Hi, been lurking here a while now but this is my 1st post. I wanted to wait unitl I had something possibly useful to say.
First a little about me, I like my retro stuff and especially Fords, don't have one at the moment but have a serious hankering after a MK2 Cortina that I can't seem to shake. Current vehicles are '78 MG BGT, '91 TVR 290S and '99 Renault van hack (less said about that the better).
Ok, onto the possibly useful stuff, i have posted this on Pistonheads (hope that's not swearing here) before but thought it worthy of being here too.
The story:
I picked up a pair of brake calipers, earlier in the week, that had been on a mondeo circa 14yrs. Plan is to fit em with 260mm discs, as my discs and pads are shot I thought I might aswell upgrade.
Now I am not a clean freak but thought they could do with a clean and paint. Also not being one to try and find the hardest way to do things I didn't fancy hours of scraping and wire brushing. I do have access to a blasting cabinet but didn't fancy that idea either for various reasons. So a little research online shows this method and I have to say I am really pleased with the results. This is the method that uses nothing more than soda crystals from the supermarket, water, car battery charger and some scrap steel or iron. I tested the method first on the caliper sliders one afternoon and then impressed by the results did the full clean below.
Please note: I had never done this before and was a little sceptical, just gave it a go to test it out, judge for yourselves.
The Calipers.
These have been in a parts washer to remove brake dust and general crud but are basically as one would expect 14yr old calipers to be.
Here are the same calipers having been left in the tank overnight. When I lifted them out it was evident that most of the corrosion had already come off and what was left was very loose and flaky. It could be rubbed off with a finger in some cases. So after a quick scratch into the corners with a screwdriver and 5 mins with the wire brush here are the results.
Have to say, I am very happy with them and would recommend anyone with rusty componants give this a go. Bit of paint on these and they will look like new.
The other great thing about this method is that it does not affect the good base metal in any way unlike abrasive cleaning. Obviously if the base metal is severly rotten or pitted this is going to highlight the problem but for heavy items this is a great method.
I now know how the front wishbones will be getting cleaned up once they are off.
Appologies for the long first post but hope somebody finds it useful.
Carl.
First a little about me, I like my retro stuff and especially Fords, don't have one at the moment but have a serious hankering after a MK2 Cortina that I can't seem to shake. Current vehicles are '78 MG BGT, '91 TVR 290S and '99 Renault van hack (less said about that the better).
Ok, onto the possibly useful stuff, i have posted this on Pistonheads (hope that's not swearing here) before but thought it worthy of being here too.
The story:
I picked up a pair of brake calipers, earlier in the week, that had been on a mondeo circa 14yrs. Plan is to fit em with 260mm discs, as my discs and pads are shot I thought I might aswell upgrade.
Now I am not a clean freak but thought they could do with a clean and paint. Also not being one to try and find the hardest way to do things I didn't fancy hours of scraping and wire brushing. I do have access to a blasting cabinet but didn't fancy that idea either for various reasons. So a little research online shows this method and I have to say I am really pleased with the results. This is the method that uses nothing more than soda crystals from the supermarket, water, car battery charger and some scrap steel or iron. I tested the method first on the caliper sliders one afternoon and then impressed by the results did the full clean below.
Please note: I had never done this before and was a little sceptical, just gave it a go to test it out, judge for yourselves.
The Calipers.
These have been in a parts washer to remove brake dust and general crud but are basically as one would expect 14yr old calipers to be.
Here are the same calipers having been left in the tank overnight. When I lifted them out it was evident that most of the corrosion had already come off and what was left was very loose and flaky. It could be rubbed off with a finger in some cases. So after a quick scratch into the corners with a screwdriver and 5 mins with the wire brush here are the results.
Have to say, I am very happy with them and would recommend anyone with rusty componants give this a go. Bit of paint on these and they will look like new.
The other great thing about this method is that it does not affect the good base metal in any way unlike abrasive cleaning. Obviously if the base metal is severly rotten or pitted this is going to highlight the problem but for heavy items this is a great method.
I now know how the front wishbones will be getting cleaned up once they are off.
Appologies for the long first post but hope somebody finds it useful.
Carl.
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