Rusted bolt cleanup

[RM1SepEx]

Several discussions have come up re reusing hardware and its condition. Up here in the Northeast rust can be expected in anything 6 or more years old! I had 2 discussion on the subject today when I identified all of the reused hardware on the rear suspension...

I've removed every nut and bolt from my Michigan sourced WRX donor. Many bolts had some rust, some were pretty severe.

I searched on Eastwood's website, they are a great source for projects like ours!

I bought 1 quart of their Fast Etch http://search.eastwood.com/search?w=fast%20etch%20rust%20remover

I bought a rust removal "kit" with two types of media for a vibratory bowl, I borrowed a bowl from a frien who reloads ammo for his competition .45

http://search.eastwood.com/search?w=tumber+media the brown pyramids remove rust and the corn cob media polishes the bolts

My process:

soak the bolts in the Fast Etch for 1 hour or so. I used a plastic peanut butter jar and did several loads to do all the bolts

dump the bolts and solution into a plastic pan, wearing rubber gloves transfer the bolts to a second peanut butter jar

dump the Fast Etch back in the first jar for the next batch of bolts... it is reusable and gets pretty dirty. Add solution as needed from the original container

rinse the bolts well, rinse the plastic tray as well the Fast Etch is about 5% acid solution

dry the bolts, I used paper towels, you can use shop rags too

put the bolts in the vibratory bowl with the pyramid media, i did it for 1 hr or more, don't worry even overnight is just fine.

Cycle all your bolts through the plastic media

inspect the bolts, washers, clips etc. Some may need an additional soak in fast etch and then more vibration

once you are happy with the rust removal run them all through the bowl with the corn cob media, it will polish them up a bit

the etch leaves a dull zinc coating

the last step is with a wire brush installed on your bench grinder... a bit of elbow grease and you have some nice looking old bolts

[Evan78]

Did you happen to snap any pics along the way?

[longislandwrx]

Nice talking to you at the show. The fast etch doesn't eat plastic? Pics please.

[Mechie3]

I used a 5lb bowl from HF and the green media from there too. It removed a lot of rust, but still left some. It certainly had a smooth(er) finish afterwards.

[longislandwrx]

Yeah i'm stockpiling my HF coupons to get the same setup.

I want to see the "zinc phosphate coating" that the fast etch leaves.

[RM1SepEx]

You need to do the steps in the order indicated, the fast etch eats away the iron oxide well and loosens it up as well. the two medias work well together. I'll see what I can do re photos, fast etch alone leaves a mid gray color, when burnished by the media it lightens up some, it brightens even farther when you add wire brushing. It is not as shiny as a cad plated bolt and I doubt its rust prevention capabilities.

I've just had another wrench thrown in my time for projects, my dad is almost 81. He's now got hospice workers coming every day. I spent the night there helping my mom make him comfortable... last night you could talk and have a conversation, this moring can't understand what he is saying...

[Nuul]

I've been using white vinegar in a 2.5L HF ultrasonic cleaner (http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html). It does a good job of taking it off but it's not going to keep it from coming back. I'm intrigued by this zinc phosphate coating as well, I'll have to look into it.

[RM1SepEx]

19352Sorry for the delay, I have to limit my sitting up time to 15 min at a pop due to my eye surgery...

Here is a photo of the bolts after my de-rusting process

On the left shows as-is condition after the last vibratory bowl with shell media

On the right is after some buffing with a wire brush...

Perhaps 5% of my bolts and washers went through the phosphoric acid wash and the bowls/media twice

[longislandwrx]

no pictures from before? wondering how far gone your bolts were.

[RM1SepEx]

I'm sorry no before photos, bolts came off an 05 from Michigan, some were well rusted

the eastwood fast etch cleans out even deep pits. More rust = longer and or repeated soaks. I also used it on my brake rotors...

[RM1SepEx]

The nut on the right that I wire brushed has some pretty deep rust pockmarks in it. The etch and vibrate routine cleaned it right up. I couldn't get a good photo... I'm still working with only my left eye.

Dr appt went well today though. I might be just getting full vision back when I pick up my 818 later this month!