SNAKE OIL RUST REMEDY ON SEIZED/KNACKERED 50 YEAR OLD CALIPERS

[blackbart]

I've been restoring my old sunbeam alpine gt on and off for a few years as you do, time/money/life/being bothered, permitting etc.

 

To give you an idea of the car, it was stuck in a barn for for 35 years when i rescued it, and everything on it is either knackered or seized lol.

so early last year i decided to look at the front calipers as the were seized on solid. hours later i had 4 rounded bolts and knuckles like a bare knuckle fighter, but eventually after soaking with wd40, lots of heat, chisels, hammered on sockets, etc etc, i managed to get both the calipers off.

on closer inspection they looked completely knackered, and were seized solid, so after a quick wire brushing to take the big clumps or rust off, i had calipers that looked like this.

 

fifty year old calipers, that had sat on a car in a barn for 35 years

 

.

 

so depressed at the state of the calipers and the car itself, i had a bath a went down the local for a few pints. while i was there i got talking to an old boy, who i knew was a retired mechanic, who, to be fair, had probably forgot more than i know.

 

so i gave him the story of the knackered/seized  calipers etc, and he told me i could clean them up quite easily, in fact any bad rust on any car part, no matter how bad, without resorting to expensive chemical products, that don't work half the time anyhow.

 

so i was all ears to hear his snake oil remedy, when he told me all i needed was a bucket of water and some molasses, and to let the said parts soak in the bucket of mush for a few weeks.

 

anyhow with me not taking too much notice, the conversation changed, as i was sick of talking about the rust bucket i had in the garage, and had come out for a few pints to forget lol.

 

a few weeks went passed before i entered the garage again and looked at the calipers, i picked one up and thought about the old boys advice and decided to give it a try. after all i had nothing to lose, as things stood, they were going straight in the wheelie bin. (the blue recycle one lol)

 

so a quick google of molasses turned up some type of food for farm animals, but when your in the city its like rocking horse shit to get hold of, as i found out when i baffled the teenager in my local supermarket, who thought i was on day release.

 

after googling again, i found out that one of the ingredients in treacle was molasses, not the nice golden syrup we used to make sandwiches out of as kids, no, its the red tinned stuff, that is as black as your hat and stinks like hell.

so i thought, if it's got molasses in, then i'll give it a whirl. off i went, back to the shops and bought 2 tins of tate and lyle black treacle.

 

when i got home, i filled a plastic container with hot water and bunged both the tins in and gave it a good old stir, then grabbed the calipers and threw them in, banged the lid on, and plonked em in the garage,

 

this brings me to today, a year later that i suddenly remembered my calipers were still in the garage soaking away in a bucket of treacle and water. so i decided to bring the bucket in the house and have a look. i was quite excited to see the state of them, that's if they hadn't exploded, or had been completely eaten by rust,

 

so off came the lid to have a look, and the stink was as bad as the old boy had told me, no, actually it was worse and looked like this !

 

 

 

 

it looked like some sort of chemical waste !

so i decided to put my hand in and grab one of the calipers,(that's if they were still there, and not dissolved away)

i was praying for some sort of miracle, but i got a bit of a shock. it reminded me of the documentary on the titanic when they located it and james cameron sent down a submarine, and the whole ship looked no different than my calipers. at this point i was swearing like a f###ing trooper lol,

 

the stern

the bow

starboard

portside

 

to say i was shocked is a bit of an understatement lol. but i remembered the old boy had said when i took them out i had to give them a good scrubbing with a wire brush in some warm soapy water, then let them dry and then fine sandpaper or brass brush them after.

so i got them in the sink with a wire brush and some washing up liquid, just as the missus came in with the kids to get the dinner on. to put it mildly, she hit the roof with the mess and as she put it, "the house stinks of dog shit"

bloody drama queen lol,

so i carried on anyhow, tea would have to wait, i was on a mission.

i scrubbed them both for about half hour, and left them to dry, while i had a cuppa.

then i was kicked out of the house and banished to the garage, where i got my cordless drill out and put in a wire brush attatchment and started to buff them up as best i could as it was bloody freezing.

i couldn't believe it, the more i buffed them the better they got, which spurred me on to get the job done,

