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.