Rust removal ideas...

The lady at the feed store said they sell such molasses in 5-gallon buckets for about $30. She said they sell a lot of it to concrete companies who use it as a retarder to create exposed aggregate finishes. I'll buy a bucket and give it a try when I get a little bit more ahead.
 
I have used molasses with excellent results. The ratio I use is 5:1 thats 5 parts water to 1 part molasses.
I work as a engineering maintenence manager for a major International chemical plant and have access to just about every type of chemical known to man.
As I get to see what the after and long term effects that most if not all of these chemicals have on the items they are used on and the people that use them I GO OUT OF MY WAY NOT TO USE THEM ON MY PROPERTY OR ANYWHERE NEAR MY FAMILY.

The plant manager where I work wanted a small block Chevrolet motor cleaned so I suggested molasses, I was laughed at and given greif for two weeks while we left the block soaking in a 44 gallon plastic drum of the mixture.

When we lifted it out there was silence and disbelief at what was before us. A shiney clean and looking new SBC block. Looking back I should have taken bets.

When making the mixture up use hot water first it will make mixing in the Molasses much easier.
 
Did the molasses dissolve the grease and grime also?

Hi Paul we cold water jetted the block before we put it in the molasses. There was grime still there when it went in but it was gone when it came out. More importantly though all of the water jacket and galleries where spotless completely clear of rust and scale.
Even with body panels I always water jet them first. I just think every little bit of effort helps.
 
I use a product "POR 15" on my Volkswagens. This stuff is GOLDEN for sealing rust. Even use it on suspension components, chassis, floor pans etc. seriously... It's the only very effective, does what it says bulletproof stuff I've found.
 
Get ready to hit the "this thread is useless without pics," but now that the weather has warmed-up here, I got a batch of molasses rust-remover started. I bought the 5-gallon bucket of molasses from the feed-store, and prepared a 1:7 mixture in another 5-gallon bucket with a tightly-fitting lid (not sure if I should completely seal it shut). I placed several smaller pieces that had a medium-level of rust in the bucket, fasteners, brackets, hinge components. In three days the rust was over half-gone. It's been a week now, and I'm heading out now to hose the parts off and perhaps brush them muck off the pieces and let it soak another week in needed. I need to get some larger containers to de-rust some larger pieces. After removing for the final time, the parts must be given a final wash, and perhaps heated to quickly remove all moisture before it flashes over with rust again. Then coat with a preservative until painted or coated with Rust Prevention Magic. Pieces that still had remnants of paint still on them still have the paint intact. Same with grease - I didn't completely clean some of the parts first. But overall I'm very happy. The molasses does the work so you don't have to!
Like Paul suggests below (thanks for the cooking-oil tip), I bought a lot of zip-lock style bags from the dollar store to keep these components, along with the manilla envelopes I store other items in, and write on them what they are. I need to get off my butt and organize all the digital photos I've been taking along the way.
 
If want to keep them from rusting quickly, and don't mind a little oil on the parts, then spray them with cooking oil, and store them in plastic bags. It is easily cleaned off in the future with dish washing soap.
 
Back
Top