1 hour later and i was over the moon to say the least, the old boy was telling the truth after all, god bless him.

i was cursing him a few hours earlier and thought he'd been winding me up.

anyhow, thats the story and i thought i'd share it on here in the hope it will help someone else out with their rust woes.

here's the pics of how the calipers turned out,by the way, the black bits in the pictures is old paint and not rust either.

to be honest i felt chuffed to bits that i had saved a 50 year old pair of calipers that were destined for the bin.

i might even give james cameron a ring, if he ever manages to raise the titanic, then i reckon i could sort it with a few tins of treacle and a bucket of water

 

 

 

 

 

i think you'll all agree they turned out all right in the end,  considering they were left for a year and not a few weeks lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Station]

That's ace.

I've had excellent results with battery charger electrolysis.

[Pete-M]

I use an ultrasound bath, but the molasses trick looks like a handy one. Ta.

[The Moog]

That's ace.

I've had excellent results with battery charger electrolysis.

How did you do that?

[nigel bickle]

Yes,but did it free up the seized pistons? And what condition are the rubber seals in,now?

 

Sod what they look like, it's the slidey bits that matter

[michael1703]

Fuck all that, put them in a box and post them to http://www.biggred.co.uk

 

How's the alpine looking? I restored one the other year, they do rot well!

 

 

[artdjones]

If it gets rid of all that external rust it probably got rid of internal as well. Rubber seals probably ruined but I wouldn't use them any way After 35 years.

[beko1987]

That's fucking ace!

 

At that rate, it should only take another 50 years to clean the whole car up!

[artdjones]

Just remembered that I've seen molasses used to derust panels on YouTube. And it does work in a few days.

[blackbart]

thanks, to be honest it was more of an experiment really. as i had nothing to lose, and thought i'd give it a bash for future reference. as for the pistons, they were knackered anyhow, and as for the rubber seals, they wern't even there. they had rotted off years ago. i dont know if i will be able to get the pistons out. that's the next step. if anyone's got any ideas i'd love to hear them.

[forddeliveryboy]

Stick some fluid down the holes then attach a footpump or compressor line.

[Uncle Jimmy]

How did you do that?

I've tried this; with great success too on steel tools.

A plastic bucket full of electrolyte, I used strong washing soda; your steel part/tool: the anode. A sheet of clean, shiny steel:the cathode.

Attach the battery charger's Croc clips and you complete an electrolytic circuit. If the charger has a lower setting that will probably do; you'll immediately see bubbles forming on your steel part and the rust will start to fall off. The steel sheet will begin to rust- you will need to scrape/sand it clean after a while.

I enjoyed doing this immensely; in a kind of dad's shed 1950 way!

[blackbart]

Fuck all that, put them in a box and post them to http://www.biggred.co.uk

 

How's the alpine looking? I restored one the other year, they do rot well!

 

 

thanks for that, i'll look into their site, the restoration is slow to say the least, it's just getting round to it ? i'm dreading the day i get it on ramps and start poking around underneath, as i don't weld myself and no doubt i will need to find a good but cheap welder....if there is such a thing.

[matty879]

That's ace.

I've had excellent results with battery charger electrolysis.

I use the battery charger method,i wonder if treacle will speed it up?my ladys sick of me nicking her soap powder.

[blackbart]

I've tried this; with great success too on steel tools.

A plastic bucket full of electrolyte, I used strong washing soda; your steel part/tool: the anode. A sheet of clean, shiny steel:the cathode.

Attach the battery charger's Croc clips and you complete an electrolytic circuit. If the charger has a lower setting that will probably do; you'll immediately see bubbles forming on your steel part and the rust will start to fall off. The steel sheet will begin to rust- you will need to scrape/sand it clean after a while.

I enjoyed doing this immensely; in a kind of dad's shed 1950 way!

that sounds good, i'll give that a go in the summer. there's something really satisfying with getting all the rust off some car part, unless that's just me.

[blackbart]

I use the battery charger method,i wonder if treacle will speed it up?my ladys sick of me nicking her soap powder.

maybe, but i'd look into it first, just in case you blow the street up, lol

[PhillipM]

Citric acid will do the same, but in 24 hours. And doesn't smell like dog shit. And washes off easy. And you only need to give the parts a quick scrub over with a nylon pot brush every now and again to knock the crud off as it works.
 And your missus won't have your bollocks between your rebuilt calipers whilst stamping on the brakes.

