Assault & Vinegar

[Rusty's Uncle]

  My rust & paint removal on old parts is ongoing with my "tank" with washing soda solution & mobile phone charger has been almost in constant use for months now. Stripping items like wheel rims , engine tinware etc. I mentioned it before , the vinegar thing , but I bought a dirty , scruffy old carb cheap on eBay so stripped it down this morning , bought a value bottle of vinegar from Tesco for 13p and dumped the alloy parts in it for about 4 hours. Then scrub down with an old toothbrush & hey presto , a good looking carb  [-/
 

[nrg19uk]

they use a car charger here ;-)


http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/

[microcars]

THE VINEGAR CLEANING SOUND INTERESTING... I HAVE NEVER TRIED IT... IN AUSTRIA THEY PUT THE PARTS IN A BIG PLASTIC TUB AND TURN ON THE BATTERY CHARGER ( 220V ) TO 50 AMPS .. TALK AB0UT BUBBLES.. THE BAKING SODA WORKS WITH ALL THE OLD BUZZARDS WHO COLLECT  HIT AND MISS ENGINES THAT HAVE BEEN OUT IN THE FIELDS FOR 40 YEARS( ENGINES THAT IS)..GIVE IT ENOUGH TIME IN THE TUB AND IT WILL REMOVE ALL RUST  FROM THE PART AND NEVER DAMAGE GOOD METAL..IN THE USA I BUY AND SELL CHEMICIAL FOR DETAILING .. I BUY 5 GALLON PAILS OF ACID (FLORIDE TYPE)  YOU CAN BRING RUSTY  METAL PARTS TO WHITE METAL CLEAN .. IT ALSO EATS ONLY RUST... NOT GOOD METAL...I DID RUIN A SET OF TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLE TUBES BY LEAVING THEM IN OVER NIGHT . THERE IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF METAL  USED ON THE BRAZED ON PARTS...   GONE THEY WERE ...I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I SAW. I WAS IN TEARS. AND I STILL HAVE THOSE PARTS IN THE GARAGE TO REMIND ME TRIUMPH FORK TUBES ARE A NO NO...BY THE WAY YOU MUST GIVE CHROME WHEEL CLEANING ACID TONS OF RESPECT BECAUSE THE FLORIDES IN THE JUICE  WILL PENATRATE YOUR SKIN AND EAT THE CALCIUM OUT OF YOUR BONES...NOT GOOD ALL ACIDS MUST SHOW IF THEY HAVE FLORIDES...   RUBBER GLOVES ARE A MUST , , EYE , NOSE , SKIN. PROTECTION ARE A MUST. WHEN YOUR DONE RINSE THE PARTS AND DRY .AT THIS POINT USE CHASSIS  SAVOR PAINT..  YOU CAN BUY IT ON EBAY . IT TURNS IN TO POWDER COATING TUFF PAINT.. SEALS ANY FLASH RUST PERMINANTLY  . YOU CAN SMACK IT WITH A HAMMER AND IT WONT CHIP..  I DO MY BODY WORK WITH THE PAINT ON THE PARTS FOR LONG TIME CONSUMING PROJECTS  ... OH OH IM RATTLING ON . I BEST STOP FOR A SHOT OF GRAPPA AND COFFEE...LEO

[Rusty's Uncle]

Reminder  [-/

[ciaoflyer]

I have used the vinegar trick on rusty parts, wipes out rust!

Here's a guide I ound on the net when I was restoring a Raleigh Grifter...
http://www.cookhaus.co.uk/vinegar/index.htm

[Derek]

That's a great link. Vinegar is also great to descale a kettle! I've also read that Coca Cola is good for soaking your carb in.

[Rusty's Uncle]

Appologies to the guys that have seen all this before but I thought it might be worth flagging this up again for the new folk on here. I decided to restore some of the old disc brake callipers I had so I needed to remind myself of the correct way to connect the polarity from an old Sony Erricson mobile phone charger 

[gammakeith]

+1 on that.  Its a super technique. The last thing I did was the small petrol tank on a Cyclemaster.  It cleaned up the rust inside of the tank beautifully which would have been near impossible otherwise.  Alas, it also revealed all the pin holes as well so had to spend ages filling

Keith

[baron_matt]

So do you just immerse the carb in normal Vinegar? No electricity required?

Whilst my 126 is off the road (engine out yet again whilst I wait for another recon alternator to arrive) I thought it might be worth while taking the carb off and letting it soak for a bit as the carb bowl shows aluminium corrosion, gawd knows what the innards are like.

[Rusty's Uncle]

Well if it is cold and dark outside I would turn on the lights and heating then you can watch the vinegar work in comfort 
I was going to make a silly comment about the required voltage but thought someone might take it literally so in the interests of 'elf & softy I bit my lip 
So no batteries required with the vinegar. I would degrease first, max about 2 hours in vinegar as it is a mild acid then a detox with boiling water. A blow through with WD40 or carb cleaner to check passages are clear then you are ready to go. For some reason this works well with carbs but not with other ally castings. I think the carbs are a more Zinc based alloy and the vinegar will leave the carb with a mat finish. If you want posh then you can do a dry rub with a small brass wire brush or use a toothbrush & toothpaste. I have to use the wife's toothbrush as my teeth have all fallen out 

[baron_matt]

As my Carb was pretty corroded I left it in Vinegar from 3pm to 7pm yesterday in the sun..

Came back to see it foaming, which was an interesting example of chemistry in action.

I followed Rusty's example and used the other half's spare tooth brush to clean it up (with permission and on the understanding that I replace it today). What a transformation. The Float, which had a tide line on it is now shiny brass as are all the jets. I've also fitted new O rings on the mixture and slow running jets as these were perished. I've also cleaned out the choke plunger and blasted all the jets through with carb cleaner, and oiled the butterfly spindle. Hopefully this will make it now run a bit better as it was pretty crappy before.

[Da Londo]

I would degrease first, max about 2 hours in vinegar as it is a mild acid then a detox with boiling water. A blow through with WD40 or carb cleaner to check passages are clear then you are ready to go.

I've been told to add a tablespoon of washing soda to the boiling water for the detox, it should give a smooth finish and make the
effect longer lasting.

Citric acid (powder) is also used to clean petrol tanks of rust inside.

[Rusty's Uncle]

Revived again for Chris and his problem. If there is any white powder type corrosion in the carb then the vinegar will sort it out. Shocked to see last week that Sainsburys had doubled the price of their Basics vinegar 

[DeVilleChris]

Thanks for this rusty! also I work in a wholefoods warehouse so getting vinegar at reasonable cost is easy enough