Joe,
I think you would find additional benefit from longer application. I have soaked old kinda crusty Nuovo record for a day or so and eventually all the rust comes off. I haven't seen any harm to the chrome. For frames, I wonder if one of those wallpaper soaking tray would allow you to pour in most of the gallon and suspend the frame in the solution one tube at a time (haven't tried it yet).
Doug Van Cleve Chandler, Az
On 7/7/06, Joseph Bender-Zanoni <joebz@optonline.net> wrote:
> I am currently very excited about Evapo-Rust. It is a very safe
> substance that bonds with the iron oxide using chelation or some such
> mumbo jumbo and takes it off.
>
> I had the great luck to buy an all chrome plated 1937 Maurice Selbach
> track bike at the Cirque. It must have had wonderful chrome at the time
> but it, like any chromed frame of this age, has issues now. So first I
> applied a thorough coating of Peter Weigel's Framesaver on the inside.
> There is no substitute, it is perfect. Then I did a light going over
> with extra fine steel wool. The Evapo-Rust specifies immersing the part
> and that was not feasible due to the cost etc. So I swaddled the frame
> in paper towels soaked in the stuff and covered that with a layer of
> plastic wrap and left it overnight. The result was no miracle, but it
> did take off a fair amount of of rust in a very benign way. It also left
> a dark finish on the bare steel areas and supposedly it provides ongoing
> protection. This is not a zinc "conversion" finish and has nothing to
> do with acids. My experience with naval jelly etc. has never been good
> and I suspect any acid does more harm than good.
>
> How benign is it? My dopy cat snuck a big drink from the bowl as I
> worked. I frantically checked the bottle which declared it was non-toxic
> and didn't even have a warning about ingesting it. The cat is as perky
> as ever. I think the best thing about Evapo-Rust is that you get some
> improvement and do no harm to the frame or the various mammals around
> it, including yourself.
>
> As to Tod's problem, that sounds pretty bad. Maybe it is ok if around
> the seat lug but I think anything else is a very tough repair. I
> suppose there were old school types who would split a tube with the
> right ID and braze on a sleeve to reinforce corrosion like that. I don't
> think there is any need to worry about the lug, just the tube and
> especially the tube at the lug interface.
>
> Joe Bender-Zanoni
> Great Notch, NJ
>
> TODDCIRELLI@aol.com wrote:
> > Question for the group- what would be the most effective way to restore a
> > bike frame that has been exposed to the elements and is rusting? Ninety-nine
> > percent of the frame is solid, but one area in particular, at a tube junction-
> > around and on a lug, is rusted to the point of pitting/lost metal at the
> > point of the lug. There is also significant bubbling.
> >
> > Is this something that can be repaired? Re-brazed?
> >
> > Please advise.
> >
> > Todd Cirelli
> > Mechanicsburg, PA