The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Rust Removal on Engine Covers

I got the paint off of my metal engine covers but the timing cover is more complicated (removing fine rust). I guess I let them dry in the sun today. Is sandblasting my only option?

Put a wire wheel in your drill and go to town on it.

You could try some Evaporust. You'd need a pan big enough to hold the timeing cover and enough evaporust to submerge the cover. They also have a gel product, but I haven't had the best luck with that. It needs to be kept wet to work. A wire wheel will get it clean if there aren't pits. Check the Tech Tips page for some info on Rust Removal

The picture is after the wire wheel & some sanding.
How about mataturic acid & vinegar.
That one double side is the problem.

If you meant muriatic acid, don't use that for derusting. Way too strong and dangerous.
I can see where there would be issues getting a wire wheel into some spots. That's where the liquid stuff helps out. It can get about anywhere. You could dip just those parts of it in vinegar or other derusting agent. Leave it long enough to work. Can take days.

If my project, I’d degrease the cover well, then place it in a shallow plastic or glass container (wife’s casserole dish.

Cover it with vinegar, higher the percentage faster it’ll work. Cover with Saran Wrap, check every couple days.

Also, be sure to paint asap, it’ll flash rust while you watch. I’d just wipe the engine side with oil and call it good.


RonR

You can treat that cover with Ospho, available at Ace Hardware or any Big Box hardware store in the paint department.
Wear rubber gloves, apply with a cheap paint brush. It is real runny and will flow into tight spots.
Let it sit overnight. If there is a white powdery residue present, wet a blue paper towel with Ospho and wipe down the cover with it. This will remove the powdery bi-product of the rust conversion chemical process. Since the rust conversion was already completed, no further reaction will occur, and you can wipe down the cover with your favorite degreaser/paint prep product. I like to use acetone for such small parts. Acetone evaporates pretty fast, but with such a small part, it works fine.
I use Rustoleum metal etching primer, followed up with rattle can paint. High heat paint is not necessary for covers, blocks, heads or intake manifolds in my experience.

Electrolysis is another to deal with rust removal. It takes some washing soda in a bucket of water, a couple pieces of rebar a little bit of wire and a battery charger. Works very well.

Glenn,

Don't forget you need to remove that old crankshaft oil seal and install a new one (after your rust clean up and painting). Better to take it out now so you can get the whole cover derusted, prepped and repainted.

Thank you all. I’m also using my drill with a round sanding disc. Cleaning the valve cover, oil pan & water pump things.
I’m trying to get all of this painted before the new long block comes in. It’s a long block and is primed black.
I like red but I hear orange is the favored color?

Go to a farm supply store like Tractor Supply or your local farmers' co-op and get a couple of gallons of molasses cattle feed supplement. Submerge the parts and wait a few days. A hot water rinse will clean up the now rust-free parts, and you can seal up the dip pan and reuse the stuff repeatedly. The ratio of molasses to water is about 9:1. Inexpensive, but time consuming- - - -maybe a month or more to displace all the rust if it's something like a bumper bracket or a backing plate.
Jerry

Your are the best, Jerry

Do you have any suggestions or warnings regarding how to safely dispose of that mixture?

My local "refuse station" has a special spot/container for that type of mixture (no cost to me - except through my taxes to pay such services).

It's basically concentrated plant sugar- - - - -that's about "organic" enough to give the average tree hugger euphoric delight. Just dump the stuff down the nearest toilet, or maybe a drainage ditch. I've got a hundred acres of farmland to absorb stuff like that, and there's only one nosy neighbor who likes to meddle in everybody else's business. He's been invited out behind the barn for an "attitude adjustment" often enough by the rest of the community to start getting the message that his opinion isn't welcome!

On a somewhat related subject, a friend who runs a local auto shop has started using 5 gallon jugs of commercial cooking oil- - - -peanut, canola, etc. to fill his recirculating parts washer. The health department inspectors can't find any sort of "regulations" to make him comply with "HAZMAT" disposal procedures like he had to deal with when using Mineral Spirits, Stoddard Solvent, or other solvents for parts cleaning. The savings associated with disposing of his used chemicals are considerable- - - - he just uses the same guys who empty restaurant grease traps and pick up used deep fryer oil.
Jerry

An alternative method would be to obtain some Glycerol, which is the byproduct of the bio fuel production. There are a lot of small operations that need to get rid of the Glycerol.... For free......

It removes grease and other caked on grunge in no time. It's also bio degradable and can be washed off with plain water.
Once the part is clean, you can apply OsPho which is a physophoric acid to get rid of the rust.

Mike

Those Tech Tips that Kevin suggested cover:

• De-Rusting with Vinegar -- A quick and not too expensive rust removal technique using vinegar! -- by Alan Christensen
  
• Electrolytic Rust Removal -- Bust rust the way the pros do -- By Ted Kinsey and updated by Randy Baumann
  
• Evapo-Rust -- Product review -- Two Bolters check out a new product in battling the enemy: rust -- by Koolkar and Inky05
  
• Low-Buck Rust Removal -- The Molasses Bath -- cheap rust removal for the patient restorer -- By Barry Weeks and crew
  
• Zero Rust -- Restoration rust control in the Real World -- By Bill Irish

Mike, you meant phosphoric acid, right?
Jerry, cooking oil in a parts washer might work OK, but definitely not for parts that need to be painted. That yuk film that's on fryers would need to be removed, or paint would fall right off. And if Molasses is OK for cattle to eat, it doesn't have any disposal issues. There's a bottle of Molasses in our kitchen cupboard for baking uses. It's only a concern after it's eaten.
Evaporust is non-toxic and can be disposed of down the drain. Maybe it'll help derust some of the wastewater plant equipment.

Yes.... phosphoric Acid..... 😞😞😞😞

Mike