Here's my chains which were bought here or off project bikes.....First step was to soak in dollar store degreasers.....I was surprised at how much the chains loosened up after just the degreaser for an afternoon in the warm sun. Here the4 chains are drying after degreasing in the coffee can full of the degreaser I show here. I didn't get a before shot for some reason but trust me, they were typical rust and grease encrusted stiff chains.
After degreasing, soaking in new Evaporust...The chain on top was black and cruddy before, like yours,but once the grease was cleaned off the chain was almost new looking. You can see a few rusted spots where the grease did not protect it, and this was what I was attempting to clean off. The rollers are also stuck somewhat but freed up after derusting, unlike some of my worse chains..
What Jennifer did was try to clean the chain on the bike, so she could find the masterlink...That is a hard way to clean a chain, once it is off the bike it is a ton easier. But, catch 22, you can't find that master without cleaning it. I have access to air tools, and might have been tempted to use a soft air powered wire brush to preclean, till I found the link. A brass brush by hand might be an option too.
The question I have, on skiptooth chains, are the rollers supposed to be able to turn in all cases, and will they loosen up once on a bike if you get them to the point you could move them with a needle nose pliers but not with your fingers?? I can get the side plates to shine like new with Evaporust but the rollers remain black.
