Removing rust?
-
Hey Everyone! Vote for the Site Favourite BOTM winner for the year of 2022 HERE!
1 - 20 of 21 Posts
Joined
·
371 Posts
If your bars are chromed, and the rust is light, I have had good success with chrome polish, available at auto parts stores. This stuff takes it off and leaves a coating. You can wax over the cleaned bars when done. Heavy rust needs to be wirebrushed down smooth, then neutralized with something like Rust Buster - it converts the rust to a harmless phosphate that acts almost like a primer and can be painted over. I've used it on a lot of vehicles with great results.
Joined
·
371 Posts
This stuff is similar and easier to find, Krud Kutter. http://www.amazon.com/Krud-Kutter-Gallon-Rustex-Converter/dp/B004Y6T79Q/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_1_1. It's costly but it works great, even on very rusty stuff. The other stuff is an Australian product that's tough to find.
Great advice Flingwing.. Dusty Bottom the key ingredient is Phosporic acid that converts rust from Iron oxide to Iron phosphate.. The products you(Flingwing) mentioned are good and it doesnt take much of it to do the small jobs like the T-Dubs!There is another product I have used a few times that works well and is readily available at Home Depot called..Kleen Strip Prep and etch.. Its like $16 a gallon. That should last you a lifetime..You should find this in the paint dept..
Joined
·
1,761 Posts
Naval jelly
Joined
·
371 Posts
Excellent price. I'm certainly going to buy a gallon. With a '74 10,000 gvw Power Wagon and a '75 Jeep CJ-5, a gallon is about a week's supply for me.
Joined
·
560 Posts
For phosphoric acid, I use Ospho. I had to order it from Do It Best. Apparently phosphoric acid is on the EPA's hit list. It's getting hard to find as a metal prep or a stain remover (concrete). Odd that's it's still OK to put phosphoric acid in make up and sodas...
I believe I remember reading that once you open a container, it has a shelf life. If you're buying in large quantities that may sit for a while, you may want to confirm or deny this.
Reference link: http://www.doitbest.com/search-ospho.dib (Do It Best ordered the full amount, let me buy four quarts, then sent the rest back.)
I believe I remember reading that once you open a container, it has a shelf life. If you're buying in large quantities that may sit for a while, you may want to confirm or deny this.
Reference link: http://www.doitbest.com/search-ospho.dib (Do It Best ordered the full amount, let me buy four quarts, then sent the rest back.)
Joined
·
371 Posts
Wow! Looks like great stuff ret, but (also Wow!) I thought $36 a gallon was high but since you have to buy multiples, that's mighty pricey stuff!!! Makes me kind of want to think of my rust as "patina".
Joined
·
34 Posts
I work at a independent NAPA store and we sell skyco. Anyone I've ever sold it to comes back and tells me it's worked great.
Joined
·
371 Posts
Skyco is the company that owns Ospho. Great second endorsement and nice to know there is another source for the product. I used to buy my stuff at the local Tractor Supply but they don't sell the good product anymore, opting for a "green" product. I tried the new politically correct product and it didn't work at all.
Joined
·
34 Posts
Skyco isn't a NAPA product, it comes through another supplier we use for chemicals, paint, ect.
Joined
·
371 Posts
Also good stuff - also phosphoric acid but with some sort of gelling compound to make it stick and hold. retmotor posted that phosphoric acid might have a limited shelf life after opening and this got me thinking - I've been cleaning out my Dad's place after he passed away and he was a bit of a super-saver buying like six bottles of Naval Jelly that was on clearance and so, I have a supply. One was only half-full, probably opened in 1983! I shook it and something rattled inside. I found that this was the gelling stuff that had hardened and settled to the bottom, never to gel again. I brushed some on a very rusty engine cover on a roto-tiller from my Dad's and guess what, it worked.
Joined
·
560 Posts
Flingwing, it works out to $26 a gallon if you buy the gallon. What Do It Best did for me was order the four gallons, let me buy one gallon at the gallon price, and then they returned the rest to the warehouse. Actually it was Quality Supply who sells Do It Best and Quality was recently bought out. I don't know what the new place would do for me now.
I cannot remember where I saw that warning about shelf life -- it was not on the Ospho bottle, I just checked. I cannot remember, I was looking for it from so many sources, it's all a blur. Great to hear it still works in the Naval Jelly.
Our NAPA looked for a product with phosphoric acid, but could not find anything in their books. I don't believe they're independent, but maybe.
I cannot remember where I saw that warning about shelf life -- it was not on the Ospho bottle, I just checked. I cannot remember, I was looking for it from so many sources, it's all a blur. Great to hear it still works in the Naval Jelly.
Our NAPA looked for a product with phosphoric acid, but could not find anything in their books. I don't believe they're independent, but maybe.
Joined
·
1,314 Posts
I have no personal experience with it but another product that I've heard good reviews on is Rust Bullet Whoops! Just looked at the original post again, and you probably wouldn't want to use Rust Bullet on your handlebars. Sorry about that.
Joined
·
371 Posts
I would try Chrome Polish and maybe use a mild Scotch Brite type pad - get the ones at Harbor Freight - they suck as they are almost abrasive free - just right for rubbing out chrome. You will be surprised at how much rust comes off. When you're satisfied, put a coat of wax on to protect the bars and renew it from time to time.
Joined
·
371 Posts
Not a bad price at all. I found a site for it by the gallon at about that price - owning four trucks from the 70s I go through a fair amount of rust reformer.
Joined
·
560 Posts
Yeah, that'd be a lot of metal to keep rust free.
Regarding the Ospho on the bars, it'd work on the bare metal, but considering the price/amount, unless you have another project, I'd take the above advice. Also phosphoric acid isn't the greatest thing for the nearby paint. I bought the Ospho for treating stripped panels of metal. Not just does it remove rust, but it treats/etches the metal which makes for good paint adhesion. Not all metal though, like newer automotive panels that are treated to inhibit rust -- it's not supposed to work well on that stuff.
Regarding the Ospho on the bars, it'd work on the bare metal, but considering the price/amount, unless you have another project, I'd take the above advice. Also phosphoric acid isn't the greatest thing for the nearby paint. I bought the Ospho for treating stripped panels of metal. Not just does it remove rust, but it treats/etches the metal which makes for good paint adhesion. Not all metal though, like newer automotive panels that are treated to inhibit rust -- it's not supposed to work well on that stuff.
1 - 20 of 21 Posts
