Hi all, can anyone tell me the best way to clean up my donor parts. Today i have stripped down all the carriers can calipers. But before i reseal all
the calipers and press in the new wheel bearing etc i want to make them look as new as i can get them.
I had a go with the trusty old wire brush but give up. I guessing they chemical strip or blasting may be.
Thanks
do a search on here for electrolysis - you won't regret it
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
do a search on here for electrolysis - you won't regret it
found in all good stockists............elbow grease! lol
Electrolysis is the easiest. It cleans up the bits while your asleep and leaves them as good as new.
Also no need to strip the calipers as it doesn't affect the rubber seals or chromed bits.
Seriously? Have them Vapour Blasted.
It gives a 'better than brand new' finish.. True.
Won't last too long 'on the road' without some protective coating though.
I used a combination of hammer and old screwdriver to get the worst off and then a dremel with sanding discs to do the final clean - the high speed really eats the rust. You then need high temperature paint to finish the calipers
Another vote for Electrolysis, did all my bits with it real lazy mans way to a perfect finnish, :-) HTH Ray
Cool- so litterally drop the caliper in the bucket (no need to dismantle and mask) and then follow electrolosis proceedure?? Sounds like a plan!
Can anyone confirm if its best to leave a brake pipe attached in orde to prevent water etc getting to the inside of the caliper, or if infact its good
to clean that bit as well?
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Electrolysis is the easiest. It cleans up the bits while your asleep and leaves them as good as new.
Also no need to strip the calipers as it doesn't affect the rubber seals or chromed bits.
This sounds like the way forward. Does anyone know on a good thread explaining how to make one?
The original electrolysis thread
Thanks, ive been searching for hours.
Ive make up a rig and ready to test, its got 19 litres how much bi-carb of soda?
19 litres, maybe 1/4 of the bag.
I use a 17v laptop charger to power mine, works better than a battery charger. Negative bolted to the plate and the positive bolted to a pair of mole
grips for the part.
Three table soon of bicarb soda and she is away! wwwoooooppppppppp wooooppppppppppppp........ Thanks Guys!
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
19 litres, maybe 1/4 of the bag.
I use a 17v laptop charger to power mine, works better than a battery charger. Negative bolted to the plate and the positive bolted to a pair of mole grips for the part.
What material is the metal that is attached to the side of the container?
(PS it's a bit easier for people to view your pic if it's size is closer to 1024x768 or 800x600 etc - You can download a programme called
PixResizer if you don't already have a way of resizing your pics)
[Edited on 20/3/11 by Steve Hignett]
It is mild steel, however it is galv'd. Is bicarbonate of soda the right power or should it be baking power? Isnt power power bicarbonate of soda just baked?
My memoy is appalling, but I don't think using Galv is a good thing (hencce me asking above)...
quote:
Originally posted by Steve Hignett
My memoy is appalling, but I don't think using Galv is a good thing (hencce me asking above)...
Try it over night, 4 amps is enough. Not sure what the galv will do.
Best ot suspend the part in the middle so it gets a look right round. I just use a bit of bamboo and string.
[Edited on 20/3/11 by coozer]
Thanks for all of your help on this one, i have made a few mods. Went down Tesco and bought some "Soda Crystals" 90p a bag. Changed the
water a washed the galv of the metal. In hung two slider brackets directly between the two grattings on a single piece of metal wire. There now
bubbling away a treat
FYI i put in 5 table spoons of the Soda in 20ltrs of water, the full light is now on on the charger so it should be at its max of 4amps, not getting
to warn so its all good. Could do with a meter right now. aarrhhhh well.......... ill check in the morning.
Depending on how your charger works, the full light could mean it's doing nothing - smart chargers are useless for this purpose. I'll be using the 20A 12v line off an ATX computer PSU next time. You should know it's working by the rather mental amount of fizzing you get IME. Also it's fairly "line of sight" so it's good to have many smaller electrodes around the part if you can, but that's no big problem.
I used the same battery charger as you, but used old saw blades as the anodes.
Here are some pics (I hope)
Diff2
CleanDiff
callipers
John
[Edited on 27/3/11 by johnay]
[Edited on 27/3/11 by johnay]
i did this a year or so ago.
I connected a 12v car battery to the Pos & neg leads, then connected a charger to the battery in the day and left it to it's own devices
overnight.
Worked a treat, had the sierra torsion beam sticking out of a 120 Ltr builders bucket, one end at a time.
This works on a "line of sight" principle so don't be afraid to add muptiple negative anodes.
Martin