grizzly907la

I am refurbishing a steel frame bike. It has some rust on the inside. I want to remove that rust using evapo-rust. My plan is to seal the holes with saran wrap and tape, pour the evapo-rust inside of it and let it do its work. Thought, suggestions and/or constructive criticism? Thanks!

Broctoon

Seems like you have a good plan. I have not used evapo-rust, but I've had good luck with vinegar or naval jelly. (The latter is thick so only works well for exterior surfaces.)

Whatever you use, be sure to rinse out the frame really well. Then be sure it gets completely dry. The easiest way to do this is by using very hot water for the final rinse. When you're sure its all dry, pour a generous amount of linseed oil (raw or boiled) into each tube. Turn the frame around in every direction to get all inner surfaces coated, then let the excess drain out. After several hours or maybe a day or two, there will be a fairly tough coating in all the tubes to block out water and prevent rust from returning in the future.

Iride01 

I wouldn't worry about it. My steel frame bikes all have surface rust on the inside. I don't see it as a problem. I'm not interested in them lasting more than my lifetime.

If you have rust that is pitting the steel, then that is a problem. I might just squirt something oily on it and check every now and then to see if it is ready for the scrap yard.

zandoval 

The linseed oil really works. I have an old UO8 frame that I picked up in Galveston. It was stored for a few months outside, chained to a fence, within 400 meters of the beach. Wow! Every part of that bike was rusted. Except the inside of the frame. It had been treated with linseed oil. I stripped it down and used the frame and fork for a Frankin-Peu. Had to use a little bondo to cover some of the pits on the exterior of the frame but all good, especially the inside of the frame.

After treating for rust I would be sure to rinse the frame extremely well. Then I would run denatured alcohol through it as a drying agent. Then I would as soon as possible run a 50:50 mix of linseed oil and denatured alcohol through it. You will need to hang it in a hot room to cure. Pure linseed oil can take months to dry out.

Oh... This is a messy method of treatment. Sure your going to get linseed oil on the outside of the frame, but, its pretty easy to clean up if you get to it early.

tendency

I've typically used an overnight oxalic acid soak for this but you need to get a kiddie pool, or similar, to hold the frame. They're pretty cheap though.

grizzly907la

Thanks for mentioning linseed oil. I'll give that a try!

grizzly907la

I'm refurbishing one steel frame as a gift for a friend, and that has some rust spots. I have to get the rust off on the surface and see how bad it is. If it's unsalvageable, I'll take it to a recycling facility or to a foundry and have it melted down.

grizzly907la

Great advice!!! I've learned a lot by visiting these forums and from YT videos.

Iride01 

If it really means something to you or it is a truly vintage bike worthy of the expense, then you might can get some one that does plating to passivate it. I think that's the term, might be confusing a process name.

We have a metal finisher near by that does a lot of powder coating for what ever is brought to them. They also have someone with a side business restoring old cars and stuff. They have a big vat they'll dip the entire frame, chassis and other parts in once disassembled and all the loose stuff removed.

They told me that it converts the rust and makes the metal parts much more rust resistant. I'm thinking electrolysis was involved and not just a simple dip and chemical thing. Might be wrong though.

But if you check around you might find someone to do that for not much with something else they have a big money person paying for.

Otherwise, for me if I was to worry I'd just spray some type of metal corrosion preventer into the tubes, let it drain and be done.

If you have pitting on the outside, bondo works wonders. So do several coats of a high build primer. Of course clean the pitted area to clean metal or put naval jelly on it and let it convert.

Broctoon

Linseed oil is so effective, it's been specifically called out by the FAA since the earliest days for protecting steel tube aircraft structures against corrosion. They specify raw linseed oil, but boiled is okay too, for bikes. I don't honestly know the pros and cons of boiling it. Boiled variety is what they had at the hardware store, so I used it on my last new frame, before even assembling its components. If you buy a lot more than you need (hard to get just enough for one bike), it's also a good wood finish. It doesn't hurt that it has a pleasant smell, to me at least. And I just recently learned that you can use it as a spoke prep when building wheels. It acts as a lubricant during the assembly, while it's wet. Then when it dries it acts as a thread locker.

Linseed oil... is there anything it can't do?

grizzly907la

Thanks!!!! I am just dipping my feet into truing wheels and would like to wheel build someday once I have all the proper tools. Got an entry level truing stand from Park tool. Already trued one TMB wheel. I have a lot to learn on the subject. I enjoy doing this stuff, though it can be a bit frustrating at times.

davidad

I have used this to remove rust. After you have drained and dried the tubes use either linseed oil or How to Use Frame Saver – Velo Orange (velo-orange.com).

grizzly907la

I might go with the spray, for ease of use.

shelbyfv

I've always used Frame Saver but I'm going to try Fluid Film on my current project since I already have some. Easy to find.