Morris Minor Owners Club

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I have been trying out electrolysis to derust steel parts, this was my first attempt. I read about it on a kit car forum, but I thought some people here might be interested, as I think it has worked quite well. The pictures are of the same washer, before and after 1 hour in a home made electrolysis tank. What do people think?
Tim

Was that done like this by any chance?

I've seen it mentioned before, and always wondered just how quick/ good it was for smaller bits (cause the chances of me making a tank big enough for a shell are limited!).

Looks like it's worth a try at some point

I've never heard of this for cleaning parts. I usually use a wire brush, which can be fiddle with small parts.

yup, similar to the article Packedup mentioned. its definately worth a try!! doing a whole shell may be difficult, but its really good for small parts. Ill post some hints and tips once ive done a few other bits and pieces.
Tim

I've used electrolysis on old tools and it worked really well. It did leave a black powdery residue (which wiped off) but might be hard to remove in tight spots.

Apparantly molasses works well too - leave the part in overnight and rinse well in the morning.

Just use phosphoric acid (Jenolite/Kurust etc). The process above may 'clean' the part - but does nothing to stop it rusting again !

There are specialists who will clean a whole shell by this method as well as parts.. There was one at the Racing car show in february. Surface Processing on 01384 242010

Changing your car from positive earth to negative earth reduces chassis rust by the same principle.

On a related subject. Contact breaker points used to be of equal size, but they now all have a smaller contact on the cam. I noticed when I changed to -ve earth that the pitting reversed and the larger contact has now started to pit. I suspect the 'new' points are better suited to -ve earth applications.