Cleaning Process for parts

[mercifiknow]

So I’m now starting to restore my Walker 784 floor jack. This is my first restoration and I want to nail it. I only have the basics to restore something such as simple plastic pans, various brushes, grinder with a wire wheel, cordless drills and a corded drill with the various simple wire brushes, 409 spray, ultrasonic cleaner, and sandpaper.

What I’m after in this post is how you all go about cleaning & storing your parts all the way to paint them. Sometimes I don’t get back to a part for a week which is the caveat to this.

For instance, I have the axle rod that connects the front wheels. I initially started cleaning it with 409 (yes I know not the ideal solution but I just had it on hand) and with all of mouse **** all over it, grease, dirt, and others, I quickly realized it’s not going to work with it. I’m going to try diesel this week as a way to remove the muck quicker. I’ll pour the dirty diesel into a gallon jug and reuse if possible although not likely.

Once I remove that what do I do next to get it ready to set aside for painting? How do I clean the threads? Wire wheel? Other supplies?

I think this the most important part: how do I store them until I can get back to them?

Thanks!

 

[BTL-A4]

Wire wheel the threads. I've used different sizes from a 3" diameter one that fits in a drill to a 1/2" Dremel wire wheel. I've taken a terry cloth towel and wiped them down. I've also used a wood stick with a point to get in there and remove stubborn crud.

I've put WD-40 on parts to keep them from rusting while I worked on the rest. Just get a rag damp and wipe the parts down. I then wipe it off with acetone before painting. The trick is to wipe, then wipe again until there is no dirt on the rag. Then wipe it again.

May I suggest Simple Green? I use it straight to remove paint, diluted for everything else. Evaporust is great for rust, as is citric acid.

 

[jhn9840]

For storing parts after cleaning I have a variety of different size plastic lunch bags. Strip of masking tape and wright name of part, part number whatever I think I’ll need on it. Keeps things organized and easy to find whenever you do get back to them.

jhn9840
John

 

[mercifiknow]

Wire wheel the threads. I've used different sizes from a 3" diameter one that fits in a drill to a 1/2" Dremel wire wheel. I've taken a terry cloth towel and wiped them down. I've also used a wood stick with a point to get in there and remove stubborn crud.

I've put WD-40 on parts to keep them from rusting while I worked on the rest. Just get a rag damp and wipe the parts down. I then wipe it off with acetone before painting. The trick is to wipe, then wipe again until there is no dirt on the rag. Then wipe it again.

May I suggest Simple Green? I use it straight to remove paint, diluted for everything else. Evaporust is great for rust, as is citric acid.

I have regular SG and the Aircraft Simple Green and I have thought about the Evaporust. Especially the wheels where there is a lot of contours.

 

[mercifiknow]

For storing parts after cleaning I have a variety of different size plastic lunch bags. Strip of masking tape and wright name of part, part number whatever I think I’ll need on it. Keeps things organized and easy to find whenever you do get back to them.

jhn9840
John

Thanks John. I’ll start that.

 

[nadogail]

I have used Fluid Film, t is Lanolin based and heavier than WD-40

 

[WoodsTruck]

I happened on to Widget Supply a while back.
Pretty decent selection of Dremel tool accessories.

Dremel Rotary Tool Brushes - Metal

Metal bristle brushes in wheel, cup or end brush styles to clean, remove rust or surface finish. Use non-sparking brass brushes on softer metals. Steel brushes are ideal for brass, copper or other ferrous metals. Stainless brushes are suited for stainless steel, aluminum, silver, pewter or other...

widgetsupply.com

 

[Shiftless]

You’ve already started so this suggestion is probably too late, but in the future, if you run across something that nasty ( black grease and mouse turds) may I suggest taking it to an automatic car wash and blasting it there as a first step?

I regularly clean up old bench vises. My regular routine for the smaller ones is to take it apart and toss the parts into a crock pot full of undiluted Simple Green and let it cook for a few hours or overnight. That softens up the dirty black grease on the inside and loosens the paint on the outside, Then I take it outside and hit it with a small electric pressure washer to get it back to clean bare metal. Then take it back to the shop and dry it with a heat gun.

At that point you can leave it alone if you live in a dry climate or if not, spray on some primer or wipe on a thin coating of boiled linseed oil which you can paint over.

 

[csp]

x2 on the car wash. I take axles that are being rebuilt/refurbished to the car wash after removing as much thick crud I can scrape off. They get a heavy dose of oven cleaner and let it sit for five minutes before the blast from the car wash spray gun.

I did the same with a 4runner that I was swapping a new engine into. Loaded it onto my trailer after removing the old engine and scraping as much of the old crud/oil that I could. It sure made swapping the new engine in less tedious.

