best method for rust removal?

skipS

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I have two donor frames that need work. One frame needs paint but I think its gonna be too small for the happy time motor. The other frame is a Huffy Surfside. I know it will fit, but it has tons of rust on the fenders, handlebars, and rims. What do you folks recommend for rust removal.
 
I've always just wire brushed it and painted with cheap spray paint from a can.
If you do it carefully and finish with a clear coat, the results can look just fine.

And aluminum foil will "buff" rust off of chrome quite nicely. If we're talking about old, thick rust, then the results won't look like brand new chrome. It'll be all pitted and dull.
but even that's better than rust.
 
Thanks for those hints! Sombody at work recomended "Naval jelly"? ever hear of it? Any good?
 
all good points above -- done all of those at one time or another

also good for light rust and to keep a coat of protection on that THING

Never Dull -- sold in most auto parts stores
I had forgotten how good it worked -- until I bought a can a while back

ride that THING
 
Be cautious using this, wear gloves & goggles. " Wood Bleach." Get it from a hardware store in the paint section.
 
If you want to try something different that works really well- electrolysis. Google electrolysis for rust removal. Sanding, sanding and sanding works too. Electrolysis leaves a rust resistant microns thick coat, but if you sand after electrolysis or use a sanding method, I would treat the bare metal with something like Jasco Metal Prep or some other phosphoric treatment. It prevents flash rust, gives some pre-primer protection, etches the surface and prevents recurrence of rust better than primer and bare metal alone.
 
Sand or media blasting takes care of just about everything.


POR 15 is really really nice. It won't help with rust removal, but works well as either a primer or as a tough final coat. Its a bit expensive, but when its prepped right, its tougher than anything except welding in a new piece. The kit in the link below is what I got for some small tractor parts.

http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=SSK&dept=1


Naval jelly scares me a bit because if you leave it on too long it starts eating away at everything including good metal. I never figured out how to wash it off enough to put new paint on.
 
The electrolytic method works great and is very simple. It will get to rust in places you cannot sand or brush. Just submerge the metal in a plastic container like a kids swimming pool. You will also need a 12v battery charger and some “sacrificial” steel

Place the item you want to remove the rust from and the sacrificial metal around (Not Touching) connect the positive battery lead to the metal you want the rust off of (cathode) and the negative to the sacrificial metal (anode), Make darn sure the anode and cathode are not touching then plug in the battery charger after only a couple hours the orange rust will start being removed and by overnight only a black surface should remain where the orange rust was. The black is FeO3 which is like a good primer.

Archeologists use this technique to remove rust from cannons that have been at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds or years. It takes months of treatment to remove that much rust.
 
The electrolysis/electrolytic method has great universal potential....is there any reason why it can't be used for the inside of rusty fuel tanks?
 
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