Opinions of rust removal from chassis

I will soon (probably within 2 weeks) be prepping my frame for paint and I recently discovered a great way to remove rust with almost no effort and it works very well by using a non-conductive container filled with water, mix in Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda purchased at Walmart then attach a battery charger and let sit about 12 hours seems perfect for me. Negative charger cable to the part you want the rust removed from, submerged in plain tap water and a sacrificial piece of scrap steel hooked up to the positive cable and submerge it too but try not to submerge the positive clamp since it will rust the clamp too. DONT USE STAINLESS STEEL. and don't let the two metal pieces touch each other in the water. and do not reach into the water or touch the submerged parts or anything so your not shocked or electrocuted I want no liability and if you attempt this its on you.

I have already done this to both pieces of my rusty manifold and a bell housing and its amazing

This process I found recently on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJQGXhuoeRY and it seems to work amazingly and what it does is removes rust from the part attached to the negative cable and transfer the rust to the piece connected to the positive cable.

Albeit redneck-ish I am considering using this method to remove lots of surface rust from my chassis prior to painting, theoretically It should work by building a plywood box around the frame minus axles and engine tranny. line the box with drop cloth, fill with water and my sacrificial steel scrap attach to charger and wait. I know sandblast is a better way to do it I kinda want on the cheap, other options are wire wheel and sand to get what I can and paint prime over the rest.

What do you guys think on the cheap?

 

Just had another thought, instead of buying plywood to build the box I could simply pick up free pallets local and build the box and then line it with thick drop cloth and fill with water and cost would be almost nothing couple bucks for the Arm and hammer super washing soda and maybe 10 for the drop cloth then fill with irrigation water. for about 12 hours.

 

I suspect for an object that size you will need more amps, or more hours...

 

This has been covered a LOT here in the past. Iirc it's called electrolytic rust removal. Might do a search. Many members have used it. Iirc a couple members did frames as well. I've used it with good luck but nothing as large as a frame.


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Yes after some searching I found chassis prep has been covered a ton but I couldn't find anyone that had tried this electrolytic method for their frame or even had thought of it. and its very possible I would have to max out my battery charger amp wise and maybe even do It for up to 2 days since as far as I can see no one has attempted this to this scale, using this method. I might just attempt it soon just to see if it works and I will try to take a bunch of pictures

 

I recall the same Warloch. I recall they had to make a pretty solid tank for the reasons you mentioned. I know it was someone here who did a Jeep frame so it has been done Worksinprogress. I bet you could find more info on Jalopyjournal as well.
I wish I remembered more particulars but I do know you're going to need a large, high capacity battery charger or power supply. One of the small desktop units won't do it. Maybe a series of them but not sure how that would work. You will also need lots of jumper wires/cables to put anodes and electrodes around the perimeter of the tank. Also be prepared to periodically clean off the sacrificial anodes. Rust accumulates pretty quickly on them in my experience making them less effective. I'd remove as much loose rust as possible first as it will require less service during the process and give better results.


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I've done the POR and rust bullet also. Seem to work, but places where I didn't get off all oil, it peeled up. Clean, sand and touch up, seems like is in order lots of times.
For the next frame I will sand blast it, then Macro Poxy (Sherwin Wiliams two part epoxy primer) and top coat it. The important part is to
stop the rust either by neutralizing it or encapsulizing it, sealing it off from oxygen. The Macro Poxy is what I coated my
garage floor with and has worked well on my shipping container and Jeep panels I've sand blasted. O'Rielly's has chasis paint, ready to spray in the gallon.
Used it on some wheels, seems to hold up well. Maybe a good top coat for frames.

Thanks,

Dave

 

Roughly how long in the past Nick? I have been reading this forum for years and have never seen it mentioned. Would be interesting to see the full write up on a frame.


I have seen it done in the shipping business in ports but never on a body panel, should be interesting

 

This is also a big topic on old tractor forums, and such places.

For a completely different idea, how about water blasting? I just restored an 1893 wrought iron bridge (80ft long) and the paint prep was done with a 5000psi pressure washer (0º turbo tip) and that took off all loose rust and paint fast. Really penetrates in crevices etc, without damaging the base metal. I also used an additive in the water to neutralize any road-salt residue, called Chlor-Rid.

Difficulty was finding a high pressure blaster at a reasonable price. I built my own from components. But a jeep frame could easily be hauled to a commercial location.

 

I did this my frame. Here's a link http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?93489-Electrolysis&highlight=electrolysis post #21 has a link to my photobucket account.

 

Don't feel bad about having POR peel up on you. It does that, it's crap IMO. Use Master Series silver primer need time. It's the right material to use first, not POR.