derusting with molasses

here's the molasses in the tank - looks pretty grungy. If you don't like to get your hands dirty, then this is not for you. I generally keep the molasses in the tank for six weeks, and then replace it. The old stuff just gets thrown on the ground - it is biodegradeable, so does not cause any harm to plants etc.

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here is a 34 Ford firewall after it comes out of the molasses tank. It had the usual rust for a 74 year old piece of metal.

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after the firewall was taken out of the tank and allowed to dry, I took a wire wheel brush in an electric drill and went over the entire surface. That brings the metal up nice and shiny - it will be cleaned even more when it is ready to be put in a car body. All the pieces that are put in the tank must be given the wire wheel treatment - thats what I mean when I say this is a labour intensive process - it takes a lot of work to get the parts ready for use.
But overall it is a cheap and effective way to derust car parts.

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very interesting....and good work...mind if I send you some parts to work on?
You've got the process down to an art.
 
thanks 56, but I would rather share my info with others to encourage guys like you to get your own system going. It's not that hard, just requires some good old hard work.
 
Does anyone know the history of this molasses " de-rusting" process. When I first heard of this process from Davey-Joe, I thought he was having a lend of me [ as John-in- Oz would say]. Am surprised at how well it works!

Bgbkwndo.
 
Bgbkwndo said:
Does anyone know the history of this molasses " de-rusting" process. When I first heard of this process from Davey-Joe, I thought he was having a lend of me [ as John-in- Oz would say]. Am surprised at how well it works!

Bgbkwndo.
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Davey was born the son of a poor black share cropper. When he was a mere adolescent, he knew he was different from his 11 brothers and 16 sisters. He had absolutely no rhythm even though gospel music was a big part of his upbringing....... molasses?? .... oh, never mind!!
 
dave,... i first heard about it from bob morris,... nuther ozzie on the board here... he was tellin' me about it when he an' his bride were over here a few years ago... i took that in like it was bulshit and one day jimmy rose an' i were talkin'... sooooo,... i snuck down ta the feed store,(when no one wuz lookin')... an' got a tub of the stuff an' tryed it.... "yup",.... she do work!!! oh yeah,.... lets leave my 27 siblings outta this,.... OK??...........
 
harumphhhh...... what a jerk!... "now son.... this here, see this is shit. this here though, is shinola."

as far as the molasses tank is concerned... I'm gonna look into building one in the garage.start small... then go big big enough to do a few doors at once

Hey flatlander... if we could find someone to build us a small containment.... say 4 feet high 20 long and 10 wide.... we could do a whole damn car !!
 
Thanks DJoe, I read up on chelation. Very interesting stuff.

KustomShoeBox, why not just use one of those big metal shipping containers?:D

I was thinking an old freezer or fridge might be the beginnings of a medium size tank. Comes with lid and everything.
 
if we could find a cheap sea can.... cut the top off... could do the whole car .

I got a dumb question. will this process take off gease or tar or bits of old rubber?
 
kustom, it won't take off grease or tar or rubber. The rusty part should be cleaned of grease etc. before it goes in the tank. Another thing, anyone wanting to set up a tank should do it outdoors - there is a smell that comes with this deal - it doesn't bother me but my wife can't stand it. We live in a residential area close to neighbours. The back yard borders on a forrest, so I keep the tank back there. In my previous house, also a residential neighbourhood, there were complaints from the neighbours. But then again, I was never very good at winning that "neighbour of the year award".- what with all the old cars and constant welding, grinding and painting in the driveway! Lets face it, most folks just don't get it, they want to spend all their time on looking after the yard....
 
hehehe.... days off now... I'll start looking for a tank. I seen some large plastic "totes" at the red deer land fill... th ekind I used to use out on the west coast for transporting fish in... they are about 4 foot high... 35. feet square, insulated and have lids... I'd like to find one of those....
 
Hi ss34coupe,
Some neighbors are just too picky these days! When they get cranky, tell them that you might sell it to somebody wanting to set up a "grow op" or "crack house" Then they just might have cause to complain:D
I got lucky, my neighbor is also a car freak with a nice 64 Falcon.

Russ
 
Here's a question for all you molasses guru's. Have you tried bubbling the tank. Would it aid in the time factor for derusting. I know it does when using acid's. Just wondered if anyone has tried it with the molasses.

Great topic by the way guys!!!!

Aero
 
Kustomshoebox said:
hehehe.... days off now... I'll start looking for a tank. I seen some large plastic "totes" at the red deer land fill... th ekind I used to use out on the west coast for transporting fish in... they are about 4 foot high... 35. feet square, insulated and have lids... I'd like to find one of those....
Click to expand...

Could always use a deep freezer or fridge. With the fridge you have two sizes.
 
Aero, I have never tried bubbling the tank, either with forced heat or electricity. Have wondered what it might do tho' - probably worth trying sometime. The molasses process is slow, that is one drawback, and it might be speeded up by doing what you mention.
 
ss34... I meant bubbling with air. It sped the cleaning process up by at least 50%. Just a pipe laying in the bottom of the tank with a bunch of 1/16 holes drilled in it with 30 pounds of air.
I picked up a plastic tote 5x5x5 yesterday. It comes with a steel cage around it so I'll be able to mount a lid on it. Now to go out today and find me some molasses.
 
John,
down this way you should be able to find molasses at any good Co-op or feed store. The Arva Flour Mill and Feed in Arva sells it in ten gallon pails for the horse crowd.
 
Aero, very interesting, using air to speed up the cleaning process. You are making a good selection with a tank that size - it will hold a lot of parts. Can you post some pics so we can see what you are up to? Thanks for your input on this thread - along with the bubbling idea, I would still like to pursue the electricity or forced heat ideas at some point - just to see what would happen.
 
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