cleaning parts

1

1929 Leatherback

Member
I have all the shocks taken apart, but now I need to clean them. Some rust, not to bad. Some gunk from the oil that has been in them for 70 years. What is the best way to clean these parts and get them ready for paint. Solvent, blast them, or wire brush? I am a little hesitant about solvent. I did this method on the cast fuel filter bowl and it ate the threads making it unusable.

What is everyone doing to clean their parts?

Thanks for your time!
 
1929 Leatherback said:
I have all the shocks taken apart, but now I need to clean them. Some rust, not to bad. Some gunk from the oil that has been in them for 70 years. What is the best way to clean these parts and get them ready for paint. Solvent, blast them, or wire brush? I am a little hesitant about solvent. I did this method on the cast fuel filter bowl and it ate the threads making it unusable.

What is everyone doing to clean their parts?

Thanks for your time!
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You're saying that solvent ate the threads on a cast iron fuel filter?
Bill
 
Yes it was a rust dissolving product and what I think happened was that the threads had rust on them and the solvent did its job and dissolved the rust, and by doing that it made the threads to small to be effective.
 
I scrub and scrape my greasy parts with a brass wire brush and kerosene till all the gunk is off. Then I wash them thoroughly with hot water and soap. If there is rust, I soak them in Evapo-rust for 24 hours. If they’re clean then, I wash them one more time in hot water and soap. Then paint. This is a small parts procedure, obviously.
 
1815…
Disassembled shocks should not be SAND blasted. Those are rather precision and sand would be bad for them. Glass beads or walnut hulls maybe. But then you have to be sure and clean al the veins and passages.
I used to build shocks and I would sandblast before disassembly. Then soak for a few days in mineral spirits then use dental picks to clean insides. And blasting puts grit into the equation.
A BIG thing is don’t mix up the parts when doing multiple units. Of course there are AC and CW shocks but reassembling the original parts to the original units works significantly better.
 
I should have been more specific and said don't sandblast the inside and wash them very well. I do that whenever I do a differential from a later car that is one piece unlike the model A.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I did keep all the parts in separate boxes after disassembly. I will not blast the parts, because the internal are precision. I will use a brass brush with lacquer thinner.

It wasn't muriatic acid I used. It was a product I bought off the shelf, it is for dissolving rust. I cant remember the name, the next time I am in the shop I will take a look at the name, but it came in a grey gallon jug.
 
1929 Leatherback said:
The product I used was made by WD-40.
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I feel very confident that if you used WD-40s Rust Remover, it did not damage or 'eat away' the threads. Their product is a bacteria-based product and not an acid-based cleaner. The bacterial ingests iron oxide and then dies. It is very mild and will not damage the parent metal. Their product will not damage anything that is organic either.
 
You are right. I don't think it away any good metal on the threads. What I think might have happened is that the threads were rusted and it got rid of the rust on them and that's how they became undersized.
 
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