Molassis as rust converter

[Deleted]

Hi All

I was told by and old motorbike restorer that he uses molassis to clean rust from small parts .
I have just dropped the springs , dropped axle, and brake drums off at a sand blasters shop. He is charging me $50 to blast and paint all bits with Zinc Phos Grey Primer... cheap as chips. ;D

I have removed all the spring plates and u bolts, mechanical brake mechansisms etc. I started cleaning them with my $100 home handyman sand blaster . A slow and messy process. It was about then i remembered the old bloke praising Molassis.

Has anyone used it for rust and scale removal?? If so how did it turn out. How long did you leave the parts in "The Pickle"


Reddo

[willyn]

Gidday Reddo
There is a product called R20 made by ICR
you can get from Auto one super cheap auto parts thet does the same thing just wire brush and paint the stuff on or add 5 parts water and submerse

$32 dollars a bottle but it makes five litres
if you are leaving them in the bath for a while you cab add more water

does the same as mollasses
strips them clean
even so mollasses is a 100% job as well
Will

[humpty2]

I have also read somewhere that putting a charge through it via a 12volt battery will accellerate the rust removal. Also if you leave it in too long there will be nothing left...

[Deleted]

Hi humpty.

I think you are refering to "Plating Off" .
I bought one of those "Jane Kits" for Nickeling and cadding bits around my old clunker bikes like nuts, bolts , kick starter and levers etc.

I use to clean them up with a brass wire wheel until they looked fairly clean.
Then drop em into a pickle of sulhuric acid for a while then over into a vat of hydrochloric acid with the 12 volt positive attached to the part and the negative attached to a sacrificial plate.

When i turned the power on you could see the rubbish coming off the threads etc and accumulating on the sacrificial plate.
End result was spotlessly clean parts ready to be wired up and hung on the copper rods and lowered into the heat croc pot full of green goop which had nickel annodes hanging in it.
Took around twenty minutes to nickel plate odds and ends. a bit longer for larger things like kick starter etc. I was suprised how "spanner friendly " the coating was. the parts polished up almost as good as chrome.

Like all good home handyman projects the finish is only as good as the preperation and execution of the task.

Reddo

[bigkel]

HI ALL, i have a molasses ( correct spelling ) bath in my man shed ( & a few white tail rats )20 lt of the black gooey stuff mixed with 180 lt of tap water in a 200lt plastic drum, been there for 7 or 8 years in the tropical heat of cairns with no smell. i leave car parts in it for about 2 weeks & it removes all rust, even down to the bottom of the pits,but does not always remove all the paint, but when you hose parts off they must be painted within 5 minutes or surface rust will begin to show. ( parts must be oil & grease free to get a good job )it will not remove grease, all the best , kel.

[Franklin1]

Reddo, from what I gather there are two popular methods of rust removal used by "weekend warriors":

First is the electrolysis method, using a battery charger and a container of caustic soda. A detailed explanation of the method can be found here:
www.htpaa.org.au/article-electro.php

Second is the molasses method, as described by others above. An explanation of both methods can be found here (shorter than the explanation above):
www.moreg.org.au/dissolving_rust.htm

I've never tried either method, but it seems they have their own benefits.

cheers,
Al.