REMOVING RUST - THE EASY WAY

For a number of reasons the Newman 1913 Hupmobile rebuild took thirty years on and off. As a young man starting this project the thought of one day being able to spin the starting handle each time you set off for a drive filled me with a sort of romantic joy. At sixty however it was a different story! For the first few years, each veteran run was followed by a period of recovery - not for the car - but rather for me. Eventually I came to the pain filled conclusion that R.G. Hupp was descended from a long time of village blacksmiths, able to lift draft horses onto their backs and carry them to the forge for re-shoeing, or alternatively he was some kind of sadist. I mean anyone who would fit a flywheel the size of Dean Lukin's Olympic weights to the end of a crank shaft (also massive) and encase it in oil to slow it down had to be either superman or a bit sick!

During all this time my back and my neck and my wife Anne kept on telling me that an electric starter was needed. Finally, a painful asthma attack at the Barossa Reservoir, brought on the stimulus for action. An electric start crankcase and fittings were run to earth in Victoria. Run to earth was hardly the way to describe the fate of some twenty or more parts that linked together the lever you push to make the starting gear engage. Buried in earth was probably more to the point.

Looking at this rust-welded-together mess of shafts and cogs and levers I doubted I would be able to use any of it for patterns, let alone put them to use in the car, but the problem even then was how to separate them one from another without damage. I then remembered talking to a fellow enthusiast on a bus ride from Adelaide to attend a Bendigo Swap Meet. He told me that his group of engine restorers in the hills had had considerable success in removing rust from steel or iron using a 12 volt direct current, a plastic container, some baking soda, water, and a sacrificial anode of lead or steel.

I used a large size kitchen tidy that had been banished to the shed by Anne because it was the wrong colour. Believe me dark brown was perfect for it's new found purpose. (When not in use for rust removal it reverts to being the workshop rubbish bin).

I used a large size kitchen tidy that had been banished to the shed by Anne because it was the wrong colour. Believe me dark brown was perfect for it's new found purpose. (When not in use for rust removal it reverts to being the workshop rubbish bin). I place a bit of wood across the top of the bin after filling it with water (2" down from the top) and adding the washing soda.

The rusty item is wired to the wood so that it is immersed. The scrap-metal (say 3x3 inch steel plate) hangs beside it also wired to the wood cross piece. I then attach the negative clamp to the wire leading to the car part. The positive alligator clip attaches to the sacrificial anode wire. (Don't put either clip under the water or they will rust).

Then turn on the power. Two things start at once. The solution will start to bubble as hydrogen forms on the steel, and the amp meter on the battery charger will show the amount of power being used. This can be kept within the safe working limits of the charger by altering the distance between the two objects or lowering the voltage. My little unit has never been fussed and shows the same as if it were charging a battery at the start and when dead flat.

The object should be progressively turned so that all faces are presented to the anode. The anode may need replacing after a few hours or days as it is destroyed. The Sodium Carbonate or washing soda is alkaline and will not attack steel. Your prized object is "cathodically protected" because it is wired to the negative supply of the D.C. Source which means the steel of your treasure is not eroded. On the contrary the hydrogen bubbles lift the rust off the surface without injuring them in any way. When you think the time is right mechanically remove the rust with cloth, wire brush, water jet whatever. Even the hardest deposit is softened and easily removed leaving the metal quite clean and therefore liable to rust if not dried and treated quickly. The electrolyte solution suggested was 1 pound to 1 gallon of water but 1 have used 1/4 this and found it to be OK. That's all there is to it. To my absolute amazement wheels turned, levers levered and most things were able to be used as they were after a few days of this treatment.

The biggest difference it has made, is the smile I wear, each time I get into the car and start it. It lasts the whole day!

One word of warning: A foam is formed on the top of the water, if action is rapid - as it always is at the beginning. I guess this is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. I have heard of a spark from a angle grinder hitting the foam - resulting in a gun-shot like report. I keep mine outside in the open air!

REPRINTED FROM "The Veteran Car in South Australia" September 1998 - Page 10