So do you prefer this method over Evaporust?

I've used white vinegar before. I generally take an old toothbrush and most of the rust comes right off.

I prefer it to "chemicals".

Nice write up.

Let it soak longer and you will get better results. I have used vinegar but I have better luck with molasses. Mix a small amount of molasses with water and let your parts soak for 3-4 days. Better than vinegar, IMO.

This $4.00 bottle will make up gallons of mix.

Screen Shot 2019-03-04 at 2.25.01 PM (resized).png

if you live close to a Tractor Supply you can get the type of molasses for wildlife for $8.00. This will be a lifetime supply.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/evolved-habitats-molasses-1-gal-jug

If you have a small battery charger you can use electrolysis for rust removal. I have tried this and it works quite well, but molasses works for me.

I have a gallon of Evaporust. It works OK. But the other ways are biodegradable.

Isn't Evaporust rather environmentally friendly?

I've done the electrolysis on s motorcycle tank before. Very cool.

I later did vinegar but was afraid of creating pin holes, so limited duration for that.

I agree, I feel better about dumping rusty vinegar than evaporust.

I have the 4" tube setup for doing legs. Started with a gallon of Evapo and have been topping it off with white Vinegar. Been using the same rig for two years now. Probably done 50 sets of legs and anything else I can put in it. Never dump out the mix. Once in a while I run it through a strainer to clean out the gook.
Probably more vinegar the evapo by now. Still works great. Usually leave legs in for a week. No rubbing needed to get any rust off.

You have to work them. I have a 4" tube for legs as the other poster does. I read 2 oz. per gallon does the trick but I make my mix stronger ( you know, the weed killer says it will do 5000 sq. ft. when truth is closer to 1000 sq. ft. )

The stuff does get rank. It is an organic product and sweet. The flies and moths got trapped in my solution all of the time. It will get moldy. THe water evaporates but like the other guy, I just keep adding water.

For legs with light rust a couple of days soak works. For the real heavy rust down at the bottom I may soak for 10-14 days. If the chrome is gone all you will have left is black spots; Same with any rust removal process.

As soon I pull them and rinse them I manually dry them with a towel. I don't don't let them air dry or surface rust will appear. On the inside of all my legs I will spray them with silver or gray paint. Some times on the outside I will hit them will some spray can clear or just some wax.

I did a Gottlieb coin door with vinegar once like the one you are doing. Following the grain I scrubbed with a scotch brite and toweled it dry. Then hit it with some wax. But you might try some spray can clear to help keep the rust away. Semi-gloss clear might look close to natural.

Jay Leno's Garage had a father/daughter business team on one time who sells a special product to keep the rust from coming back for around a year. I can't remember the product but it looked cool.

P.S: I discovered the molasses trick when I was watching a you tube video of a couple of guys removing rust from some old car body panels. He was real cagey about what they were using and talking like they had something proprietary but said it had a sweet taste. In the end, the only these guys had were some big soak tanks.

I googled how to remove rust and the molasses thing came up big time. All of these car guys are de-rusting their old car skin panels with molasses and they were proud of what they were doing.

Yes, you can read details here: https://evapo-rust.com/technical-info/

Looks good. I'd hit that with some semi-gloss or flat clear to protect it. You would have to wipe off the Never Dull with some alcohol

Maybe a coat of wax would take care of any rust issues?

Your are not going to be flexing any metal very much, if at all. And you are just going to be putting on one light coat for protective purpose only--to help keep the rust from coming back. It is not going to crack. If you lay on 15 coats it might crack.

Here is one thing you can do before you reinstall. Get some masking tape. The regular light straw color is cheapest and will work fine---but you need to remove it as soon as you finish the job. Regular masking tape, if left on for a few days/ weeks will NOT come off. The shit gets as hard as a rock; I have not seen anything like it.

Or you can get the blue painter's masking tape which will peel away easily. but it does not stick all that good.

Anyway, mask off the parts you have painted and then install them. The tape will help protect your finish. Once installed, peel the tape off.

Interesting alternative methods. As someone stated above, evapo-rust can be used many times. Therefore not nearly as expensive as one might think. I too just top off a 4 inch PVC tube occasionally. The tube will accommodate many parts, lockbar bar receivers, lock bars, legs. It is biodegradable and can be gotten rid of safely. People are offering different options for preventing the rust from returning , nothing is perfect but I have found this product to be very good at polishing and includes silicones that supposedly help prevent return of oxides. Great product in my opinion, have tried many polishers. Use Brasso on brass items but for anything else, this stuff is great. Check out the reviews.

Screenshot_20190309-202944_Chrome (resized).jpg

That door looks super !!

Here's a before-and-after soaking chrome legs in vinegar overnight followed by a scrub with a green plastic scouring pad. I consider these good enough for priming and painting. I used a 3" diameter PVC tube to soak them, and with a 3" screw cap it doubles as a storage container for the vinegar.

20200811_130623 (resized).jpg

20200815_172748 (resized).jpg

I use Evapo-Rust because you can reuse it hundreds of times. For me, it works the best for getting the rust off. I always rinse and dry the items immediately then follow with chrome polish for protection.

A handy video comparison of muriatic acid, Evapo-Rust, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and molasses: