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Cheap way to remove rust from bolts


Dharris89

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Tonight I found out that soaking rusty nuts and bolts in a mixture of white vinegar and lemon juice will remove pretty much all rust, paint, coating etc. I have a bunch of big bolts and nuts from steering stuff on my firebird and didn't want to replace them. But several were very rusty and needed a lot of PB to come off. I hit them quickly with a wire brush and let them soak over night. After another scrubbing, they were down to bare metal. I didn't take a before photo but here is what they looked like before paint. It was super cheap and worked great. Hopefully this will help someone else.

http://i378.photobucket.com/albums/oo225/ceharrisnanny/bolts_zpsdd570320.jpg

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Another interesting garage recipe:

 

Acetone and ATF mixed 50/50 is supposedly many times better at freeing stuck bolts than PB Blaster.

 

ATF alone is awesome. Acetone id' avoid since it could mix with other loose/spilled chemicals and cause a nice cloud of death gas.

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Another product that works wonders and is super cheap and lasts forever since you only use a little bit. Wood bleach from Sherwin Williams. It contains oxalic acid and has been an old skool rust remover for chrome parts.

 

I removed 22 years of rust off of every piece of chrome, including the spoked wheels on my '82 CB750k project bike. Absolutely amazing product.

 

On non chrome like those bolts, I believe it would turn them darker in color (even black), but still does the job nicely.

 

http://sherwin.scene7.com/is/image/sw/paint_template-1?layer=comp&wid=189&fmt=jpeg&qlt=100,0&op_sharpen=0&resMode=sharp2&op_usm=0.0,0.0,0,0&iccEmbed=0&printRes=150&_tparam_layer_1_src=sw/SGCS01040164

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white vinegar and lemon juice are acidic.

We regularly use sulfuric acid at work for rust removal but any acid will do the trick. The more aggressive the shorter the soak time. Home depot muriatic (hydrochloric) acid would be great. the chemical reaction releases hydrogen and chlorine gas so keep ventilated.

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