Restoring metal parts with Muriatic Acid.

[Hemi Rebel]

Just curious, what acid do they use when they dip a whole car body for rust/paint removal? Like GYC did with the 71 cuda.

 

[Chargerjase]

Also hot tanking an engine block. I believe they use an acid in that process. Would that damage the integrity of the steel?

 

[1962polara]

Just curious, what acid do they use when they dip a whole car body for rust/paint removal? Like GYC did with the 71 cuda.

They use a alkaline electrolytic process. No Acid! Then they hot wash.
*I would e-coat dip also to protect the stripped metal in all the unseen spots.....otherwise they will rust over time as all the metal is raw (uncoated)

here is their website. http://americanmetalcleaning.com/aboutus.html

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMetalCleaning

 

[1962polara]

Hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid) or phosphoric acid are classified as poisons under the U.S. Federal Caustic Poison Act. When disposing of them, both must be treated as hazardous waste, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Hydrochloric acid is highly toxic and corrosive. The liquid and mist can cause severe burns to all body tissue. Permanent visual damage, including blindness, can occur. Dermatitis and photosensitization may result from contact. Inhalation causes coughing and choking; inflammation and ulceration of the respiratory tract may occur. If ingested, it causes corrosion of mucous membranes, the esophagus and stomach.
Dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), nausea, vomiting, circulatory collapse and death may occur from ingestion. These are the attributes of hydrochloric acid which is concentrated enough to be an effective rust remover.

However, it attacks and dissolves clean base metal and concrete as well as rust. If diluted with water to the point where it might be relatively safe to use in a consumer product (less than 2%), it is no longer an effective rust remover.

 

[bee71]

Rick from Rick's Restorations in Vegas did a spot on cleaning metal using apple cider vinegar. Tried it many times and it works and you don't have to worry about fumes and you can dump it down the drain.

 

[2059]

White Vinegar works very well and safely, as well as molasses.

I've gone a couple rounds with muriatic acid in a previous life. Evil, Evil stuff. Use molasses and water; 1 part to 7. Safe, non toxic and no issues with disposal when done. About 3 weeks for great results. If you're in a hurry, (as most are these days) bead or sand blast. my advice to anyone that will ask....

 

[satman72]

comparing it to blasting
is apples and oranges
the point is there are alot safer ways (evaporust!) to restore something then using a
chemical that could really harm you or your parts.
so you save a few dollars and you are putting
yourself closer to harms way at the same time.

hey if you like it, go for it! more power to ya!
just remember be really really careful, one mistake/slip up and
you could pay for it in alot more ways then one.
its simply not worth the risk to me..

Good info, thanks.

 

[Mr Gorsky]

I've gone a couple rounds with muriatic acid in a previous life. Evil, Evil stuff. Use molasses and water; 1 part to 7. Safe, non toxic and no issues with disposal when done. About 3 weeks for great results. If you're in a hurry, (as most are these days) bead or sand blast. my advice to anyone that will ask....

It's really not news to any of us here that acid is nasty stuff. We all learnt that before we became teenagers. So, you take sensible precautions.

I have restored this stuff for under $20, and the acid I've used wouldn't fill a coffee mug. I don't really have to worry about disposing of it, because I can just continue re-using it. When the time comes, I'll dilute the hell out of it and wash my garage floor.

I've got just under a gallon of full strength acid left, probably enough to restore 100 rusty engine bays. I did these parts at home, safely....and I did all of the above stuff in one day.

I don't have a sandblasting cabinet, and I'm not about to drive around town to find some outfit who'll charge me handsomely for the pleasure of holding my parts for a week while they fit my "little job" into their work schedule.

If I'd stumbled over vinegar or molasses first, I'd have started a vinegar or molasses thread . Having now read about those products, to be honest, I reckon I'd prefer the acid technique anyway. My heavily diluted mix didn't produce any noticeable odour or fumes, it's cheaper, and it's uber quick.

 

[Mr Gorsky]

Couple of linkage bits off the AFB. These cleaned up in 30 minutes!

Still using the original 10-15% acid mix.

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[idrivemopar]

You get great results from Evapo-Rust, and its non toxic, you can leave metal in it indefinitely and it won't dissolve it, and it does not etch the metal either. It has no harsh fumes either. I posted some pics and info a year and a half ago on this forum about my use and results were fantastic.

 

[6T8GTX]

Graveyard Carz also showed using muriatic acid to remove worn paint from emblems and said it wouldn't hurt the finish on those. I questioned what the acid would do to those things but haven't been able to find a definitive answer - and I'm not about to put one of my emblems in to find out. Would vinegar or any of the other rust removal methods mentioned in this thread work to remove the paint on emblems and not destroy the original finish? Some of the black paint on the top of the plymouth emblem on the front of my hood is worn and could be repainted. Any thoughts on how to freshen those up? Thanks and sorry for veering this off topic a little...

 

[Mr Gorsky]

I've got an old Chrysler emblem I don't care about, I've just given it a swim.

We'll see how it goes

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- - - Updated - - -

Pic below is after 20 mins in the mix.

It's gone back in for a second swim .

​

 

[Mr Gorsky]

Been in for about an hour in total, it's pretty clear to me that we're getting nowhere.

The paint hasn't been affected, nor has the chrome. The badge has cleaned up a little, but that's about it.

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[6T8GTX]

Thanks so much for testing that out Mr. Gorsky! I wondered whether that would work and now we know. That's awesome. Looks like I'll have to find another way to freshen up my emblems. Thanks again.

 

[Mr Gorsky]

Thanks so much for testing that out Mr. Gorsky! I wondered whether that would work and now we know. That's awesome. Looks like I'll have to find another way to freshen up my emblems. Thanks again.

My pleasure.

Paint stripper would be the go, I reckon.

 

[zyzzyx]

O.K., You sparked my curiosity! I'll try the acid trick on some parts. The bolts/washers look very nice. I like Apple Cider vinegar on my coleslaw though!

 

[Mr Gorsky]

License plate screws.

Surprisingly stubborn rust....about an hour in there. Could've spent another hour but I was keen to get my Patriots frame on there

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[Mr Gorsky]

Not 100%, but much better nonetheless.

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[miller]

Just curious, Mr Gorsky, if you've tried the muratic acid mix on anything that has electrical connections on it?

I'm thinking about the steel turn signal housings for example...mainly the soldered wire ends in bulb sockets. Think the acid would leave the solder alone? Still fooling with it, but tried the cider vinegar bit on them (lol, 2 days), and after looking fairly good. After, a water dip, tossed into my kerosene tank, pulled to dry, and watched rust coating again.
Prob right now, is it seems still some rust behind the socket 'plastic' spring-loaded contact plate. Messing with it, but won't push in far enough to get a bulb into the socket.

I've dealt with muratic acid plenty of times in the past, usually stronger than your mix. Know it doesn't hurt plastic, or the like, but not sure on solder, copper, brass, etc. (Used to clean my engine blocks with a 50/50 mix, for the water jackets.)

Any ideas?

 

[mosquito13]

works great for getting rust stains off fiberglass too.