Rusted Fuse Block

[Arreaux]

I inherited my 67 from my late father and I have been putting some time into lately. Well I was going to install an HEI and wanted to connect the power source to the terminal block on the firewall. AS I started to remove the retaining bolt it just spun around and around. No big deal just go inside to see what's going on and this is what I saw of the fuse block....

I was not aware that these thing can rust?
I'm hoping it can be salvaged?

I also discovered that the retaining bolt that would not come loose has some corrosion on the blind nut and just spun around. I did mange to get it loose with some help from my son. When I removed the terminal I see a lot of corrosion in the connectors.

I was wondering if some dielectric grease would help prevent this from happening again?

[davepl]

I'd get a salvage unit from one of the vendors that have parts trucks. Or if the truck warrants the expense, a new fuseblock and harness from M&H

If it's a total budget build, pull it apart. Remove all of the fuses and I believe the metal fuse-holding portion of the block can be separated from the plastic housing.

Bead-blast the metal section until all rust is gone. Put some dielectric grease on the fuse tabs and the male packard connectors (like IGN UNFUSED) and put it back together. Post a photo so I can see what all the work looks like when done :-)

[9teen69]

Soak in Evapo-Rust for atleast 4 hours, I always soak overnight.

Rinse with water. Let dry completely obviously.

It will remove all the rust completely. You'll most likely loose all the white lettering so take a picture.

[davepl]

Ignore my salvage unit advice, you can't separate it the way I thought. I went out to the shop and tried a fuse block myself.

I took a bunch of photos along the way if you need, but long story short I popped out each of the fuse holders (small flat screwdriver to release each side of each end of each fuse). This exposes the fuse holder end of the wire that you can then clean up.

I used a blast cabinet, but that does remove that zinc or whatever coating they put on (doubtful with that much rust you have any left anyway!). The Evaporust would probably be more gentle.

As nameless dude says above, you can soak the whole block. If preserving the lettering were a big deal to you, you could pop out all of the fuse holders as I describe above and just soak that end of the harness without the plastic block.

[Arreaux]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I was not aware of the "Evapo-Rust" product. Definitely will have to pick some up for a few of other items also.

Going to explorer all options before deciding on a plan of attack.
I'll definitely post some updated photos for an after shot.

Thanks again,
Mark