How to remove surface rust

Naval Jelly:
Muriatic Acid:

How to remove surface rust!

A lot of people question why Wray prefers aluminum, the answer is simple, RUST! During the summer months in the shop it becomes really humid and some of our work gets surface rust. In this video Wray goes over the different way we fight the rust demon!

[proshaper]

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Naval Jelly:
Muriatic Acid:

[youtube-handle-are-a-joke]

I like to use white vinegar for rust removal, works very well, is cheap and not toxic.

[diycarhome]

Up here in Ontario, Canada several ways I remove rust.
(1) Metal parts like Snow Blowers, Lawn Mower Decks and Car Parts. Parts disassembled. I strip the paint with paint remover, then use muriatic acid to eat into the heavy rust. I keep brushing the acid on until it's all clean then wash with water. The Navel Jelly or a mild acid is then used to prevent flash rust once water is used. As per video sun or heat gun to dry metal. Then use a metal primer.
(2) Electrolysis! A tub of water is used. Part hangs on a hook in water. Part is hooked up to a car battery charger. Part is charged negative. Waste pieces of steel are hung around the edge of the plastic tub and wired in series.the waste steel pieces are charged positive. Job sits 24 hours, all the rust is transferred from part to waste steel plates around tub. At this point you need to use SOS soap pads, scotch bite, or a wire brush just to clean the black dirt left.

[larrycluness]

I work as a wire rigger for a company that serves the local fishing fleet with all they require for putting to sea over in the Shetland isles off the north of Scotland. We stock gallon drums of both hydrochloric and phosphoric acid for cleaning rust streaks and components on the trawlers. The hydrochloric is very strong and great for quickly getting rid of heavy rust but needs to be neutralised quickly after use or the steel will rust even quicker. It's also dangerous to use and you must use protective clothing and also use outside on a windy day, as it'll burn the insides of your nose, throat and lungs!! The phosphoric is good to use after the hydrochloric has done the hard work as it will leave a slightly protective coating. I've also used catering strength vinegar which I get from wholesalers. This stuff needs to be watered down 25 - 1 before it's fit for human consumption! It's cheap, safe to use and can be used to fill a tank for overnight soaking. The only drawback is your garage may smell like a fish and chip shop! Great video and fantastic channel, thank you for taking the time to make all these videos and sharing your knowledge.

[raceforpride]

I've restored a dozen cars and I use Ospho, acid a liquid, In gallon jugs, spray it on with a used hand sprayer, like window cleaner, let it stand til dry. Sand lightly then paint. Rust is a living thing, this stuff is great and lasts forever. You can find it In gallons or quarts in boat supplies stores or paint stores. After it dries it will last for years if kept in a dry place
I have a sheet of steel in my shop since 2004 and is still rust free. A gallon will cost about $25, but will last for years. My dump truck bed stayed rust free after regular applications when not in use.

[ScottWalz-jbcp]

After total of 19 years in testing work big trucks and 2 yrs in welding and metal strength this is a good video

[rjtuckera]

Thanks, I have a 1978 Camaro to restore and the roof has a lot of heavy rust but still solid.

[kevinhall]

A light coat of Fluid Film, on bare steel will keep it from rusting for many years, and it is body shop safe ! I coated my drill press column years ago and it still looks great.

[richardjones]

For a very inexpensive, very effective immersion rust remover, try citric acid. It comes as white crystals (looks just like sugar) which you just dissolve in water. The stuff I can get most easily is food grade (it's the flavouring in lemonade). 10kg was about £30 delivered, and that goes a very very long way. Enough for hundreds of litres, and more than enough for my all the non bodywork parts for my car restoration project which need rust and / or zinc plating stripping . The project is a total strip down, with me removing all rust and zinc plating form all other parts of the car via this method (I've had all bodywork stripped professionally via pyrolysis oven and phosphoric acid). I also only sandblast (actually aluminium oxide blast) parts which fit in my small blasting cabinet, and which are not body panels.
Dissolve enough citric acid crystals for it to get to about 3pH, which is about as strong as it gets. That's not acidic enough to burn my skin, although I don't intentionally get it on my hands, and if I do, I rinse it off. I remove all loose rust with wire brushes, and thoroughly degrease first. The citric acid removes all remaining rust or removes the plating from most parts overnight. It's as good as any commercial immersion type rust remover product I've tried, but far cheaper. No scrubbing or residue to remove. You can speed the reaction considerably by heating the citric acid to about 60-70 degrees C, and it is also very effective at removing zinc plating. You can re-use the acid many times - I usually only change it because mould has started growing on the surface, rather than because it's stopped working.
After rinsing the parts off thoroughly, remove the majority of the water with an old towel, and put them in a cardboard box with the opening pointing sideways. Put a fan heater around 6" away from the box, aiming into it, and leave it on for half an hour. Inside the box can easily get to 50 degrees C, and heats the parts fairly evenly all around, so there is no need for turning them or any other effort. I never get any flash rusting form the rinsing drying them this way, as long as I've got them drying within minutes of rinsing.

