Rust Removal Method Question for Front and Rear Spring Restore
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 3
Rust Removal Method Question for Front and Rear Spring Restore
I need to remove the rust from the front and rear original springs on my '72 restore.
1. Is the Evaporust product safe to use on the springs?
2. Another option is that I found a plating company that says they can dip my parts to get them down to bare metal for me. I don't know what chemical or method they use to do this? Is anyone familiar with the methods/chemicals typically used by plating companies to prep parts for plating? Are these chemicals/methods safe to use on the springs?
Thanks in advance.
Roger
1. Is the Evaporust product safe to use on the springs?
2. Another option is that I found a plating company that says they can dip my parts to get them down to bare metal for me. I don't know what chemical or method they use to do this? Is anyone familiar with the methods/chemicals typically used by plating companies to prep parts for plating? Are these chemicals/methods safe to use on the springs?
Thanks in advance.
Roger
Safety Car
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 3,720
Likes: 557
From: Seattle Washington
The Front Springs shouldn't be a problem to have dipped. Any near by machine shop should be able to Hot tank them. The Rear might be an issue, it might not fit in there tank, between the leafs there is probably parts that will get hurt. So You probably want to take the Spring apart a head of time.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 133
Likes: 1
From: Edmonton Alberta
The plating company is probably going to soak them in their "hot tank" which is nothing more than a near boiling mixture of caustic chemicals designed to remove superficial layers of rust. They will rinse them off afterward and the end result will be an improvement over what you have and a good place to start from.
It won't cause any damage to your springs but don't expect them to come out all clean and shiny either - you'll still need to prime and paint your springs after.
If you had access to a glass beading cabinet you could also clean up your springs that way but I think it would be tedious (especially the coils) and in the end not much further ahead in terms of quality of finished product.
It won't cause any damage to your springs but don't expect them to come out all clean and shiny either - you'll still need to prime and paint your springs after.
If you had access to a glass beading cabinet you could also clean up your springs that way but I think it would be tedious (especially the coils) and in the end not much further ahead in terms of quality of finished product.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,095
Likes: 299
From: Midlothian VA
If you own a battery charger you can do it yourself by electrolysis with $25 in supplies from your local hardware store.
Just did mine last week.
Here's one of many sites that describe the process.
Simply scale your solution up to a 32 gal can.
The rear spring can go in one end at a time no problem.
I did my front stabilizer bar this way.
Tips: The Washing Soda works much better than baking soda you can get it at Walmart.
The parts will look no different when you remove them from the soak but when you apply the green pad & some water to them the rust simply wipes off - very little elbow grease required. I bought the green floor polishing pad because you get 5x the pad for the same price as a small 3 pack. Just cut it up into hand size pieces.
So here's all the supplies you need (and about 3 ft of pretty much any size wire to connect the rods together).
Assembled and ready to go in just 10 min (nothing fancy).
Part in the cauldron (you can see the charger connections)
Some before and after pictures (I soaked most parts over night and scrubbed them with pieces of the green pad & water for a couple minutes) These are all of my 72.
Just did mine last week.
Here's one of many sites that describe the process.
Simply scale your solution up to a 32 gal can.
The rear spring can go in one end at a time no problem.
I did my front stabilizer bar this way.
Tips: The Washing Soda works much better than baking soda you can get it at Walmart.
The parts will look no different when you remove them from the soak but when you apply the green pad & some water to them the rust simply wipes off - very little elbow grease required. I bought the green floor polishing pad because you get 5x the pad for the same price as a small 3 pack. Just cut it up into hand size pieces.
So here's all the supplies you need (and about 3 ft of pretty much any size wire to connect the rods together).
Assembled and ready to go in just 10 min (nothing fancy).
Part in the cauldron (you can see the charger connections)
Some before and after pictures (I soaked most parts over night and scrubbed them with pieces of the green pad & water for a couple minutes) These are all of my 72.
Last edited by Hammerhead Fred; Oct 20, 2013 at 11:59 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 3
Roger
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 119
Likes: 3
Ok after alot of cruising around the web, and taking all of the above into consideration (very much appreciated), It appears that I have two options that will exclude my needing to "bake" to remove the affects of hydrogen embrittlement that "could" be caused by the heat/chemicals during hot dipping:
1. From reading the "How it Works" section of the Evaporust FAQ page, the mechanism it uses does not appear to cause hydrogen embrittlement. Thus, I believe that it is a possiblity. I'm concerned about it not producing the required natural finish look.
2. Glass bead blasting will not remove or otherwise damage the surface or the metal like sand blasting will.
We bead blasted a couple of other parts today in the cabinet resulting in an almost "aluminum" color to the metal. Is there a method to restore the desired natural finish look to the metal after glass bead blasting?
By the way, the coil springs appear to have only a light to moderate surface rust. My leaf springs have surface rust and some pitting in areas.
Any other input is appreciated.
Regards,
Roger
1. From reading the "How it Works" section of the Evaporust FAQ page, the mechanism it uses does not appear to cause hydrogen embrittlement. Thus, I believe that it is a possiblity. I'm concerned about it not producing the required natural finish look.
2. Glass bead blasting will not remove or otherwise damage the surface or the metal like sand blasting will.
We bead blasted a couple of other parts today in the cabinet resulting in an almost "aluminum" color to the metal. Is there a method to restore the desired natural finish look to the metal after glass bead blasting?
By the way, the coil springs appear to have only a light to moderate surface rust. My leaf springs have surface rust and some pitting in areas.
Any other input is appreciated.
Regards,
Roger
