Sunday, January 5, 2020

1987 Trek 520 Frame Rust removal part I


One thing I knew I would have to deal with for the 520 was rust, even before I stripped it down I knew there was rust on the drops, chainstays, in paint chips and in the rack holes in the fork.  One concern I had was with the outside evidence of rust how much might be inside the tubes.


To deal with possible interal rust in addition to the outside stuff I decided on an oxalic acid bath, however I don't have room for a kiddie pool and its not summer anymore.  I have read you need mild temperatures for an effective rust bath so what to do?  I went to Home Deport and bought a resin planter box for $10, as a planter of course it has holes for drainage so not ideal but it was most of what I needed.



I taped the bottom of the planter box with duct tape and then used a cheap mylar emergency blanket, doubled, to line the inside,   It ended up keeping the tub water proof.


Ideally you would do this outside but I did have the tub to contain everything and a bathroom fan for ventilation.  I ended up using about 3 teaspoons of powdered "wood bleach" to every gallon of water.  The results as you will see were good but not great, hence the part I of derustifcation.


BB just after I stripped the frame, pretty rusty.


BB after about 2 hours total in the bath, better but not complete.


Clean drop out pretty much rust free


The other drop still showing some rust.


One shifter boss -still rusty.


The other is fine,


Chain stays underside -before


After -one side completely clean and the other not so much.


still some rust


On the numerous paint chips it mostly did a great job but there are few with a bit of rust still.  I need to think about how to deal with those once the rust removal is done, since I suck at paint match and I don't have the $$ to go to an auto paint place to have them match it for me I will probably do the clear nail polish and then multiple coats of wax option.



Part II of this process will be to wait for a clear day and then take the frame and fork out on the porch for a dose of Naval jelly.  And the BB will probably also get a session with the brass wire brush.  I am still happy I did the rust bath despite the imperfect results, it did most of the work and I have to think it helped with any rust inside the tubes.  One drawback of the trough is that I could do the down tube, top tube and stays but not the seat tube, however I can get a portion of the ST with my brake hone.  The final step will be using frame saver and then I can move onto other parts of the rebuild.

Ride. Kill Rust, Smile Repeat.

3 comments:

  1. Nice idea with the planter box, Ryan. Way to maximize space and minimize product waste.

    I've been stepping away from oxalic acid because I've found that, although it removes rust, it has caused decals to haze over and loose their vividness. Basically, bleaching them. Not sure if this happened to you or if it is a case by case basis in terms of decal quality each manufacturer used.

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    1. GTK this is my first time doing the oxalic acid bath for a frame but I didn't notice any hazing of the frame the decals weren't submerged for more than an hour.

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