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Citric Acid for rust removal |
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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Posted: Mar/18/2022 at 9:14pm |
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Folks,
I have been using a citric acid solution to derust various pieces of hardware and small parts for the past few months. It works great at room temperature. You can buy citric acid granules or powder from many sources on the net. I just mix it by guess and by golly about a quarter or a pound to a gallon or two of tap water. If the solution works too slow for me, I add a little more of the dry powder and stir. Not only does it remove rust, I preserves the phosphate finish on some parts. It brightens aluminum and copper to look like new. I have soaked electrical switches in it to remove corrosion. Typically it requires a few hours or an overnight soak. Beats Evaporust and is cheaper as the mixed solution. Beats electrolysis becuase you don't need the apparatus. I'm sold on it. Get some and try it. You can mix it a tote or a bucket depending on the size of the parts you need to soak. Joe
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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sweatlock
AMC Addicted Joined: Apr/28/2014 Location: Largo, FL Status: Offline Points: 3285 |
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I’ve used white vinegar with the same results.
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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One thing I didn't mention about citric acid is that it often (not always) preserves the black phosphate finish on hardware if it was installed that way. Having used citric acid a while now I am discovering that there was quite of bit of AMC hardware installed with the black oil and phosphate finish.
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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SC397
AMC Addicted Joined: Apr/30/2009 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 5428 |
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Here is a whole thread on cleaning a block with Citric Acid.
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pacerman
Supporter of TheAMCForum Joined: Jul/03/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9048 |
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I have tried citric acid on both ferrous metals and anodized aluminum. It works dependably good on ferrous metals. The nuts, bolts and other hardware come clean overnight and they do not tend to rust right away after a thorough hot water rinse. I usually let them dry in sunlight and shoot WD-40 on them if I am not planning to primer or paint them right away. I need to make a long tube (pipe with caps) to soak long items like the rear window regulator "shoe" from my classic station wagon. It is too long for my blast cabinet too. Joe
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Happiness is making something out of nothing.
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dkrtgood
AMC Addicted Joined: Jun/27/2011 Location: St Pete, FL Status: Offline Points: 1370 |
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Same, a bath of White Vinegar will clean stuff up perfect. I did a full rusty intake and it came out perfect.
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Dave Goodwin
President of Tampa Bay AMC 70 Mark Donohue BBO 390 5-speed 77 Matador Coupe AKA "The Beave" 70 Javelin 360 / Auto - BBG |
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BU1
AMC Addicted Joined: Aug/11/2016 Location: MN Status: Online Points: 1973 |
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If left too long vinegar will start eating the base metal. Have to be careful.
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AMO #2726
#1 1968 AMX Rally Green 343 Z code 4spd since 1975 #02642 #2 1968 AMX Rally Green 290 N code 4spd since 2019 #02959 |
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dkrtgood
AMC Addicted Joined: Jun/27/2011 Location: St Pete, FL Status: Offline Points: 1370 |
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For sure, I use for heavy thick metal...small stuff will just disintegrate if left too long
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Dave Goodwin
President of Tampa Bay AMC 70 Mark Donohue BBO 390 5-speed 77 Matador Coupe AKA "The Beave" 70 Javelin 360 / Auto - BBG |
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