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Originally Posted by Advanced Design
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This method works very well. As I put my '36 Plymouth engine back together this spring I had a small Tupperware sized container on the bench with laundry soda and water and a 10A battery charger connected to an old piece of scrap steel. I'd connect one or two bolts, nuts, or whatever small parts had collected rust to the charger while I was working on the car. I'd use small breaks to swap parts, blow the cleaned parts off with compressed air, spray 'em with WD-40, then put them on the bench to await reassembly. Eventually I even played around with plating parts using a Nickel (there's little nickel in a 5 cent piece). Also very easy.
Another method for the heavily rusted parts was sulfuric acid available as a drain cleaner at one of the big box hardware stores. I had a very small plastic cup with the acid. After a 5-10 minute soak I'd place them in baking soda & water to neutralize the acid, then blow dry & WD-40.
Both methods let me do two jobs at once... cleaning rust and repairing the vehicle. And cleanup was minimal in both cases.
I will use phosphoric acid aka rust converters from time to time but I've noticed that it works best when the rust is very thin. Trying to clean up deep rust with phosphoric acid results in the outside of the rust being converted but nothing happening closer to the steel.