Cleaning Hardware and Stuff..

[737driver]

I wanted to share a tip and trick for restoring hardware back to like new condition. I recently removed the bumper frames off my 77 TransAm. The car had been sitting for quite some time and very dirty. When I removed the bumpers (front and back) I wanted to disassemble them and prep them to be powder coated. I removed all the hardware ( nuts, bolts, washers and clips). Normally I would just replace the hardware with new, but this time I wanted to try something different.
The hardware was pretty dirty and seemed to be fairly rusty. I wanted to take the hardware and see if I could clean it up. So I soaked them in Evaporust. Evaporust is a great product for removing rust and corrosion. I’ve used it a lot on many parts and it works FANTASTIC! 
I took the hardware and soaked it for a day or two. No prep work just removed the hardware, put in a plastic container.
When I took them out of soaking them really looked good, almost as new. I rinsed the hardware with water and dried it accordingly. I then wiped all the hardware with Calyx. Calyx is actually a paste type dressing used on exhaust manifolds ( and other cast iron parts)  to prevent rust. The Calyx paste restores a natural finish color  and also protects the metal from rusting as well.  There are other ways to prevent metal and hardware from corrosion but Calyx works pretty good. Whichever prevention method is used , it’s a good idea to apply something to prevent future rust.

On a similar subject I cleaned a set of exhaust manifolds using Evaporust as well. It did a good job, but the rust on manifolds is tough to remove. The Evaporust did remove a good bit of it however I did have to use glass bead blaster to finish them. The Evaporust soak did make the bead blasting much easier and quicker.

Once the manifolds were clean from rust, I used the Calyx dressing on them. The manifolds looked new from the factory!  I was really impressed with Calyx, it’s a product that really works.

Although you can’t always save every piece of hardware and some parts , sometimes it is worthwhile to restore the original hardware. Lately, it seems the prices are going up on everything, especially car parts and stuff. So saving and reusing parts that would be normally discarded can make a difference in project costs.
Additionally, some of the reproduced hardware and parts do not have the quality or fitment of the original stuff.
Hope this helps!
Jim

[Savage Larry]

Evaporust is awesome stuff. I wish I would have found it years ago!

[roadking77]

Looks good, I too can swear by evaporust. I have not tried the Calyx, will have to look into that. I have started to use shark hide which is a clear spray material that is supposed to do the same I suppose.

I agree with reusing what fasteners you can, even the repro stuff doesnt match exactly.

[ryeguy2006a]

Wow, thanks for the tip! I have several buckets of bolts that look exactly like that. I'm definitely going to try that. Wonder if that Calyx comes in a spray?

[jugalo]

Ordering the Calyx now!

Thanks

[langss]

Thanks for the Information. Although nothing I am currently working on needs to be pristeen, I do like to use the old hardware over, and I hate when it looks crappy. WD40 just does not last. Thanks again.....

[737driver]

The calyx does work well, but it is a paste. I use a lightly damp rag and saturate a part of rag with Calyx .  It’s kinda like the way you would apply shoe polish to boots or shoes. If they made it in a spray that would work a bit easier I would guess. I’m going to look into the Shark Hide as well, that could work also.
Also I recommend wearing latex gloves as well.

You can’t save every piece of hardware that is removed, but I can say I was surprised on how well this stuff turned out. On other projects I’ve bought hardware kits from AMK . The kits are decent quality but they can be pricey. If I remember correctly, the full kits for a Firebird ( Chassis, Body, Interior, and Engine) cost close to $1000. Granted that is pretty much every piece of hardware ( mostly). However if you just had to buy the hardware you needed and reuse the original stuff that could save some money for other stuff!

Jim

[Jack]

Thanks for the tip. I've used a similar product that didn't work so well, will post the name.

[d_hache]

wow, thanks allot i will try that product as well. thanks again

[roadking77]

Jim, I looked at an ad for Calyx and it said it needed to be heat set which a running manifold would do. It said it does not work with applied heat, such as a heat gun, oven, torch. I was thinking of putting this on my rear differential. Did you use it on anything other than the manifolds?

[737driver]

I’ve really just  used it on manifolds, I believe it would serve as a protection barrier on most cast iron parts , even without any heating.
Jim

[Wallington]

Nice work. I've used similar here for several years, some of the results are hit and miss and the treatments would eventually go off. Handy for lots of smaller pieces that aren't available new or in the same form. Your towel looks to have more consistent results than mine using an after treatment oil. Will try something else next time, possibly even the same parts for round 2.

[b_hill_86]

Old topic but I thought it would be better to add to this one.

I have a few rusty ashtrays I wanted to clean up so I bought some of this Evaporust. As I’ve said before I’m terrible at thinking about “before” pictures but out of the three extra I have below are two and the third looked about the same. The two are still soaking but here’s how the other one came out. Not perfect but way better than it started.

[FormTA]

Man those came out great! I've always used white vinegar, going to have to try that stuff!

[b_hill_86]

Here are the two pictured above after soaking. Harbor freight has it if you want to try it. Pretty decent. I may have needed to let it soak a little longer. It says it’s not supposed to affect paint or plastic but on one of them, the paint started falling off and on the other one it seemed fine and less I hit it with a wire or a nylon brush, which started to take the paint off a little bit. Didn’t bother me with these though.

[b_hill_86]

Actually, I was just looking at my “before“ pictures, and noticed that the area where the paint came off look like it was starting to rust so maybe that’s why

[b_hill_86]

I’m reviving this thread for the heck of it with another Evaporust success story. For those with factory cruise, you know the servo (diaphragm) is hard to come by and can be pricy when found. I found one for a very fair price but it was pretty crusty. As mentioned before, I’m terrible at remembering to take “before” pictures but you should be able to get the idea. Below are the best I have followed by “after” pics. The best part about this is Evaporust claims to not hurt rubber so I decided to give it a try considering if the rubber becomes compromised on these they’re useless. As of now I see no change in the composition of the rubber. Just gotta get some paint on it and it’ll likely hang out on a shelf as a spare until I decide to get rid of it.

[Wallington]

Perfect candidate for silver zinc plating, if someone were doing an original resto.

[b_hill_86]

Is that what they were originally? Don’t think I’ve ever seen an original one in fair condition. I painted the one I put on my car black.

[Wallington]

Oh, no idea. Have seen plated and black.

[b_hill_86]

Gotcha. I was just wondering.

[roadking77]

Turned out nice. Evaporust works miracles.

[b_hill_86]

It really does. It’s not perfect but for what it started as it’s much better