VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Molasses bath

I am thinking of setting up a five gallon bucket with the molasses bath rust disolving system to work on some 28 chev parts. How much molasses to water ratio do you use? How long does it last? Do you add molasses to the mix rather than just changing everything out by replacing the media? How long do you leave a part in it? After using the molasses bath should I use a different primer like rustoleum? Thanks for help in this.

Take a look at this http://www.homercidal.com/molasses/ or google it.

I have used the molasses bath in a 7 to 1 ratio with good results. How long it last depends on what you put in the mixture.I have kept some 3 months or so. I do not add to the mix but rather replace it when its effectiveness dwindles. Some lightly rusted items might take a couple days and heavily rusted a week to two weeks. Once the part is clean I wash it in soapy HOT water and then a hot water rinse. If not being painted right away I acid etch it and it will stay rust free. Use a good automotive primer just as you would with any other metal, no special paint required. One big advantage is it can be easily disposed of with no environmental impact. The biggest drawback is the time factor. If you use a container that is just large enough for the part less solution can be used as long as the part is submerged. You can mix up a gallon and then use just what you need as you need it. It will not go bad in the container. The Dollar stores or other discount suppliers are great places to get inexpensive plastic containers to fit the size part you are cleaning.

After reading the info on the link posted by Andys29 the only thing I would stress is washing the part in hot water-rinse-and dry with compressed air while the part is still warm. A quick acid bath and you will not have any flash rust. Good luck and do post your opinion on the process.

All the above is true. Some people (like my neighbour) just aren't in to that rural odour so I had to move the bathtub away from his house. It gives you the ability to cheaply derust things like doors. It doesn't affect paint so if you stick a door in it will only affect the rusty part. You will find that the bare metal will go to gray and the rust to black so if you pull it out every couple of days and give it a bit of a scrub you will see if it needs to go back in.

Thank you all for the replies. I was thinking of setting up a five gallon bucket with a lid that could be covered to keep the smell down. All good tips about paint, and grease on the parts. Art