Any come across the idea of dipping rusty car parts in molasses? as a rust remover?

Location: Not lanzarote

No but it is a sweet idea!!!!

Location: Nailsea Bristol

Wouldn't like to stick with that idea!

Location: Down Somerset way!!

I had a colleague who consumed neat molasses regularly. He said they produced "the cream of bowel movements".
Bet you didn't want to know that.

Location: Sheffield

Quite often discussed in Vintage Car circles. I have never tried it, but from all reports very good rust removal results in many cases. A check of the internet should find some information.

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Victoria, Australia.

Yes, molasses is a brilliant and safe rust remover but you want the animal feed type. Farmers use red beets molasses as cattle feed (the corn based type may not work ). The fumes given off will rust any steel parts nearby but are not dangerous like hydrochloric acid. I have found that it is used far more in the U.S.A. than here.

Location: Derby

I have used mollases for 40 years with great success- I have used 1 part to 4 parts water. I obtain it from rural suppliers where it is kept in bulk. I recently did an Seven chassis, mudguards, axles etc. Admittedly I have a 500 litre tank made up. (The chassis had to go in three ways to get full coverage)
Keep the mix stirred as the mollases settles out. Rust removal is poor at the bottom when this happens. I pressure wash the item every day till satisfied. After rinsing, I give it a coat of dilute phosphoric acid. (Use gloves- it burns cuts and scratches in the skin) Don't overdo it, as it will eat into the metal eventually. NO non ferrous metals. Aluminium disappears. It is safe to put your hands in it- Ive been in up to my shoulder- just wash it off- you will smell like a rum distillery for a day or so. Garden plants and lawn grow well around my wash area. It takes some paints off, but it is better to strip off first (the paint of course)

Search forum under Mollases
Peter Goldsworthy

Peter.

Location: Queensland

I have never tried it but a retired engineer friend told me he has always used whey (the watery element of milk) to derust with. Perhaps a bit easier to obtain than molasses? if you know any cheese makers the whey is a byproduct.
Steve

Location: near Bath

Great stuff. I use 10 (water):1 (molasses)mix. When it is done it is great fertiliser for the garden.
Couple of tips though. Get all grease and oil off the parts before dunking. You may have to leave in for a couple of weeks. Do not use with aluminium. Never use molasses with parts that have been plated with zinc. Never use with bronze or brass bits in it (so I am told. It eats out something that is good and renders them useless). Really good for mill scale on steel straight from the steel shop. Do not bid on 1000 litres at $0.99 AUD on Ebay. You are likely to win and have a very grumpy vendor. Plus, no one should need 10,000 litres of rust removal mix. (We ended up cutting a deal. I still have 60 litres of animal grade molasses left)X3HA

Location: Sydney Australia

I'm a fan of Electrolytic Rust Removal
Exceptionally good

Charles

Shanks Pony is right about the oil and grease- always clean first.
-I paid 57 cents au per litre in your own Plastic drum.
-Of interest I put an A7 honeycomb radiator through the mix some years ago and the result was brilliant. Only put it in for a day or so with no pressure washing as it will damage. Only downside is that everything after that came out a lovely shade of pretty pink. Got 12000 miles out of it till the fan mount let go. Then I had to get a new one made.
-The mix I use lasts for up to 5 years. Keep it covered as it gathers cockroaches from all around and they die in the mix.
-Paint will not stick to any mollases not washed off- pay special attention to wired edges of mudguards. I don't do early wheels as you cannot get it out of the rolled edge and it bleeds out of the drain holes and takes off your new paint job.

Peter

Location: Queensland

Hello Gernot.
Molasses works quite well at removing rust, The down side is that it takes about 6 months for it to work you have to put the rusty part in a tub of molasses and leave it there till the rust has gone comes out like new.

Location: Junction 36 M1

Location: sunny Brittany

Mollases diluted only takes 1 to three days for most rust. Mollasses undiluted takes forever. Thats why the mix has to be stirred up each day when in use, as the settled area doesn't work nearly as well. Cheaper than electricity here.
Peter

Location: Queensland

Please don't use household Molasses....... use the stuff the farm supply sells to add to horse feed

We once got an old truck out of the American South West. We live part time in the US and part in Poland. I filled the block to the top and we left ...... it worked very well at 3/1

Location: Poland

I'd like to try molasses.
I found those on Amazon for around 10 € from GB plus p&p.
Would those be ok please?
Thanks,
Renaud

check out this you tube video http://youtu.be/vq5IUiYMhRM it seems to prove the effectiveness of this operation. Not quick but with the results as good as it shows well worth the wait.I will be trying this soon.Peter.

Location: Piddle valley, Dorchester

I have had some very good results with Molasses at 5 to 1 mix, very cheap from our local rural supplies stores. Time varies from a few days to several weeks but works well, found it stains your hands so wear gloves.