 

[MileHighRover]

Before I got a fancy parts washer, I used a plastic tub from Harbor Freight, poured a gallon of the best degreaser on earth into it (Super Clean), and topped it off with boiling water. Put all your parts into it and let them sit until the water is cooled enough that you can use gloved hands to scrub the parts with various brushes. Rinse with fresh water, blast them dry with compressed air and set them aside.

Before my bench grinder, I used an electric drill with various sized wire wheels and put it in my bench vise. Then you can use two hands to hold your parts and basically turn your drill into a small bench grinder. My drill had a trigger lock. If yours doesn't you could use a clamp or tape it in the on position.

 

[mercifiknow]

Been meaning to get me a burner plate and a metal soup pot. I’ll look for one.

 

[mercifiknow]

I have used Fluid Film, t is Lanolin based and heavier than WD-40

I used WD to keep it good

 

[jjrbus]

Being a po boy and lacking a sonic parts cleaner. I use Pine Sol and often can save it for use as soap. I would buy a parts washer but rarely use one and have no room to store. Dish washer works well also if the wife is not home.

 

[mercifiknow]

Being a po boy and lacking a sonic parts cleaner. I use Pine Sol and often can save it for use as soap. I would buy a parts washer but rarely use one and have no room to store. Dish washer works well also if the wife is not home.

I got a good deal on one and didn’t pass it up. Otherwise, I would just have one. Like you I’m cramped for space.

 

[mercifiknow]

How do you clean chrome? I’ve got a snap on tool box with a tray that has a chrome handle that needs probably re-chromed but I’m not there yet on it

 

[RedneckWelder]

Our oil drain pans build up thick layers and I mean thick layers of sludge and ****. A few gallons of diesel sitting in them for a couple of days when we happen to need to drain a fuel tank down dissolves it amazingly well.

 

[mercifiknow]

Our oil drain pans build up thick layers and I mean thick layers of sludge and ****. A few gallons of diesel sitting in them for a couple of days when we happen to need to drain a fuel tank down dissolves it amazingly well.

My dad used that to clean everything. He was a diesel mechanic in the ‘70s and early ‘80s

 

[mercifiknow]

My dad used that to clean everything. He was a diesel mechanic in the ‘70s and early ‘80s

And he used to clean everything with diesel.

 

[AldeanFan]

I prefer to spray a light coat of primer on parts that won’t be painted for a while.
I learned this working in a body shop, as soon as a panel was done we’d shoot primer on it to seal it up and stop rust. That way we didn’t have bare metal to rust or filler to absorb moisture.

Sometimes I’ll get busy and let a project sit for months. If it’s got primer on it I don’t need to worry about it rusting while sitting.

With primer you don’t have to worry about it contamination ruining your pint later like with wd40 or oil. You can always sand the primer off again.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I use vinegar in a pail for rust removal. Check on it every 6 hours or so, cheap metal will disappear...

 

[mercifiknow]

I prefer to spray a light coat of primer on parts that won’t be painted for a while.
I learned this working in a body shop, as soon as a panel was done we’d shoot primer on it to seal it up and stop rust. That way we didn’t have bare metal to rust or filler to absorb moisture.

Sometimes I’ll get busy and let a project sit for months. If it’s got primer on it I don’t need to worry about it rusting while sitting.

With primer you don’t have to worry about it contamination ruining your pint later like with wd40 or oil. You can always sand the primer off again.

That’s what I was now thinking about. I was going to get a can or two of filler primer and spray it so I don’t have to re-clean them -although it is failrly easy to clean at that point.

 

[mercifiknow]

I use vinegar in a pail for rust removal. Check on it every 6 hours or so, cheap metal will disappear...

It’s a Snap On Tool Box handle. Not worried about it disappearing. Nevertheless, I’ll still keep an I out on it.

 

[mercifiknow]

Wonder what re-chroming some like that costs?

 

[mercifiknow]

For the long pieces of my jack clean them with wire brush on a drill?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You could also try electrolysis. Baking soda in water and a battery charger. Newer chargers need a battery in line to work. I made one in a plastic tub one time. It worked well. Google it. I've read about people using above ground swimming pools and doing vehicles with a DC welder.

 

[bcschief]

Multi step process depending on the level of clean required and the part.

1 Steam Clean or hot pressure washer clean
2 After disassembly hot wash cabinet
3 Hot Tank
4 Parts washer
5 Brake clean before final assembly

 

[Cluster]

I always use straight kerosene for initial de-grease and clean of metal parts. With a cheap paint brush & toothbrush dipping it out of small tin can into drip pan.
Beauty of kerosene is that it can be throughly rinsed off with a garden hose (kerosene is partially miscible in water) ; the water will not rust even a cast iron or bare steel piece due to the thin film that remains from the kerosene.... It works surprisingly well !
Kerosene will kill your grass or plants though.