bumperquip
Active member
The nuts and bolts you see in this thread are not refinished... I, personally, do not believe in finishing or refinishing (i.e. painting and/or polishing) fasterners as that's not how they came from the factory.
These fasteners have been restored to, as far as I've been able to research, the finish or as close to the finish they had when they were new. They do look used but the finish is accurate.
These are my shock and sway bar fasterners.
They've been through the 1st step of the process I find most effective.
These still need to go through 3 reamining steps before they're done.
These things were as rusty as you could imagine.
Here's a photo of the top sway bar end-link bolt head before disassembly:
Step 1:
They have been acid bathed in a solution of 3 parts muriatic (hydrochloric) acid (pool acid) and 1 part water. They soaked for ~ 4 hours. I will watch my "batch" and periodically give them a jiggle and typically when the bubbling stops they're done. Then they're thoroughly rinsed in clean water.
If I'm not going to complete the process(es) right away, I'll spray them with WD-40 or the like to ensure that no surface corrosion initiates again. That's where these are in the process.
Step 2:
Next, they'll be soaked in degreaser for a couple of hours. Then they'll be rinsed again. If you really wanna do it right, boil some water in a pot... without your wife knowing... take the pot to the garage or back yard, add your degeaser and let them soak in a pot of really hot water/degreaser.
Step 3:
After the desgeasing step, they're dried off and the next step I use is to then soak them in clean motor oil (the brand and viscosity is based on personal preference and brand loyalty). After I let them sit for a bit in the motor oil they'll be wiped down.
I've used this process a number of times and have fasteners go as long a four years with no signs of corrosion.
You may be wondering why I do the acid bath before I do the degrease... personal habit. I learned a long time ago that some chemicals, even in resudual amounts, don't mix. I therefore have always done the de-rusting before the degreasing. I'm sure flipping these steps in the process would be fine.
Step 4:
The very last step that I always take is to run my taps and my dies through and over the nuts and the bolts to clean up and re-establish the threads. After that you've got pretty much good as new fasterners.
I'll post additonal photos of these when I get them all done.
The next set I do I'll post some complete before, intermediate and finished photos.
NOTE: Here's an edit to the process posted above which I guess would be step 1.1...
If you have the time and inclination, sometime after the acid soak but before the oil soak , scrub the nut or bolt or whatever piece you're working on with a wire brush.
I found that although the acid will eliminate the rust, there may still be some rough residue/build-up left on the piece. The wire brush removes the residue and nearly completely smooths and polishes the piece.
These fasteners have been restored to, as far as I've been able to research, the finish or as close to the finish they had when they were new. They do look used but the finish is accurate.
These are my shock and sway bar fasterners.
They've been through the 1st step of the process I find most effective.
These still need to go through 3 reamining steps before they're done.
These things were as rusty as you could imagine.
Here's a photo of the top sway bar end-link bolt head before disassembly:
Step 1:
They have been acid bathed in a solution of 3 parts muriatic (hydrochloric) acid (pool acid) and 1 part water. They soaked for ~ 4 hours. I will watch my "batch" and periodically give them a jiggle and typically when the bubbling stops they're done. Then they're thoroughly rinsed in clean water.
If I'm not going to complete the process(es) right away, I'll spray them with WD-40 or the like to ensure that no surface corrosion initiates again. That's where these are in the process.
Step 2:
Next, they'll be soaked in degreaser for a couple of hours. Then they'll be rinsed again. If you really wanna do it right, boil some water in a pot... without your wife knowing... take the pot to the garage or back yard, add your degeaser and let them soak in a pot of really hot water/degreaser.
Step 3:
After the desgeasing step, they're dried off and the next step I use is to then soak them in clean motor oil (the brand and viscosity is based on personal preference and brand loyalty). After I let them sit for a bit in the motor oil they'll be wiped down.
I've used this process a number of times and have fasteners go as long a four years with no signs of corrosion.
You may be wondering why I do the acid bath before I do the degrease... personal habit. I learned a long time ago that some chemicals, even in resudual amounts, don't mix. I therefore have always done the de-rusting before the degreasing. I'm sure flipping these steps in the process would be fine.
Step 4:
The very last step that I always take is to run my taps and my dies through and over the nuts and the bolts to clean up and re-establish the threads. After that you've got pretty much good as new fasterners.
I'll post additonal photos of these when I get them all done.
The next set I do I'll post some complete before, intermediate and finished photos.
NOTE: Here's an edit to the process posted above which I guess would be step 1.1...
If you have the time and inclination, sometime after the acid soak but before the oil soak , scrub the nut or bolt or whatever piece you're working on with a wire brush.
I found that although the acid will eliminate the rust, there may still be some rough residue/build-up left on the piece. The wire brush removes the residue and nearly completely smooths and polishes the piece.
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