[erichimes]

I like to use electrolysis for ferrous metals. You just need sodium carbonate (washing soda), sacrificial steel (like pieces of expanded steel sheet), a automotive battery charger, water, and a non-metal tank large enough to hold it all. I’ve decrusted parts as big as a class iii trailer hitch before priming, painting, and fluid film. It’s especially effective on the inside of channels where it’s hard to reach. Non-toxic too.

[jeffreyjones]

Nice video sir! I’ve used the naval jelly on wheels before and it worked great. I’ve also used vinegar as an immersion type rust remover for parts. Works really well.

[konstantinmoraglis]

Hi, the method you are showing is the proper way of neutralising after using phosphoric acid.
Process to follow thoroughly, otherwise rust will be back or even worst.
I found just using phosphorique acid is the best.
thank you.

[FabriceClosier]

To restore my old 71-73's mustangs parts, I have this permanent bath with water/phosphoric acid used over and over. I drop the parts in and they're ready for the next day. For the body/big parts that you can't submerge, I have stopped using gels. Instead, after a good degrease, I brush a mix of water and acid that I buy per quart at 75% +-50-50, and keep it wet by spraying a mix of water with 20% acid every now and then to keep it wet. After few hours, I rinse with soda/water. then air dry/heatgun. Much less efforts and better results than with gels requiring extra brushing to keep the contact to surface. Two liters/quarts ($25) were enough to bring back to life/save hundreds of original rusty parts and hardware of the 2 cars. (which I then zinc plate before paint)

[commonsense]

Before you get goop everywhere, try a piece of tinfoil folded into a square and a small bucket of water. Get the part wet and rub the tinfoil in circular motion. "Just liked wetsanding". A dark paste starts to form. Its cleaning the rust off and making its own polishing compound.
I detailed a spot rusted Harley like this! Amazingly simple!

[mauricioduarte]

Thank you, nice to know we are not alone in our battle with the Rust Demon! All the tips were great. Have to work on an old band saw I rescued myself.

[rtheprizeisright]

I'd like to see the phosphoric acid on the fender would that work on metal that think or is it just for simple thin metal?

[lizanderson]

Thank you sir. Thank you! You have no idea what you have done for me and my project. It's actually my dad's but I'm gonna finish it now thanks to you

[PJ-eemc]

This is great information and is very well presented! In my case I am restoring a piece of heavy equipment and as such it has some scrapes and gouges in areas of otherwise light rust. I can clear up the light surface rust in the ways you are doing it here but cannot seem to get into the deeper scrapes to remove the rust as you can imagine. Deep-sanding them out would not be practical either, although I could fill them but would need to clean them out first. I have wire-wheeled and wire brushed the scrapes but still don't feel confident that these areas are as rust-free as the flat areas prior to applying my 2K epoxy primer. I could really use some tips from a more experienced person if you guys can help me out.

[richardkaz]

I've found the liquid Phosphoric work much better than any gell as it penetrates and allows the conversion reaction to take place quicker and deeper. Once the iron oxide has been converted to iron phosphate it seals the remaining iron/steel and prevents further oxidation no need to neutralise with detergent just wipe off excess with a damp rag. Once dried and scale removed it can be primed and painted.

[flintstoneengineering]

ACF 50... brilliant at keeping corrosion at bay especially when storing metal (any metal) parts. Hundreds of uses, you'll love it.