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dealing with rust (breaking out the big guns)

Started by Joe Meneghin, April 24, 2005, 09:20:24 AM

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Joe Meneghin

For those of you like me, who are dealing with more rust than the Titanic, heres what Im doing.

First off, you will need 5-12 gallons of muratic acid depending on how far your going to go with this.  And some buckets.  If you have a Home Depot near you, this is the place to go.  I think the two pack of muratic acid is $7 there.  I got a standard 5 gallon bucket and a 16 gallon muck bucket.  

Tie a string around the piece and get ready to dip.  Make sure you do this outside and keep the acid away from things that rust.  Muratic acid is wierd, it will dissolve rust on contact, but the fumes will cause rust almost immediately.  

Be extremely careful with this stuff, wear goggles, and avoid any contact with skin.  Avoid breathing the fumes.

Now, you can dip two things, steel and rubber.  No chrome, plastic, brass, aluminum or copper.  The acid will dissolve those items in minutes.  


This process can take anywhere from 2 hours to 24 hours depending on how thick the rust is.  

Now heres the catch, once your done with your piece, you have to clean it and get primer on quickly.  


There are a number of ways to clean the piece.  Ive heard, but Im not sure its true that soaking the piece in baking soda and water will dissolve any muratic acid on the piece.  

I would suggest rinsing the piece with water, soaking in acetone or lacquer thinner and getting a coat of primer on it QUICKLY.
It may sound counter productive to be dealing with such corrosive stuff, but believe me its a time saver.  The steel rims on my car would have taken days with a sand blaster, the acid washed off the rust like it was brake dust.  If you have a painted piece, I would suggest hitting it with aircraft remover before dipping.  If you do it right, you will have a clean rust free piece ready for primer and paint.