The lower control arm bath
So the lower control arms have been soaking for about 24 hours in the 50/50 vinegar water bath. Yes I have been using the same bath over and over for the last two years and just filtering out the solids. When it's not being used it goes back in the sealed bucket.
I pulled the control arms out and gave them a decent brushing with a wire brush.
As you can see they are cleaning up pretty good but certainly need more time. I would hazard a guess of another two more days. My only concern is I chose not to pull the sleeves and the bushings and I can guess there is some rust inside the ends. My thoughts are these are pretty cheap units and can be replaced easily. They will serve me well in the short term for a street car that is far from a show car. Plus they will be painted and greased before putting them back on.
As you can see the coatings failed around the welds and the spring contact point. I thought I saw some flux coming off under the paint so I would guess the welds may not have been cleaned before being painted. I am temped to try the wax toilet ring rust coating after painting. Basically you gently heat the part, with the sun, heat lamp, or hair dryer or heat gun. Then rub and brush wax toilet ring over it sealing any open pores in the paint. Paints and coating tend to be stiffer and crack while the wax will stay soft helping seal out water and salt.
As an experiment I may try one side and not the other and report back after a year on the road. Wouldn't that be cool method to rescue non-mechanical parts from rust? Clean, vinegar treat, paint and wax coat. I know people have been using the wax ring forever, diluted with linseed oil etc. as under coating. I watched a youtube video of someone who tried spraying it with a pneumatic paint gun. It wouldn't spray and he kept having to heat it, so he defaults to chainsaw bar and chain oil. I am fan but not trying to blow up someones method so you can google that yourself.
Another method of raw metal rust prevention worth mentioning is heating the part to a seriously hot temperature and spraying with automatic transmission fluid which burns off almost instantly. The old timers used to treat their raw steel headers like that to prevent rust. I have never tried it since I live in the suburbs and it would probably be frowned upon here.
As you can see the coatings failed around the welds and the spring contact point. I thought I saw some flux coming off under the paint so I would guess the welds may not have been cleaned before being painted. I am temped to try the wax toilet ring rust coating after painting. Basically you gently heat the part, with the sun, heat lamp, or hair dryer or heat gun. Then rub and brush wax toilet ring over it sealing any open pores in the paint. Paints and coating tend to be stiffer and crack while the wax will stay soft helping seal out water and salt.
As an experiment I may try one side and not the other and report back after a year on the road. Wouldn't that be cool method to rescue non-mechanical parts from rust? Clean, vinegar treat, paint and wax coat. I know people have been using the wax ring forever, diluted with linseed oil etc. as under coating. I watched a youtube video of someone who tried spraying it with a pneumatic paint gun. It wouldn't spray and he kept having to heat it, so he defaults to chainsaw bar and chain oil. I am fan but not trying to blow up someones method so you can google that yourself.
Another method of raw metal rust prevention worth mentioning is heating the part to a seriously hot temperature and spraying with automatic transmission fluid which burns off almost instantly. The old timers used to treat their raw steel headers like that to prevent rust. I have never tried it since I live in the suburbs and it would probably be frowned upon here.
