The Grumpy one asked me to post this in 'Tech Tips' so here it is. I just copied and pasted from the article I wrote over at HAMB.
Got some rusty parts or body panels? Here's a dirt cheap way to rid yourself of that brown, scaly mess.......................
Yeah it does work!
After a couple of weeks in a molasses bath.............
You'll notice rust on the lower 6" or so. That's because the first time I tried it, my pond liner had a leak and most of the molasses drained out. So, I left it in and it dissolved the rust on the first 6". Got a new liner and flipped the panels over. The rusty part was originally clean but stuck out and was exposed to air. It's only surface rust that'll come off with a light sandblasting (as will the flash rust that begins forming almost immediately).
First run with the doors (notice no harm to original paint, rubber or pot metal).............
Built a 4'x4' box out of scrap 2x4's and OSB.............
Installed a reclaimed pond liner from an old pond in our backyard...............
Proof positive that an entire '27 Model T roadster will fit in a 4'x4' box..........
20 gallons of molasses bought at a local feed store for $60 including tax, then mixed with water at a 7:1 ratio - 7 parts water to 1 part molasses............
Entire car submerged in the brew (until most of it leaked out)!.............
Replaced the liner, added some more molasses and after a few weeks............wah lah!
Here's a little bit of detail.................
I built that box out of scrap 2x4's and OSB I had leftover from another project. I lined the box with an old pond liner we had laying in a dried up pond in our backyard.
Went down to the local feed store and bought five 3.5 gallon jugs of feed grade molasses. It was under $12 per jug. Horses love the stuff as do high grade marijuana growers! Apparantly, it makes an excellent fertilizer. Most feed stores here in Northern California tend to run out of it in August and September (right before harvest season). I've heard stories of guys coming in and buying pallets full at a time!
Anyway, load your parts into the tank, pour in the molasses and mix it with water. 7 parts water to 1 part molasses. Seems to me the 4' square tank took somewhere around 140 gallons total. No need to stir it or anything, just pour in the water. Put a cover on top to keep the varmints out. There's a slight odor when you're standing right next to the tank but nothing overwhelming at all.
I let mine sit for a solid 2 weeks 'cause there was 80 years of rust on that car! When done, pull the parts out and simply hose them off. A brown mucky mess comes off but underneath is clean virgin metal!
Now, the bare metal tends to flash rust immediately. I simply gave the panels a light sandblasting with my trusty Harbor Freight sandblaster. That's all there is to it!
BTW, got a price quote from the local chemical stripper to do my car. $600! Not! I spent $60 in materials and it probably did a better job!
