Rust kill

Forgot to add to my post below,has any one used Rust kill,I used it on the small parts but want to know if anyone ever used it on the cast iron body,and frame

jimmy

There are several brands of phosphoric acid. In my opinion the safest and best is Picklex 20. It does not need to be washed off but the residue should be scuffed off as much as possible. I do not use any form of acid on cast as it might be buried in the pores and might lift the paint later. It's ok to use it on the rest of the metal. I do not consider Picklex 20 to be a rust converter, but used after all the rust has been removed mechanically, meaning the rust that leaves pits.

I've recently been getting a lot lazier in my prep work on cast parts - I'm using more and more of the phosphoric acid and painting right over it.

I used to sandblast everything extensively, but now more often just wire brush instead (in an angle grinder, not a drill!)

Just enough to get rid of what rust/old paint I can with a reasonable effort, but I no longer kill myself trying to get every bit of it. Just hit what's left with acid, it all turns black.

Sometimes I'll repeat the wirebrush/acid step if it's in real rough shape.

Then I'll quickly wire brush again right before painting just to get it all scuffed up and get rid of any built up excess acid residue.

The acid has the added benefit of buying you time. You can brush and spray the acid (I use a spray bottle) and let it sit several days without worrying about more rust.


I usually use epoxy primer.

I can't tell you what the long term results are because I've only started getting lazy with this process fairly recently - but I can tell you it's lasted me a solid year without the slightest hint of trouble...

Time will tell.

I guess it boils down to how much you care about whatever it is you're painting. If you're spraying $500 a gallon paint, then I think it's worth the effort to get all the rust off.

But for most stuff, I figure if I have to repaint in a few years, so be it. Anything I bother painting stays well maintained afterwards, so a future paint job won't be that big of a deal.

sorry - should have mentioned - this is the stuff I use.

Nothing fancy - readily available at home depot.
acid prep

Hi, Regarding the Klean-Strip product, can you soak parts in the product or would you not recommend that? I've been doing the same thing as you (extensive wire brush work) only because I dont have the means to do sand blasting, but I am looking at other methods of rust removal.

I read a few articles recently about home-made electrolysis setups. Building one of those was going to be my next try, since they are fairly simple to make, I've got all of the necessary parts and electrical background.

Interested to hear what you think.

thanks,

--b

I've used electrolysis with good results. Simple to set up. I add borax to the water. Try it.

I've tried electrolysis on small parts, it works,
but it's pretty messy.

I'm also always worried that since the parts are
wet, you'll always be dealing with a little flash
rust as parts dry.

I would imagine you could soak parts in the acid
prep, but I've never had to. I'd think that the
the residue left would be rather thick. I'd count
on having to wire brush it good when you're done.

I think a good spray bottle soaks parts well
enough without having to soak them, it doesn't
leave too much residue.

sounds good. Thanks for the advice to the two recent posters!

--b

Not only does electrolysis work pretty well on rust, it's a hell of a paint remover! I've given up completely on trying to wire brush or sand blast old paint off, just soak it over night (or a couple days for very heavily painted parts) and the paint just peels off! Have to get it primed pretty quick though, it will flash rust in a heartbeat.

Good to know about the paint... I was wondering about that. The articles I read were more concerned with rusty parts, rather than rusty and/or painted parts. That will save me alot of time.

As for the flash rust, Ive run into that using carburetor boil solutions... If I'm not going to paint right away, I coat things with a good spray of WD40 which seems to do the trick.

thanks again!!

--b

Best stuff I have used. Plastic Kote had something similar. Won't let me down load but it;s called black star. Gallons last forever if you keep it sealed and don't let it freeze. Bought some other stuff and I don't like it. Black Star you paint it on, it's a cream color which turns black, it fills in the rust pits which makes easier to paint. I used it mainly on tractor rims. It even slowed rusted out valve stem holes.
casenan-d