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This might get moved to 'off topic' but I thought it was useful. Rusty old **** is nothing new and there plenty of products to deal with it. I have a septic system and try to be careful about what I pour down the drain.
I recently came into a weird old cool (but useless) roll up Mercedes tool kit. Two of the tools - a pair of pliers and a spark plug wrench - must've been sitting a long time in water. They had some ugly spots. Don't want to pour nasty chemicals down my drain into my septic system so I'm always looking for a 'friendly' alternative. Always heard Coke removes rust and you know what ? It does. Maybe I'm late to the party. Soaked these things about three days and periodically worked them over with some crumpled up tin foil. That makes a great abrasive and it seems to be what makes this work, it did the bulk of the removal. I also used a small steel brush to get into the rough 'grain' of the finish. Very happy and it cost me about $2.
The 'scratching' on the pliers isn't a result of this. Not really visible when you have them in your hands.
I've got a nasty old battery tray and hardware soaking in Diet Coke right now which I've read is even better for some reason. Why, I don't care.Must be Science and stuff.
This might get moved to 'off topic' but I thought it was useful. Rusty old **** is nothing new and there plenty of products to deal with it. I have a septic system and try to be careful about what I pour down the drain.
I recently came into a weird old cool (but useless) roll up Mercedes tool kit. Two of the tools - a pair of pliers and a spark plug wrench - must've been sitting a long time in water. They had some ugly spots. Don't want to pour nasty chemicals down my drain into my septic system so I'm always looking for a 'friendly' alternative. Always heard Coke removes rust and you know what ? It does. Maybe I'm late to the party. Soaked these things about three days and periodically worked them over with some crumpled up tin foil. That makes a great abrasive and it seems to be what makes this work, it did the bulk of the removal. I also used a small steel brush to get into the rough 'grain' of the finish. Very happy and it cost me about $2.
The 'scratching' on the pliers isn't a result of this. Not really visible when you have them in your hands.
I've got a nasty old battery tray and hardware soaking in Diet Coke right now which I've read is even better for some reason. Why, I don't care.Must be Science and stuff.
Thanks for sharing, looks like it did the trick. I guess my question is what to do to prevent rust from reforming on the tools?
It doesn't appear to have seriously messed with the original finish that much. I lightly cleaned the fabric roll and wiped down all the tools with some WD40. They'll live in the warm dry garage so I'm not too worried. The Coke trick wouldn't have worked so well without the aluminum foil. Always looking for simple home grown tips like that. Handy and no harsh chemicals.
There is a big swap meet and show in May locally. I will probably take it with me and see if there are any old MBs up there. Seems like this ought to wind up with someone who can appreciate it for what it is. Hmmmm. Maybe I should look at this differently and go look for an old Benz to go with it..... urban panzer ....
Bead blasting works well, but now I've seen these laser rust remover guns on youtube that look like magic. Can't wait til I can get one at Harbor Freight for $100.
rust removal