Location: NZ

I've used it recently and have my head and block in it now. I've also used electrolysis but that tends to be more line of sight between the part and the electrodes. Molasses gets into everything so works on internal passages.

I am restoring an old railway points lever which is a huge steel thing left out in the elements so they get very rusty. I couldn't fit the whole piece in the rubbish bin I use as a tank so you can see the difference on the treated and untreated parts. This was after a week in a solution of about 9:1 (I don't think the ratio really matters much).





It works very well. I find it's best to water blast the parts after you take them out to get them clean. Some of the orange flecks you see there are actually paint rather that remaining rust. The molasses doesn't seem to affect (some) paints.

Parts cleaned this way need to be coated with someone immediately after you take them out and clean them otherwise they will flash rust immediately.

Simon

Location: Auckland

Nice Simon but remove your head immediatly from the molasses, they're not good for your health!

My question stays about THAT particular brand of molasses please. I do wonder if they are soo easy to find in France? Unfortunately I don't own any horse so I can't ask him...
Renaud

Location: NZ

Location: Shropshire

I bought a gallon sized can from our local mole valley farmers for about £8 a few weeks ago,at 5/1 it cleaned a very rusty block and a pair of brake drums.I have pic but they do not want to load,phil.

Location: down by the trent

I'll try to find it locally because shipping from France or UK is prohibitive.
Thanks to everybody.
Renaud

I must give this a try.

Thye oxalic acid works pretty well on calcium deposits by the way.

Location: Devon

MOLE VALLEY MOLASSES

Location: down by the trent

Hope this works! pics after molasses and one when primed (I hope!)

Location: down by the trent

another go!

Location: down by the trent

another attempt!

Still trying to find the stuff here! Either they don't feed it to horses here or french horses have no taste for it? Not easy anyway. I got an address not far -a coopérative agricole- which could, or not, supply.
I'll let you know (though I'm sure you don't care )
renaud

Location: Brittany

Renaud,I was speaking to my brother Ian in Ireland the other day, he said that years ago he heard of the molasses rust treatment & at that time didn't have any, he tried it with black treacle with he says good results.You could try that tack as I understand that you used to get it from SUPER U in Combourg. Don't know if that's any help.
Treacle being a further refinement of molasses used in cooking so if you need an excuse say you're making a cake.

Location: Piddle valley, Dorchester.

Thanks Peter.
I had to use my Hachette-Oxford dictionary for "treacle". Unfortunately it said "mélasse" too... I understand though it is refined molasses.
Then if you said Super U had it I'll have a look. As I would like 5 liters (or kilos, is it cristallized?) that would make quite a large cake!
In my local search for mélasse here I phoned my veterinary (my cat's rather) and asked if they knew where to find molasses. I said that I knew it was used as food additive for horses but I wanted it for "dérouiller" and the girl said "Oh yes for joints" meaning somebody's, not some car's! Now I know I can bath myself in it too when I eventually find it... Good for old geezer's rheumatism!
renaud

Location: Brittany

Don't farmers use molasses to make silage ??

Merv

Location: New Forest

Renaud, Treacle is, like molasses ,liquid. When checking translations, the same word is used for "golden syrup" which is even more refined & probably will not work.If you can't get molasses, make sure you buy BLACK Treacle NOT the syrup.
I also found that Molasses is used by fishermen in making ground bait,so maybe an angling shop might help.It looks like there are a lot of Carp fishing places in Brittany so a phone call to them may give you some advice.(GOOGLE ;- CARP FISHING IN BRITTANY)
Some of us do care.Peter

Location: Piddle valley, Dorchester.

renaud

"the girl said "Oh yes for joints" meaning somebody's, not some car's! Now I know I can bath myself in it too when I eventually find it... Good for old geezer's rheumatism!"

Fascinating - I wonder do you bathe in it or eat it ? Does it remove rheumatism like it removes rust????

Tony.

Location: Malvern, Melbourne, Australia.

I have tried black treacle from the local supermarket on two tins of nuts, bolts which had been sitting on a shelf for about fifty (50) years. I used 4:1 water: treacle and about 1:3 steel bits to liquid. Exposure period was about four days and both warming and agitation seemed to help. The rust was largely removed, and while wire brushing was necessary for a final clean up the remainder was loosened. I did have to chase the bolt threads with a die. Without this treatment they would have been unusable.
Andrew

Location: Australia

Location: Brittany

[/quote]
Yes Tony, it seems like ointment, not bathing (I was joking), is good for rheumatism. Now if one hears "you're a bit rusty my dear"...
[/quote]

Renaud,
Where do you get your English sense of humour from?
Very unusual from someone not brought up with it, and not having English as their mother tongue.

I know, as my SA sense of humour goes straight over the heads of some people..

