Removing Rust From Bolts

[Marcus4800]

I just finished removing all the body parts from my 63 C10 stepside shortbed rebuild. You can imagine the amount of rust on all the nuts and bolts after 54 years in the weather. My son who works at a cooler shop (radiator on oil coolers for industrial engines) I ask him when they vat stuff does it remove the rust and he said no but it does remove the paint. So I asked how they get the rust off and he said muriatic acid. So I knew I had a gallon of the acid so I pored a little in a plastic coffee container about 1-1/2 deep. Now each time I take a set of bolts off I put them in a zip lock baggie and write on the bag what they go to. So I took a set of bolts and dropped them in the acid for about 30 minutes and when I took them out I was totally blown away. They looked like you took them out of a new box bolts. Now I doing all my nuts and bolts. Now some bolts that are bad you know that real quick you find bad spots that you couldn't see before you soaked them. When I take them out of the acid I drop them in paint thinner to neutralize the acid and let them air dry before I put them back in the baggie. Y'll probably already knew this but I didn't and thought I would share for those like me who didn't. Muriatic can be bought at any swimming pool supply store or the home improvement stores in the pool supplies. ####CAUTION#### don't get this stuff on you it burns I encourage to wear safety eye and hand protection. I use the throw away plastic glove when working with this. Hope this helps a few folks....