Old paint/chrome repair

[rebirthbikes]

Sir Mike...

Chatted with him a couple times today and then I took a trip to the local hardware store. I picked up gloves, goggles, the acid, and a few other things for just under $20. Gotta love that. Then I mixed a batch of 2 Tbs to 1 gallon of hot water. I found the dirtiest and crustiest pieces I have. Seriously you can see how terrible these pieces were. Short of grinding them and re-plating them there was nothing I could do... until now. Just look at the before and after and you'll see what I'm talking about. Sir Mike... you are just that... a scholar and a gentlemen. Thanks for all the advice. To answer any previous questions... a rinse of water will be fine no need to use baking soda. Also I called the company that makes the acid and they said it's ok to rinse down the drain with the water running. Thought that might help anyone out. Can't wait to use this trick on some painted parts.
thanks,
judd

 

[SirMike1983]

The after shot is a good example of what Oxalic Acid can and cannot do. If your plating is decent and has a solid bond to the underlying metal, then if you do the soak right the acid will clean it up. If there is rust under the plating or a true pit to the bare metal, then you have an area of lost plating. If the plating is flaking, it probably will just get pulled up in the soak and you'll have bare metal in that spot. You have to consider the part and weigh this against the bronze wool and Ballistol/etc approach. Oxalic may pull up a lot of plating if you have a compromised part.

 

[rebirthbikes]

All of these...

Parts were severely pitted. I spent the better part of a year trying to clean them up, with no affect. However, this process did give me the desired effect of natural aging/patina that I have been looking for. The two stem caps from the springer came out to look brand new again, with only wrench marks showing on the chrome. The Springer bolt and head piece were almost rotted all the way through and now they have a wonderful patina on them. Also, the threads on the springer bolt, the two stem caps, and AS bolts came out superb. The threads look brand new again. I highly recommend this process. My next step is to try this process on some cranks that I have. And some pedal caps. I am supremely impressed with this process and will be using it in the near future. The next time I soak some parts, I plan on using parts that have a 6/7 in chrome to put this to the test. I'l post photos of that in a week or so.

My solution was 2 1/2 Tbls of oxalic acid per 1 gallon of water. I dipped all these parts in two different batches. It took about 8-9 hours for the solution to work its magic. Afterwards I used a medium/heavy rubbing compound on them and then a final polish with simichrome. Worked like a charm. I have to thank Mike for all help and the pointers.

As I said before, these parts were incredibly bad, but they restored perfectly for a nice patina on a bike. These will be used on the Panther I'm refurbishing. As that's what they came off of.

thank you MIKE!!!!

-judd

 

[sirlombo]

Thanks a lot for the very precise instructions/ideas and good example photos.
I think I'll try the oxalic solution for fenders and chromed parts and copper wool+wd40 in the frame.
I'll also post some pics in a few weeks.

 

[jd56]

Rust....arggg

I too, am a sceptic, fear of loosing what original paint that still exists is the concern. "ACID" is a term that scares me.

Thanks for the tips.
My issue is the 49 Phantom i just acquired. The frame is one that was well used and abused. Then what boys 49 wouldn't be. The top rail of the frame is one of the worst I've experienced.
If the orlic acid is to be used I assume the entire frame needs to be submerged. Wow, that's a big pan to get, which I don't have.
Suggestions as to how to do the entire frame or do I do a section at a time....perplexing it is to me.

Then, when the rust is removed, what to do to the bare metal that is now exposed to prevent further rust contamination? Clearcoat? Wax? Sealant of some type?

Thanks for the instructions but, I'm still a sceptic.
Here is my rusted frame.

 

[SirMike1983]

Finding a tub big enough to do an entire frame and then filling it up with the mixture is likely going to be a pain and very messy. Plus, you would have to stopper the openings to prevent the mixture from getting trapped in the pipes. You could indeed dip in portions/phases, then rotate when ready. I don't use a dip for frames because of the hassel. I use a dremel with a wire brush attachment and work the spots until down to the bare metal. I suggest a soft metal brush like bronze/copper and a low speed setting. After that, you can keep it bare and oiled to prevent rust, or touch up the paint, depending on your philosophy of restoration and the bike at hand. I do not suggest clear coating bare metal because it tends to rust underneath the clear, then you get coated-in rust, which is a pain to remove. Paint seems to do better than just clear coat, if you decide to apply something (on some bikes you want to leave the paint entirely original).

It is possible as well to take clean rags, soak in your oxalic mixture, then apply like bandages to the rusty parts. You would monitor every few minutes and refresh the bandage as needed. You can cover parts where you don't want the mixture to go as well. I like the Dremel method for frames better because it allows a lot of control and because of the mess you get with the rags, but if that's going to take forever, I suppose I'd try the rags first and see where it takes me. Some like to coat the inside of the frame with framesaver while they have it apart as well.

 

[rebirthbikes]

Simple fix

I just tried it on a frame myself. I disassembled the entire bicycle, cups and all. I had some old wine and champagne corks lying around so I used those to Stop up the head, down, and bottom bracket tubes. It worked very well actually. Then I filled a 25 gallon Rubbermaid tub with 30 Tbls of oxallic acid and around twenty two gallons of hot water. I left room for overflow. I literally checked the frame every five minutes and once I was content with rust removal I flipped the frame in the bucket. It worked pretty well and then I soaked the frame in the tub. The lady wasn't crazy about a bicycle taking a cold bath... But you win some you lose some. Anyways, before I gave it a cold bath I removed the corks as to wash out any acid that might have made it into the inner tubes. However I must say upon removal of the corks... The interior seemed to be dry as a bone, but I did find a rusty nail lodged inside the down tube... Still not quite sure as to how or why someone would have done that.

I hope that helps. Sorry I don't have any photos this time.
-judd

 

[jd56]

Thanks for the tips.
I think I will do the pain staking chore of using the brass brush. I like patina but, rust is just a sore sight, in my opinion.

Then again, this is a 1949 Schwinn and probably should show it's age and wear. The telltale orange highlights on the Phantom have come back to life and look great after the rubbing compound.
Regardless, I will be in search of this Orlic Acid today and test this miracle product. I have another frame I can use as the gennypig, I think.

Before and after pics of the process are forthcoming.

Did I ever mention, that I love this site....well, I do and it's great to have the responses from those that are willing to share.

 

[SirMike1983]

I just tried it on a frame myself. I disassembled the entire bicycle, cups and all. I had some old wine and champagne corks lying around so I used those to Stop up the head, down, and bottom bracket tubes. It worked very well actually. Then I filled a 25 gallon Rubbermaid tub with 30 Tbls of oxallic acid and around twenty two gallons of hot water. I left room for overflow. I literally checked the frame every five minutes and once I was content with rust removal I flipped the frame in the bucket. It worked pretty well and then I soaked the frame in the tub. The lady wasn't crazy about a bicycle taking a cold bath... But you win some you lose some. Anyways, before I gave it a cold bath I removed the corks as to wash out any acid that might have made it into the inner tubes. However I must say upon removal of the corks... The interior seemed to be dry as a bone, but I did find a rusty nail lodged inside the down tube... Still not quite sure as to how or why someone would have done that.

I hope that helps. Sorry I don't have any photos this time.
-judd

Nicely done- shows it's possible to do it well if you want to dip it. It's a tricky thing doing a part of that size. Some frames also have very small drain holes drilled in them that can let in the mix. I like the concept of the dip because it can really get to the rust in the tough spots that are difficulty to reach even with the Dremel. I just don't think I have a tub big enough and the better half would not be too pleased about having the container sitting out in the driveway like that.

I suppose if you had several beat up frames and wanted to nail them all in one shot, you could bathe each in the mixture until it's used up. Would sure beat having to wire brush several frames down.

 

[jd56]

Ok so I went out to buy some of this Orlic acid and I cant find at the Lowes or Home Depot.
HDepot has a product called Metal Rescue. But it is premixed and water based.
At $25 per gallon, I expected to more for the buck.
Where do you find this orlic stuff and what can I expect to pay?

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