Geoff - Burger meat making day.

Location: South Norfolk - Near Suffolk

Geoff 'OuBallie' Halstead

renaud

Yes Tony, it seems like ointment, not bathing (I was joking), is good for rheumatism. Now if one hears "you're a bit rusty my dear"...

Renaud,
Where do you get your English sense of humour from?
Very unusual from someone not brought up with it, and not having English as their mother tongue.

I know, as my SA sense of humour goes straight over the heads of some people..

Geoff - Burger meat making day.

Location: Brittany

Renaud,
Compliment effectivement.
'60s car culture brings back happy memories of daydreaming.
Interesting web site you have.

Geoff - Burger meat done.

Location: South Norfolk - Near Suffolk

Location: Brittany

I'm revisiting this thread after looking at ways of cleaning out a water jacket. I was initially thinking of electrolysis, but having read that it works line-of-sight I'm not sure how well it'll do in those hidden nooks and crannies...

How have things worked molasses vs electrolysis inside the jacket? Is there a preferred method? Clearly both methods are effective in accessible areas.

I've just looked on line, and our local farm shop stocks the NAF molasses shown above, so I'll have no problem getting a few L.

Andy

Location: Oxfordshire

Andrew, I use molasses quite frequently, it is cheap, safe and if you have the time it works very well. One word of Caution, when I have left cast iron in there for too long even machined surfaces were slightly eroded which has not happened with steel components. Although effective Molasses takes a while to work particularly on heavily corroded items, think in terms of weeks rather than days. You could probably grease the faces you wish to protect on your block, if you are in a hurry many engine shops use chemical tanks that will do the job far quicker.

Location: New Zealand

Ian, thanks for the reply. I think I can spare weeks if it gets the job done. One thing I'm concerned about is the temperature, it's getting pretty cold here now - towards freezing, does it still work at that temperature?

On the electrolysis front, I wonder if it's possible, or even necessary to make some anodes that will fit through the stud holes at the back of the block?
Andy

Location: Oxfordshire

Can I suggest Oxalic Acid?

Furniture restorers use it for bleaching wood. I buy it in powder form off e-bay.

You can mix as weak or short as you like, just add water.

I find it was quicker than molasses. no electrolysis needed.

Using Oxalic acid you don't seem to get anything deposited on the metal.

Ive used it for pretty crusty components

Oxalic acid is indeed easy to buy here too. I used it myself to clean oak beams in my house. Very efficient stuff.
I did'nt know that one could de-rust with it. Interesting. I'll try it, thanks for the tip Hedd!
Renaud

Location: Brittany, down on Sandy's meridian

Location: New Zealand

Ian Williams

Andrew Cooke

Ian, thanks for the reply. I think I can spare weeks if it gets the job done. One thing I'm concerned about is the temperature, it's getting pretty cold here now - towards freezing, does it still work at that temperature?

On the electrolysis front, I wonder if it's possible, or even necessary to make some anodes that will fit through the stud holes at the back of the block?
Andy

I have no idea if it works in freezing conditions it never gets that cold here!

BTW I have tried oxalic acid also, it does work but I discovered that it was great for cleaning up oxidized chrome items a short soak, scrub with a soft brush, hose off, neutralize the acid with some bicarb and it looks great. I have reclaimed a few items this way they look smart but retain some patina that you would lose by re-chroming.

Location: Brittany, down on Sandy's meridian

Oxalic acid was discussed here

http://pub25.bravenet.com/forum/static/show.php?usernum=2099944454&frmid=5&msgid=959025&cmd=show

including some tests i did on rusty steel and an aluminum pop rivet. You will need to open the links to see the pictures.

Location: Devon

Molasses removal of rust (1 part to 4 parts water) can be speeded up considerably. After 24 hours you will find on removal a black coating has formed. This slows the action an awful lot. I take the bits out of the trough and pressure wash them every day or so.
Further, when finished, to keep rust free, I "paint" with a very weak solution of Phosphoric acid -1 part to 20 water. Best to use rubber gloves- it tickles a bit in nicks and scratches. I buy this from the local chemical coy. This will give the surface a whitish powder look- Leave this there until ready paint, etc- wipe off with paint thinner or similiar.
A molasses mix settles and becomes denser at the bottom after a time, so stir it up every so often.
I have never done a block, but if you only want to do the water passages, an idea is to perhaps fit the head with a good silicone seal on the head gasket. Blank off the side water inlet with a plate and silicone gasket. Put some old plugs in the head and fill with Molasses through the water outlet. I have a reservation about the sealing on welch plugs. No aluminium, as it will corrode quite quickly, and appears not to stop when washed.
When I first started experimenting with this, I bought molasses for cooking from the supermarket. I found it did not work as well as the stuff from the rural supply coy.
Peter