electrolysis

I had a few pieces on the FJ that were really rusty, but the rust appeared to be on the surface of the piece. I have read about the use of electrolysis many times for rust removal, but had never actually given it a try. I decided, this week, that I'd give it a try and see if I could refurbish these parts without standing at the sandblaster for an hour or two. I highly recommend the video that Keith Rucker made on the subject of electrolysis. Keith creates some excellent videos and I recommend subscribing to his You Tube channel. 

I ended up using an empty investment bucket for my solution. I took a couple pieces of steel angle and plate and wrapped some annealed steel wire through holes in the pieces and then wired these together for my anode (positive).  Then I wired up the rusty piece as the cathode (negative) and then placed it in the dissolved Washing Soda solution. I believe I probably had about a cup and half of washing soda and five gallons of water in the bucket. I set up the rectifier and dialed it to 12 volts and then walked away for six hours. I came back to the picture you see above. The rust has been converted and it's easy to scrub off the black oxide with a brush and water. Now my parts are ready for paint. Easy peasy!