Engine oil pan dipper trays

W

wrndln

Well-known member
I have several oil pan dipper trays that are pretty heavily rusted. There are no holes in the four troughs, but a lot of surface rust on the top and bottom. I tried to use Evaporust but it didn't dissolve the rust. Maybe the Evaporust is past its usefulness. I have derusted some other stuff prior to trying to do the trays using the same Evaporust. The Evaporust website says it is good for about 300 lbs of steel. I haven't done near that much. I was considering sandblasting them like I do with all other sheetmetal parts, but I was concerned that some sand might get under the 3 legs that are spot welded to the horizontal part of the tray. The joints between the main part of the tray and the legs are quite small and tight. I could use high pressure air to blow out the thin joints, but I am concerned as to whether sandblasting and high pressure air would still leave enough sand particles to cause problems in the engine. Has anyone sandblasted dipper trays and what kind of luck did you have? Thanks for any suggestions about removing the rust from the trays. I suppose I could try a new batch of Evaporust as another approach.
Rusty Nelson
 
I've blasted the trays, then use compressed air to blow in the cracks of the 3 baffles while tapping on the baffles with a hammer. Between the hammer vibrations and compressed air I feel confident about having all the grit out. Actually I paint my own pans and trays inside and out after blasting them.
 
Painting as Tom says would work well. I sand blast them all the time, but use a full-flow filter so don't worry about it. When clean, hold the tray up to the sun to check for minute signs of porosity, again, painting will seal those.
 
i would electrolysis it.

all you need is
-plastic bucket that it will fit in
-fill the bucket with water-
-a hand full of SO CLEAN arm and hammer wash soap.
-a garbage pc of clean steal to dangle in the solution
-a battery charger.
wire the negative to the tray and the positive to the sacrafice pc of steel, don't let them touch together, then turn on the charger start at 2 amp charge, it may need more, you will be able to tell.
the next day you will probably be able to wire brush off the rust.

lots of youtubes you can follow.

ps. don't paint it. it is buried in oil it won't rust.
 
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Electrolysis and then Phosphoric Acid.

Phosphoric acid used to be call "Prep & etch" now called "Concrete & Metal Prep" at your local big box hardware store. Comes in a gallon jug. Same company same product different market target.

It leaves any rust Fe203 as Fe304 - sort of black not rust red.

If you really want to "go to town," paint afterwards with Gyptal (tm) which is commonly used on engine blocks to seal in mold sand that may still be present long after the mold is stripped. Glytal is a little expensive (like $65 for a quart) but is TOTALLY oil resistant, used frequently as insulating varnish on oil filled transformers, and has far better adhesion than even government good intentions.


Joe K
 
The effectiveness of Evaporust is proportional to temperature. If you were using at less than 70 degrees I would try again at a warmer temperature. It says on the can to “use it until it doesn’t work anymore”, not very helpful.
 
jeepguy1948 said:
The effectiveness of Evaporust is proportional to temperature. If you were using at less than 70 degrees I would try again at a warmer temperature. It says on the can to “use it until it doesn’t work anymore”, not very helpful.
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X-2 and DON’T put the use Evaporust back in a sealed container try to save it, once opened to air it will for nothing better to describe it will kill the fluid .
Follow the instructions on the container !!!!
 
Hello I have worked on a couple of Hudsons and apparently had the inside of block painted at the factory, and it was still adhered to the engine after all those years of use , was a red orange color. Also inside of rear end of 49 Buick was also painted from factory.
 
Big, I have to confess that I don’t understand your post. Should the used evaporust be placed in a container with a cap on or should it be left open to the air?
 
If you replace it back in the original container leave the lid loose, I drill a small hole in the cap, mark the level and if it evaporates add water to the line and stir it , don’t let it freeze or get hot while it’s in storage . This info isn’t on my new container or on line at Evaporust but I remember reading it years ago .
 
is there some reason for wanting to paint the dipper tray?
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He mentioned blasting the tray to remove rust. The fear might have been some sand grains get into the "interstice" between the fins and the tray itself. Like using Glyptal on a blasted/cleaned engine block, the paint would "seal in" the sand grains - and prevent further oxidation.

(Although oxidation I expect would be "minor" given it's application.)

Joe K
 
Joe K said:
He mentioned blasting the tray to remove rust. The fear might have been some sand grains get into the "interstice" between the fins and the tray itself. Like using Glyptal on a blasted/cleaned engine block, the paint would "seal in" the sand grains - and prevent further oxidation.

(Although oxidation I expect would be "minor" given it's application.)

Joe K
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i get the part about sand getting between the support flanges, and not getting all the rust spots out. paint doesn't always hold down rust any better than being submersed in oil.
also sandblasting parts that are inside an engine is a dumb idea as well.
 
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