Clean parts and remove rust and paint with no chemicals or metal damage

[philbar73]

Hi everyone. I have found a trick to clean and remove the rust and paint from parts that I thought I would share with you. If you set up a plastic tank of water mixed with washing soda (can be found next to the laundry detergent as the store) you can use DC electricity to clean off crud and remove paint and rust. You connect the negative lead to the part you want to clean and use a sacrificial piece of steel for the positive. As the water is converted to gas through electrolysis bubbles form on the surface of the metal and it gets under the dirt grease paint and rust and eats away at it. A lot of dirt and crud forms on the positive plate and the part connected to the negative cleans up almost by itself. The metal comes out a little dirty and dark but with a little work with course steel wool and soap and water things clean up really nice. The electricity dose most of the work and if you leave the parts in long enough it get the rust out of all the little pits and may take time but it works great an makes it much easier. You can use a car battery charger and control the power level by putting more or less of the anode (the positive plate) in the solution of water and washing soda. I liked it so much I built a hi power DC supply to speed things up. I have used this process on everything I could fit in a plastic tank, body parts, mounts, small and big parts from all over the car. I even did my old header in a 50 gallon trash can. I still use rust converter/remover and epoxy primer (not on the header) but the work saved is amazing, and no chemicals or metal damage from sanding or blasting. I have attached a few pictures. One is a picture of the tank I used for my gas cap door, you can see the rust at the bottom. If you look closely at the door, you can see the pits that were full of rust and are now clean. I hope this help some of you, it has helped me. I put the parts in the process before I go to bed and in the morning a few minutes in the sink with the steel wool and there clean.

[cbudvet]

Thats is really cool. I imagine it makes sense to some people but its magic to me! I would be afraid of electrocuting myself. It would be perfect for those small hard to clean pieces as well. Good job.

carl

[26th-Z]

Search function

I did my whole car this way.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16506&highlight=electrolysis

[philbar73]

I did search for rust removal but didn't see your info. It is a great process worth doing. Thanks for the link, I have been very happy with the results. I'm putting the car together after 3 years of cleaning, welding and collecting parts. I hope to drive my old Z this summer. This site has been great help to me and I appreciate all the input and information here. I should have joined the club when I got the car in 1975. Thanks, Its nice to know I'm not the only Z nut, there alot of us.

[SteveJ]

Hmm, if I find a pool and a REALLY big battery, maybe I could get rid of the rust on the whole car all at once...

I could be technical since I'm an engineer (and engineers can be real a-holes in that way) and mention that you ARE using several chemicals...

Any decent electrolyte would work. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly, preferably with de-ionized water to remove any electrolyte caught in the nooks & crannies & folds.

Edited April 14, 2010 by SteveJ

[philbar73]

Looks like from the link 26th-Z sent you would not be the first to do this to a whole car. I did this to the inspection covers next to the hood. I had just started playing with the process and left the parts hooked up for a week. I cleaned them with steel wool and soap and water after that. They had no protection at all and I forgot them in my laundry room for the winter, 3 or 4 months and they didn't rust at all. It takes a little while to remove paint and the washing soda breaks down the grease and oil so the water can get real ugly on dirty, greasy parts but I have had amazing results. I didn’t have a tank big enough for the whole car or I would have tried. I don’t have a rotisserie so the bottom was fun with paint remover, power washing, rust remover/converter, seam sealing and painting lying on my back but the fun has begun. Time to make the doughnuts and put it back together. I’m a old Electrical / Magnetics engineer myself so what started as I’m going to clean it up and get it on the road again turned into a complete rebuild. I’m glad I did. I can’t wait to meet some of the other Z people, see what they have and show them what I have. I like my old 240Z better than any other car I have had.