Barry's had a hard winter plowing snow ... think maybe he should convert his molasses bath to a hot tub?

Has anyone ever soaked rusty parts in molasses? It works real well. Will not remove paint, but removes rust.        Mix about 5 parts water to 1 part molasses and submerge your part for about two weeks. You can use a bucket, a kids size swimming pool, or anything else big enough to hold your parts.

A friend of mine built a tank in the basement of his barn thats about 4' x 8' x 3' deep. Every so often, a few of us pool some money and run up to the feed store to get enough molasses to fill it. Then we can dip fenders, doors etc. Works good, but not fast.        If you want to experiment with this, try a small sample in a coffee can or something. Get a bottle of molasses at the grocery store, mix with water in an ice cream bucket. Find a small, real rusty piece of sheetmetal to experiment with.

It'd be best to suspend it in the can from a wire so all parts get evenly soaked. Resist pulling it out everyday to look at it. Pull it out in a couple weeks and hose it off.        You might want to keep the bucket outside, though, as it will smell.        Barry's scientific guess on "why this works" - I think molasses has a ton of sugar in it, so maybe this is similar to putting your part in Coca-Cola or something similar.

Barry Weeks

Here's a few well-thought out questions from the gang:

• Q: Brian Moore - "Ok but I just have to ask ... so, Barry how much molasses and water does it take to fill an 8' x 4' x 3' box and how much does it cost?"
• A: It depends how big a tank, how good a deal you find on molasses, (check with a feed store) and how strong you mix it on what it will cost. My buddy's big tank runs about $300 to fill, but when 4-5 guys strip parts for all summer, that's cheap compared to commercial stripping. He made it that big to get some Model T touring and roadster bodies in. My Chevy truck parts were in the tank with these F&*% parts, but don't worry, I didn't let them touch.
  
  
• Q: Tony - Molasses - "You are not fooling, huh? I have used homemade lye. I got to try this. Just throw the mixture in my field to dispose of it, right? I think molasses has sulfur or something similar in it."
• A: We asked the county about disposal and they gave the ok to pour it in the field (farmers mix molasses in feed for hogs).
  
  
• Dave B - "I always thought that the Coca-cola thing was some sort of urban myth. I think that's great that with all the toxins we use for maintaining/restoring our trucks that there is actually something we can dump on the compost pile when were done!!"
• Fatfenders of Canada - "Molasses you say? Well cut off my legs and call me shorty. Who'd have guessed. I'm going to give it a try in the morning."

Remember: always think safety ... and with this article, if you don't think "safety,"
you may not be able to do any more "thinking" at all ... Editor!

(I especially like the crews' "uniforms," Barry ... Margaret )