Ketchup+Vinegar+Wire Brush+3 days =Almost no rust
 

So I am in my pantry perusing it's contents and what do I spot.... A full ketchup bottle with the experation date of of 12/2007. Hmmm what year is this? Well I thought about chucking it to the garbage, but then I had an epiphany. This ketchup is made out of tomatoes, and tomato sauce is a bit acidic.
I've been meaning to take care of the rust problem under the battery of my 300d and thought this the perfect opportunity to try this rust removal technique.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...val1.jpg?stc=1

Plan was to POR15 it. I know, I know, POR15 likes to bond to rust. But I just had to try this experiment out....

Behold a 66oz bottle of nicely aged Ketchup.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...al1a.jpg?stc=1

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...al1b.jpg?stc=1

OK, I dared myself to taste it after smelling to see how bad it is. Actually it tasted pretty good. (It's still not going on any of my Hamburgers I make)

I squirted the ketchup and spreaded it all over the affective area. Then I left it for most of the day.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...val2.jpg?stc=1

I later checked it and it was getting dry. So I dribbled a bit of white Vinegar and added fresh ketchup, while working it into the rust with a wire brush.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...al1c.jpg?stc=1

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http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1379742609
I repeated this process a few times throughout the next couple of days


This is what it looked like after the second day with the ketchup hosed off.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1379742609

And Finally the third day.
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...1&d=1379742609

I decided to stop after this, remnants of the heavy crusted rust is still there. But I had to leave a little bit of rust for POR15 to adhere to.
I think if I left this on for a few more days and a bit more scrubbing, it would be totally rust free.

I once drank a 6 year old bottle of mountain due.....my grandmother found a few jars of apricot preserves she made 30 years ago....tasted fine....I even used his honey that was stored since the 70s......its amazing how people fear the expiration date or sell by dated.....I always hope and prey that some sort of global disaster will strike to open our eyes.....

As for your Heinz rust remover.......very interesting......I want to say coca cola will do the same too...

Richard the Chemist :D. Now just think what it does to your insides, :eek: but at least you will be rust free. maybe all those French fries and squashed ketchup packets under the seat is a good thing. Keeps the floor pans from rusting. :rolleyes:

I wonder how Citric Acid would work on it? Does wonders on the inside the Cooling system, then the CA is more concentrated than the Catsoup is I would imagine.

That is a good experiment on rust removal. It really did clean it up.

use some Phosphoric acid to etch the metal to give it a tooth for the POR to grip onto. That is what the metal ready is POR sells. after it dries, wash off the grey powdery stuff and paint it after it dries.


Charlie

I love using Citric Acid for rust removal and Coco Cola is full of it. But the issue is keeping liquid citric acid on the body part from spilling or running off. It is much easier to put a rusted part in a bucket full of the acid, leave for a day or so and let it do it's thing.

With ketchup, it is thick enough that it sticks to the rusted part and never runs away. Not as potent as citric acid, so time, added vinegar and wire brush helps.


Edit: Another epiphany.... How about mixing the powdered citric acid into the ketchup to increase it's potency.. Hmmm..
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You might be on to something here!:D



I have the ridiculous three part process already... a bottle of marine clean, a bottle of metal ready and finally POP15. Sheesh, why can't there be a product where you just slap it on with no prep!;)


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How about mixing in some citric acid with the ketchup to increase its potency?

Won't work for this application but have you tried electrolysis rust removal?

I just had that thought and edited my previous post.

No, but I've wanting to try electrolysis on some 1930's Griswold cast iron skillets I have laying in storage. These cast iron pan collectors are saying it is the way to go on the cheap.
I can buy 5 lbs of Citric Acid for $25 locally. But can only do a few rusted pieces With electrolysis, once your set up, you can do multiple pieces with little money on cleaning supplies.


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After patching a hole in my trunk I have some surface rust to deal with, and I am so filling the trunk with ketchup.

I needed a new "crazy old man doing something crazy to his crazy old car" event to top my previous ones.

Isn't that the main ingredient in a lot of Rust Converters?

Yes and it does more than etch the surface. It converts the iron oxide to iron phosphate which is hard and black. Naval Jelly is a product based on this chemistry.

Ketchup would have Malic and Citric acid from the tomatoes, but in manufacture various other acids may be added. Could be acetic or tartaric (vinegar) and so on. But no Phosphoric. So chemistry is different and the hard phosphate will not be formed. However, Coke would work if you can keep it where you want it! Maybe they should sell it in Gel form! Maybe mix Coke and Ketchup? Probably more expensive than buying a proper rust converter.

It's fun to experiment, but after cleaning the rust off by whatever method, I would still wash it down thoroughly and coat with a rust encapsulator like POR-15 (or DOM-16 which is much cheaper, at least here in Canada at NAPA)

I have used a lot of DOM-16 in trying to slow down the rust on my W123. It's about same as POR-15. Mostly I didn't use a rust converter, but it's not a bad idea.

I use an electrolysis bath to remove rust from various cast iron machine parts, and it works great. I even used it to remove rust from a black powder rifle barrel, and it turned a $40 wall hanger in to something useable.

It can take a while to get heavy rust off, but there's just about zero effort involved, and it gets it completely off, even in the deepest of pits.

You can just slap POR on & go. You only need to prep if you want it to stick.:D

When ya got mo time den munney...
 

...electrolysis is the way jak! Works best on those parts that ain't too big n aint too small, but juuuuuuuust right.


HA! I get it.

No, really, I do. Whether out loud or when I have to read their minds, I get that a lot.:eek::eek::eek:


MBZ123

First I had heard of the DOM-16. Does it require the same prep as POR?

Why not just cover the surface in vinegar then pour on some baking soda? Works great for drain clogs, including hair, and I cleaned stubborn stains off an old white enamel sink that way.

You wouldn't have to leave it there very long I imagine.