[nigel bickle]

Pretty, but you haven't yet moved he Pistons? Isn't that the entire point of this?

 

Frankly I'd be bundling hem in the post to Past Parts or Bigg Red to get the internals professionally overhauled/ checked.

 

Not expensive, pretty quick ( unless there are serious issues) and the knowledge that they will work, properly, when eventually needed.

 

This isn't a part of the car I'd experiment on..

[brickwall]

My dad told me of the molasses trick and I've used  it a fair bit as my mum uses the stuff for baking. If I'm taking lots of bits off and they won't be put on for a while I'll  do the bucket of molasses.

 

Edit: be patient.

[blackbart]

My dad told me of the molasses trick and I've used  it a fair bit as my mum uses the stuff for baking. If I'm taking lots of bits off and they won't be put on for a while I'll  do the bucket of molasses.

 

Edit: be patient.

that's the good thing about it, if your not going in the garage over winter, then just bung all ya bits in the tub, and leave them until the spring lol.

[oldcars]

Maybe all those black tide marks on old motors are not what they seem.

[dean36014]

used a bucket of vinegar to the same effect a few years back. Leave to soak for a few days, remove, wire brush and the rust just falls off leaving shiny metal.

[PhillipM]

This is what citric can do - this was about 2 hours soaking after mixing it up using boiling/hot water.
 

[fatharris]

If I made a tub big enough to house the Mini shell, I'd only be left with the roof, but this is a very interesting thread. 11/10 wud reed agen.

[blackbart]

This is what citric can do - this was about 2 hours soaking after mixing it up using boiling/hot water.

 

that looks cracking mate, where do you get your citric acid from and what ratio do you use with the water?

[lisbon_road]

The thing I like about some of these ideas is that I can't see any reason why you should not throw vinegar, molasses or citric acid and rust down the drain or in the garden.  All completely harmless.  Ideally get any oil off first I suppose.

[blackbart]

The thing I like about some of these ideas is that I can't see any reason why you should not throw vinegar, molasses or citric acid and rust down the drain or in the garden.  All completely harmless.  Ideally get any oil off first I suppose.

that's right. no nasty chemicals and doing our autoshite bit for the environment .

[RustyNuts]

I've used this stuff in the past:

 

 

First time i found it very frustrating. I just didn't seem to want to do anything... so i rang up hammerite and grumbled. They actually refunded me with a cheque! The shit sat in the shed for weeks after that. I had some rusty bolts and had no idea what to do with them - couldn't identify the size and i wasn't going to be holding them while wire brushing them with the drill... so i went back to the gel pictured and put some in a little plastic pot and chucked the bolts in overnight.

 

Next day, the green slime was a rather dark colour. Pulled out the bolts and they were in pretty good condition. Hammerite reckon the stuff works in just a few hours - thats bollocks it certainly doesn't but it will do the job overnight. You're then supposed to wash off with water... the stuff that makes it rust in the first place. Stuff that, WD40 is a better substitute IMO.

 

Must admit though, i'm curious about the electrolysis and citric methods mentioned in this thread - i might have to try those!

 

I also found simply wire brushing with the drill to be rather effective even if it is a bit harsher. Done two subframes that way on the renault, 4 shocks (and springs), front and rear wishbones, droplinks, antiroll bars, front and rear track rods (it has rear wheel g force steering) and the rear chassis. I still got a way to go but it looks a lot bloomin better underneath this year than it did last!

 

I couldn't get on with KURUST or Jenolite though.. they just didn't seem to do anything other than turn the metal black. Sure that might possibly kill the rust process (no way of really knowing without trial and error on scrap) but it does nothing to restore the metal to its pre-rust looks.

[RustyNuts]

This is what citric can do - this was about 2 hours soaking after mixing it up using boiling/hot water.

 

 

 

Can you post more details about this please?

[brickwall]

You can by a kilo for about  4 quid and mix with hot water. Mum was an antiques dealer and sorted some stuff this way.