General Geoff
Well-known member
I just got my motorcycle running again, and decided to replace most of the front & rear suspension. I began to regret the idea once I popped the chrome caps off the front fork cap bolts.
So with some trepidation, I hit them with penetrating oil a few times over a few days, then got them out with an impact.
The threads were fine, so instead of spending close to $100 on two new ones, I decided to refurbish these as best I could. Enter: Evapo-Rust. I put the two super rusty/pitted cap bolts into a small glass jar and poured enough Evapo-Rust in to completely submerge the bolts. I put the lid on the jar and then put it under a 60W incandescent lamp to keep the temp around 85F (I've been told the stuff catalyzes better at slightly above room temp). Left it for ~36 hours and came back to it. End result:
The pitting on the faces is still there, but darned if it didn't remove every speck of rust. I took a wire wheel to the O-ring channel just to ensure smoothness, then put it all back together and it's working just fine. Saved a bundle of money.
So with some trepidation, I hit them with penetrating oil a few times over a few days, then got them out with an impact.
The threads were fine, so instead of spending close to $100 on two new ones, I decided to refurbish these as best I could. Enter: Evapo-Rust. I put the two super rusty/pitted cap bolts into a small glass jar and poured enough Evapo-Rust in to completely submerge the bolts. I put the lid on the jar and then put it under a 60W incandescent lamp to keep the temp around 85F (I've been told the stuff catalyzes better at slightly above room temp). Left it for ~36 hours and came back to it. End result:
The pitting on the faces is still there, but darned if it didn't remove every speck of rust. I took a wire wheel to the O-ring channel just to ensure smoothness, then put it all back together and it's working just fine. Saved a bundle of money.
