Lower control arm bath 2
So it's been about 3 weeks and I finally got tired of tripping over the 2x3 plastic drawer I used for the lower control arm vinegar bath.
I took them out and washed them with hot water, a brillow pad and dried with paper towels. Honestly I think the soap and heat helps reduce flash rust. Next I stripped off all the remaining paint. Some I did with a knotted cup brush and some I opted to razor blade off. When I run a grinder I get headaches from the dust and a respirator is the only way around that. So it's a battle of wearing eye, ear protection and a hat with the respirator. If its nice id rather do it out doors.
A quick wipe with brake clean and a scrape with a sharp chisel to get the last heavy rust flakes in the spring cup off.
I sprayed it down with phosphoric acid and used a 2 inch steel brush to agitate and get into the corners. This really kills the flash rust and etches any of the metal that was under the paint and not exposed the the vinegar.
Another hit of brake clean while the acid is wet to clean it off.
Than I hung all the parts from wire to get ready for paint and heated them with a space heater before the final clean with acetone. I warmed the paint can in a hot water bath so it sprays smooth.
Then I taped the grease fittings and bolt threads and shot all with 3 coats of rust preventative primer.
I will give it a top coat black gloss enamel in 24 hours so I can get them back on the car.
I am in a little rush for this project because I really need to use the jack stands to do the caster camber plate install on the other car. I had to order aftermarket strut dust boots with narrower bump stops because the oem bump stops are pretty wide and won't land inside the caster camber plates. I am trying to finish the control arms before they are delivered.
It took some searching to get the right deal on the right part because they are listed a few different ways, strut bellows, strut stops, bump stops across all the different sites: advanced auto, autozone, amazon, rock auto. The really cheap ones drive works $12 pair would be a ship to store deal so I opted for the $22 KYB amazon pair ship to home.
I really wish the brick and mortar stores made it easy to see their stock cause I'd drive to where they had it, to save time and or money. I have had the ship to store option turn into a complete fail a few times.
If you have a store with inventory, it makes sense you should publish your on hand stock, even if it's more expensive. Someone might need it now and be willing to give you a premium price. Instead they have a ship to store option that takes as long as the mail.
I took them out and washed them with hot water, a brillow pad and dried with paper towels. Honestly I think the soap and heat helps reduce flash rust. Next I stripped off all the remaining paint. Some I did with a knotted cup brush and some I opted to razor blade off. When I run a grinder I get headaches from the dust and a respirator is the only way around that. So it's a battle of wearing eye, ear protection and a hat with the respirator. If its nice id rather do it out doors.
A quick wipe with brake clean and a scrape with a sharp chisel to get the last heavy rust flakes in the spring cup off.
I sprayed it down with phosphoric acid and used a 2 inch steel brush to agitate and get into the corners. This really kills the flash rust and etches any of the metal that was under the paint and not exposed the the vinegar.
Than I hung all the parts from wire to get ready for paint and heated them with a space heater before the final clean with acetone. I warmed the paint can in a hot water bath so it sprays smooth.
Then I taped the grease fittings and bolt threads and shot all with 3 coats of rust preventative primer.
I am in a little rush for this project because I really need to use the jack stands to do the caster camber plate install on the other car. I had to order aftermarket strut dust boots with narrower bump stops because the oem bump stops are pretty wide and won't land inside the caster camber plates. I am trying to finish the control arms before they are delivered.
It took some searching to get the right deal on the right part because they are listed a few different ways, strut bellows, strut stops, bump stops across all the different sites: advanced auto, autozone, amazon, rock auto. The really cheap ones drive works $12 pair would be a ship to store deal so I opted for the $22 KYB amazon pair ship to home.
I really wish the brick and mortar stores made it easy to see their stock cause I'd drive to where they had it, to save time and or money. I have had the ship to store option turn into a complete fail a few times.
If you have a store with inventory, it makes sense you should publish your on hand stock, even if it's more expensive. Someone might need it now and be willing to give you a premium price. Instead they have a ship to store option that takes as long as the mail.
