My new BFF - Toilet Bowl Cleaner

And don't soak your 3/8 ratchet with a pot metal reversing lever in it. You will find the lever has disappeared when you remove your now shiny ratchet from the dip tank.

MUST be done outside or where you have forced ventilation like a Chem lab hood.

 

Definitely do not use around aluminum. I just tried the stuff on some misc parts and it really cleaned them up. I didn't think about the pan I was using being aluminum. Started foaming and giving off fumes like crazy. Fortunately I had something close by to flip it over on the gravel driveway and had the garden hose handy. Be very careful with this stuff. It works amazing though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

How are you guys prepping the part after for paint? I have been using this method a lot this week and it seems like all the cleaned parts fish eye when I spray primer on them. I have cleaned the parts several different ways before spraying.

 

Haven't had that problem. Rustoleum primer seems to work well as does Krylon brown oxide primer. You've got to get the part washed off thoroughly with water first then dry. The part will flash rust quickly. I've been setting the parts on my garage heater to dry then priming immediately. works well.

 

I have 2 questions about this method of rust removal:

Is a rinse of water is all that is needed to neutralize and remove the TBC?

Could the TBC be brushed onto to larger parts or does the part need to be totally submerged to work?

I have some small parts to try this on but it would be awesome if it works for larger parts as well.

 

I've just been rinsing in water very thoroughly then immediately drying. It will flash rust quickly. Haven't had any issues doing it this way. With heavy rust submerging works best by far. I've poured some on some parts and it dissolved the light surface rust but not the heavier stuff. Ended up submerging the part anyway. One thing I've found, it will remove all the rust and can leave pits behind so beware. It doesn't convert it, it eats it. It's not good at removing grease, paint, etc. either but it's not meant for that. You do need to degrease the parts thoroughly first. It will soften paint enough to scrape it off. I've found "boiling" the parts in an old crock pot with some cleaner first works well for this as that also softens the paint so it can be scraped off. Then into the cauldron it goes. The toilet bowl cleaner definitely loses its potency the more times it's used. I've been experimenting with how many times I can re-use it.
So far I've done a steering box mount, some old rusty engine lift chains, nuts and bolts, shock mounts, etc. and it's worked great on all of them.
I bought about 8 bottles and a small bucket from the Dollar Tree the other day. The gal at the counter looked at me funny when I put it all on the counter. I explained what I was doing so she didn't think I was making a bomb or something. She laughed and said it did make her curious....

 

While you are at the Dollar Store, pick up some cheap "Totes" - different sized plastic containers - to be used specifically for cleaning parts. After the TBC soak, I have another tote setup as a Baking Soda bath - to neutralize the acid in the cleaner. Then dry as fast as possible and WD-40 to stop the flash rust. Like NickMil said, TBC looses its potency after a while, but its pretty cheap.

I've thought about getting a hot plate or maybe wheel the old B-B-Q grille down to the shed. Put a big pot (like a turkey fryer) on it - to boil parts & stuff in... (a little bit of distance from the shed I've seen threads where cycle guys use boiling water with Tide in it to clean old carbs. The pics show it does a great job on aluminum and smells good too! I may try this.

Luckily, I live way out in the woods and Sandhill Mike is the closest neighbor. He doesn't complain much...

49T&C