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Last night I picked up a parking brake assembly from the wreck yard.. Its pretty rusty as seen here:
My questions are, considering there are some moving parts and (bearings?) in this thing what can I soak it in to both clean the part and remove rust without fcking the part up?
Also, what lubricant would be best after said cleaning bath?
I cleaned the one I purchased from a salvage yard with brake cleaner first. I washed a lot of grit out of the mechanism. Got every thing cleaned and working smoothly and then coated every thing with pb blaster and set it out to dry.
After allowing the pb blaster to dry out, I the lubed the moving parts with some spray lube and it has worked flawlessly for over two years now.
Take your time cleaning and make sure that you lube the moving parts and it will work out for you.
I restore old bikes and use white vinegar diluted with water and let soak. It will even clean up chrome parts to look as good as possible without a re-plate. There's plenty of info on Google. As far as lubricant, I'd use a good white lithium but there are a gazillion different options.
I've been experimenting with rust removal using various liquids lately. Sort of a home science experiment. Nearly any acid will attack iron oxide. Some have proven to me to be preferable for a variety of reasons.
White vinegar works.
Molasses works, but is messy and harder to clean up afterward.
Diet soda also works.
I've settled on lemon juice as my preferred liquid. It's environmentally benign, can be dumped down the drain, and cleans up easily with running water.
If that were my project, I'd soak that critter in some lemon juice, checking frequently on its progress, and pull it out as soon as it seems clean enough. Flush thoroughly with tap water, dry with compressed air and/or elevated temperature, then lube any moving interfaces sparingly with a light oil or ATF.
Lemon juice would work because of the citric acid. It is chemically removing the rust as well as base metal.
EVAPO-RUST® works through selective chelation. This is a process in which a large synthetic molecule forms a bond with metals and holds them in solution. Most chelating agents bind many different metals. The active ingredient in EVAPO-RUST® bonds to iron exclusively. It can remove iron from iron oxide but is too weak to remove iron from steel where the iron is held much more strongly. Once the chelating agent has removed the iron, a sulfur bearing organic molecule pulls the iron away from the chelator and forms a ferric sulfate complex which remains water soluble. This frees the chelating agent to remove more iron from rust.
Rust is iron oxide. EvapoRust will only remove the iron from oxides of iron (if there is iron oxide used a color in paint, it can harm that). Unlike acids which will also attack the base metal.
Now I am not saying all uses of an acid based product are bad. In fact, I use Ospho, which is a phosphoric based rust removal product a lot. I am just selective as to what I use each on.
Lemon juice would work because of the citric acid. It is chemically removing the rust as well as base metal.
Rust is iron oxide. EvapoRust will only remove the iron from oxides of iron (if there is iron oxide used a color in paint, it can harm that). Unlike acids which will also attack the base metal.
Now I am not saying all uses of an acid based product are bad. In fact, I use Ospho, which is a phosphoric based rust removal product a lot. I am just selective as to what I use each on.
So you are a proponent of using lemon juice for my rusty parking brake, right?
So you are a proponent of using lemon juice for my rusty parking brake, right?
No, not at all. I still go with my original suggestion of EvapoRust because it will not damage anything in the assembly. It won't loosen it up due to removal of metal, etc.
No, not at all. I still go with my original suggestion of EvapoRust because it will not damage anything in the assembly. It won't loosen it up due to removal of metal, etc.
lol okok thanks, its early here and I don't think my comprehension is up to par yet.