Molasses

[MadMC63]

I watched some British car show where a heavy calcium deposit cooling system was repaired by a soak in a molasses water mix. Was curious so I looked to Youtube. Was surprised by what I saw so I tried it myself. I put an intake, cam trust plate and various other small parts in a 10 to 1 mix, water to molasses. I got my molasses from Kroger ( 12oz bottles) and didn't expect much. All of my parts were very rusty as they had all been exposed to weather for nearly thirty years. Very surprising results. Cast iron and stamped steel mix of stuff and I have to say, other than time very pleased. After about two weeks all of the stamped steel parts look almost new and the cast iron close to as cast finish as well. Didn't affect any surface that still had paint, carbon or grease but bare metal WOW!

[sledgehammer]

I like it when someone tries these things out. Good to know, thanks

[MadMC63]

Just thought I'd add that ambient temp seems to be important. During the colder days, there was always condensation inside the container I used but when the temp went up there was definitely more activity in the mix.

[Kaegi]

that is interesting. thx for posting. I might try it out soon

[pismopowerwagon]

[MadMC63]

The one drawback I have encountered is... Flash Rust. Your parts look amazing, very bright and shiny, as long as they're in the solution but, as soon as you remove them they begin to rust very quickly. It's a water-based solution and your parts are covered, lightly, in molasses so you need to rinse them off. The cast iron darkens and the steel dulls. The end result, in my opinion, is its great for heavily rusted or large items where a lot of time would be spent cleaning. Does a bang up job of removing heavy deposits. A very reasonable alternative. Lightly rusted items, small items should be dealt with in a different way i.e. sandblasting, wire wheel or brush prepped and finished. Considering the amount of time you'll invest in small parts after removing from the solution you could have done something else faster. It definitely works though.