twiz

I have some old frames with surface rust and I'd like to know the best way to get rid of it. rubbing with WD40 just doesn't do the trick

Dr.Deltron

I prefer sandblasting with #60 mesh sand. About $8 for 100 lbs. A pressure blaster works much better & faster than a syphon feed.

But that's just me.

Mariner Fan

I just soaked my Miyata frame in Oxalic acid and it worked great. I used a deck cleaning solution that I purchased at Lowes.

jet sanchEz

Do you somehow cover up the BB or other open parts so that water doesn't get in there and rust the interior of the tubes? I'd like to try this but I don't know how to avoid getting the solution inside the frame; or does it even matter if it gets inside?

dbarnblatt@usa.

What did you use as a container? Bathtub?

PolishGuy

I use regular old Naval Jelly that you can get at the hardware store. Works great. When washing it off with water, I'll plug the seat, head tubes and BB, if I've removed it. For lighter rust issues, the cleaning kit from Menotomy/Old Roads is hard to beat. It removes rust, haze from paint and chrome and buffs to a nice shine. Check it out at: www.oldroads.com. For the inside of the tubes, I use either Boeshield or any other rust prevention product; WD40 will work if that's all you have.

evwxxx

You WANT the "water" (actually oxalic acid solution) to get in to the inside of the bike. Don't you want to get rid of the interior rust too??? And, oxalic acid solution can not cause rust, that would be like saying aspirin causes headaches! You just need to be sure to treat the frame with some sort of acid neutralizer after you are done, so the acid does not continue to work "over time". Baking soda comes to mind,,,then treat interior with Frame Saver or similar solution, and you are golden!

Axldeziak

Try using the Electrolytic Rust Removal method. It will turn the rust back into iron on the inside and outside of the part without material loss. Just google the term and you will find plenty of info about it. I use it quite abit and it really works well.

hmhoek

I just acquired a 1971 Schwinn Sports Tourer frame that has a bunch of rust on the seat tube, so I was thinking about how to do this.

I did a lot of electrolytic rust removal over the winter and had really fantastic results. I was working on old tools mainly. I did all kinds of things- pliers, sledge hammers, a bandsaw table, and the rustiest item of all which was a chunk of 1.5" thick steel that had been cut off of some large structure with a torch and had a good .25" of rust on it. I did this in a cement mixing tub using a sodium carbonate (soda ash) solution and an old ATX computer power supply.

One thing to note is that the process is extremely effective at removing paint as well as rust.

Anyway, the real subject of this post is what container to use for a bike frame. A kiddie pool is the obvious choice. The other choice that occurrs to me is to make a crude frame using some 4x4s and drape a tarp or two over it. That should hold water long enough to get the job done.

McDave

Oxalic acid is the way to go if you don't want to mess up your paint or decals. Check out previous posts about it here...

https://www.google.com/search?q=site:...+acid&ie=UTF-8

Mariner Fan

I soaked the complete frame and fork. I stripped the bike down for a repaint and found some surface rust inside the seat tube. I mixed the Oxalic acid solution to about 1/4 the recommended strength that is required for washing a deck. It doesn't have to be super precise. After all the rust was gone I rinsed the bike and soaked it in a solution of borax to neutralize the acid.

Well I couldn't find anything big enough to put the frame in so I used a bicycle shipping box lined with plastic.

I'll post a picture when I get back home.

Mariner Fan

Here you go. Sorry for the delay. BTW, Oxalic acid really works well.

bretv

The bike shipping box is brilliant! I was just about to hit our scrap lumber pile and build a wood frame to line with plastic, but this is much easier. Calling my LBS to scavenge for boxes now!

jodphoto

Questions about de-rusting an old steel frame:

How long should you expect to soak the frame?

Can you just plug the holes and fill the inside of the frame?

Is baking soda and water a good neutralizer?

Thanks in advance. Bike Forums is the best.

Mariner Fan

Just soak it until the rust is gone. You can't put a time on it because the strength of the solution can vary. Mine took about a day to get completely rust free. I read that baking soda was good so that is what I did. Not sure if it was really necessary. I rinsed it well and blew out the tubes with compressed air.

jet sanchEz

How do you get rid of the white film/residue that coats the frame after a soak in oxalic acid?

Mariner Fan

I don't recall having a white film. Soaking with baking soda then spraying it down with clear water worked for me. I have a compressor so I blew out the tubes with air then sprayed frame saver inside.