Evie: Testing Makita Wire Brush

 

 

 

Astrid: Scrambled Eggs

The old Evapo-rust in Astrid's tank was looking decidedly murky, so figured I'd dump and refill it.  Surprised to find something looking like scrambled eggs had coagulated at the bottom.  Not sure what it is, perhaps the Yahoo crew can identify.  I dumped out all the old liquid (tank looked like it was vomiting), then decided to risk rinsing the inside of the tank out with the hose to loosen as much of the "egg" as possible.  Got about 90% out in the end.

Also tested the reserve line to see if it was clear, and it was.

Finally, refilled the tank with what I had left of the Evapo-rust.  Also filtered out what I had used on Red's fork bridge and added that in, too.  Ended up with more than before, so I expect I'll knock out more rust with this batch.

Red: First Step

The fork bridge seemed like as good a place as any to start.  I sanded down what I could on the top side, which was pretty straight forward.  But the underside is full of narrow nooks and crannies.  I gave the Dremel a shot, but there were still too many hard-to-reach places.  So finally, I just gave it an Evapo-Rust bath for 24 hours.  As usual, that worked wonders.


The Before...

After day one of sanding the top.

Day two, looking to attack the underside with the Dremel.  (7/1)

Couldn't quite reach those nooks and crannies with the Dremel brush.

So she goes in for a dip.

And the After...

Day three, priming (7/2)

Spare Engine: Night and Day

Media blasting with aluminum oxide.  This head won't get used on a running engine, so I sacrificed it to the sandblasting gods.

Roxy: Miscellaneous

Verified the spark plug is a D6HA.

Inside of the battery cover needs painting.

Same with the frame under the seat.

Bottom of the seat pan.

6N6-3B 6V battery (PO said he'd bought it just recently).

S90: Dremel Flex-Shaft

The picture says it all... 

This was my first time using the Dremel Flex-Shaft attachment.  Did a light cleaning on the original handlebar mounts with a #442 carbon steel brush.  Pretty happy with the results.  Still getting my technique down; a lot of it is figure out the right angle for the brush.  I'm pretty sure I can get to a more consistent finish with a little more practice.

S90: Fifteen Year-Old Rust

Not exactly sure what this is.  I think it's a mix of old gas and rust.  I literally had to shake it out of the original tank.

Evapo-Rust

My gallon of Evapo-Rust got delivered the other day and I was pretty eager to see if it lived up to the hype.  Twenty-four hours later I was sold.

Not only is it effective, the process itself couldn't be simpler.  And it's non-toxic to boot.  And it's not that expensive ($26.95 shipped for my gallon jug).  And it's re-usable.  What more could you ask for?

So you take a badly rusted bolt that looks like this:

You soak it overnight, and end up with this:

Viola, no more rust!

S90: Rust Begone

I've been collecting all sorts of rust removal techniques in my notebook as I browse the interwebs and forums.  Thought I'd try the simplest one first: regular old aluminum foil.  This one almost sounded too good to be true, but it was cheap and easy so I figured I may as well see how effective it was before trying anything else.

In short, I now have a brand new respect for this humble, unassuming kitchen drawer product.  It's been upgraded from simple wrapper of leftovers to having a full time position with Team Vintage Honda.

The process is simple.  Use a little patch of foil along with water or WD40.  Rub, wipe clean, repeat as necessary.  I tried it with water first, which worked great.  WD40 seemed to work a little faster, plus it has the benefit of leaving the surface coated, so that's what I kept using.

It's actually a chemical reaction you're looking for, not an abrasive one.  Wikipedia puts it better than I could:

Aluminum foil is used to remove rust from steel and polishes steel surfaces by hand by rubbing it with aluminium foil dipped in water. The aluminium foil is softer than steel, and does not scratch the surface. Heat is generated by rubbing friction, the aluminium oxidizes to produce aluminum oxide.  Aluminium has a higher reduction potential than iron, and therefore leaches oxygen atoms away from any rust on the steel surface. Aluminium oxide is harder than steel, and the microscopic grains of aluminium oxide produced create a fine metal polishing compound that smoothes the steel surface to a bright shine.

The proof is in the pudding, though...  Here are some before and after shots.