beating up the seals then paint. If you look at the rear diff pictures of my Grand Marquis in my garage. The center section is Rust Bullit. The black is some high end 2 part epoxy left over.

Woody wrote: http://www.harborfreight.com/air-needle-scaler-1108.html $44.99

....going to HF to get one of these.... brb

turbo2256 wrote: In reply to 44Dwarf: Just remove the rear and have it sandblasted. Wrap some twine around the seal areas to prevent sand beating up the seals then paint.

To messy to sand blast plus theres always grease and road goo on them. Grease and reclaiming sand don't mix well. I normaly have to cut one side completely off to weld on a new tube. Costomers like nice smoth paint jobs afterwards.

The electrolitic rust removal is cool! I hadn't seen that before. NOW I know how to deal with my swap fodder that's all crapped up. Thanks, 44Dwarf!

you could get some Rust-eze

http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Cars_rusteze-l.jpg .
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Sorry, no help really.

Molasses works.

Greg Voth wrote: I have and have had several rear ends for these. The rust never really bothered me. I just scraped off the flakes with a wire brush then slathered on POR 15.

+2

Electrolysis is definitely the way to go. We used it to reclaim some rusty accessory brackets we didn't feel like sanding. Worked like a charm.

Here's my electrolysis setup:

Ingenious

Ingenious

rusty parts from aging cars and backyard electrolysis using cheap stuff from around the house like washing soda and a car charger...sounds like a great mag article!

hint hint there was a post from august that had a link to a GREAT how to...