Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
I am after anyone who has tips of natural easy ways to remove rust and paint from morris minors. I know sanding and angle grinder is the messy and back breaking way to do it but I have read a lot about coating bodywork with various rust removal products and some natural one's like molasses or citric acid.

If anyone has tried anything let me know, if i'm wasting my time then I will get sanding soon and start with the bonnet as it easily comes off and can be "tested" on

Also I plan to have a bucket of some liquid where i can put in parts like brake drums so they can de-rust. What should i pour in there?

There are no short cuts - you must remove the rust/rot - and then paint with phosphoric acid to 'kill' the rust. There are 'electric' methods to de-rust parts like brake drums etc - search the forum!!

Hi,

Noisy and time consuming i'm afraid. My favourite method was polycarbide stripping wheels on an angle grinder, but the cost soon mounts up as does guilt because of the noise. I struck a deal with a body shop to sandblast some of the larger panels, but if you do this, make sure they have experience of blasting classic cars. Too aggressive blasting can warp/ overheat and wreck panels easily - shop around.

If you fancy something a little different and you have a huge compressor, try googling 'diy soda blaster'. I've cleaned small metal parts this way, its messy but dissolves with water afterwards. Without big kit this is likley to be unworkable other than for carbs and detailing etc but for small bits its unbeatable as there is no errosion of the surface. Useless on rust though.

For treating rusty parts i really like http://www.bilthamber.com/corrosion-treatments/deox-c its a powder, makes about 20 lites of solution and an overnight soak will do wonders even on heavy rust. Its biodegadeable and non toxic. I know its sucking eggs, but most parts are cheap, so dont try to salvage the bits that do important things, unless you're sure its only superficial. Also if you take paint off have a plan in place to get it protected asap, otherwise your efforts could be wasted.

Good luck and do a sense check to decide if you actually need to get back to the metal in the first place.

we've tried the molasses.(about 1 part to 9 water) Its good on the surface rusty stuff and is great on stuff a bit delicate to use a wire brush on. It takes it back to bare metal, but doesnt remove sound paint or work if its greasy or oily. Great on wheel rims and brake drums. Youve got to leave it in a container of the stuff for at least 2 weeks then power wash it off. You need then need to dry it and paint it fairly quickly as itll start rusting again.

ok i will get the primer ready and am willing to give the mollasses a try. I have also seen a receipe for white vinegar poured on-to the rust then rub with aluminium foil and clean it down.