VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood Rusty water marks

Has anyone had any success in moving the rusty water marks from the outside of radiator cores.
My car recently was boiling (now fixed) but in the time, rusty water had overflowed down all over the core.
Any recomendations greatly appreciated.

We have a product called CLR that will remove rust staines from the bathroom. You should be able to find a similar product. Make sure it is one that says on the bottle "won't harm your pipes", that way you'll be sure it won't eat any of the metal on the grille.

You can buy some zinc phosphate from Bill Hirsch or Por-15, they sell it as "metal prep". It will remove the rust and etch the metal in preparation for painting. I would talk to company to make sure you can use it on the grille and how much you should dilute the stuff.

The top of my grille was copper so I used a copper polish to clean it up. I'm not positive what the little viens were made of.

Brian

I would try a bit of lemon juice or vinegar. They contain weak acids that will dissolve iron oxides (rust). You can add a drop or so of dish washing detergent if there is any grease or oil. They should not harm the paint on the radiator core or the metal. Rinse it off when cleaned.