I just did an Oxy bath on two bikes I knew were not going to come back. both were candy red over silver. a Schwinn Hollywood and a "Foremost" Huffy? from JC Penny. I bought the tiny tub of wood beach, didn't know how big my pool was so I just dumped the whole thing in there.
Huffy was solid rust from one end to the other. the bath removed most of the red paint leaving the silver base. the white part of the frame came out white as expected. there is NO RUST left at all. even inside the tubes. I could give it a light sanding and paint it as it sits.
the Schwinn paint faired much better on the frame, but the fenders and guard much of the red came off. both of these bikes were under a tarp on a covered patio for 30 years. they were covered with dirt probably from the huge dogs that live there too. dirt and moisture do strange things to paint and there were many many spots that were bare metal after.
before all these parts were useless rusty junk, now they at least can be repainted and used again.
no pics since I am at work.
going to do a Schwinn B-6 soon, so i figured I'd do a practice run on some bikes that needed painting even after rust removal.