[slow-poke]

I am upgrading to 31 spline axles. While I'm at it I decided to pull my 9" housing for a thorough clean up and fresh coat of paint.

What is the best method for removing rust/paint from an old housing? sand-Blast or some type of acid bath?

When I originally pulled it out of a 76 Lincoln back in the late 80's it was completely covered in rust, at that time I used a angle grinder with sandpaper to get rid of most of the rust, and then painted it with black rust paint. Not a great way to do it, I was caughing out rust for a week.

 

[dmbrummwtt]

I used oven cleaner on mine. I don't know how well it works on rust, but it takes off all the paint and grease. I used the cheap store brand oven cleaner, let it soak about an hour, then used a high pressure sprayer. It came out looking almost new.

 

[tonys10sec306]

both should do the job good. you could even use paint striper

 

[v8shadow]

I advocate sandblasting for removal of everything. There is no question that when you have sandblasted, it is clean. It is easy to see places you missed. If you have a good compressor, get the portable sandblasting reservior at any sears or whatever. Go someplace in the yard that the blasting media wont disturb anything and have at it. If it were me, I would wear my resperator (not a dust mask, but a full face respirator with filters) and go out to the shed in the back yard. Heck, put some plastic on the floor of the shed and you could probably reuse some of the dispelled media. Where would you go for the acid bath anyway??

_________________
KEN
Factory 65 Galaxie 500 390/4v
79 Mercury Marquis 351w/2v daily driver

No matter how complicated something is or seems, always start with the simple basics then work your way to the rocket science !!!
Me

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: v8shadow on 3/20/06 9:43am ]</font>

 

[107485]

not to steel the thread but i have a spare 8in complete, it has thick gewey fliud in it(just a little) and i want to know how to clean ot lube or preserve the innards, i was thinking of putting one end stood up in a bucket and filling it with a solvent and turning the differential to clean it..then some sort of lube flush. any ideas? or i could just pull the pumkin!

 

[thekingofazle]

I used a wire wheel on a grinder - worked great, paint looks perfectly smooth. I primed it first to give the paint something to bite to though.

 

[dbiscayne]

sandblast for me. I picked up the 40 gallon pressurized blasting set up from harbor freight, works really good but it burns up the shut off valve at the end after about 6 bags of sand, a $4 from the hardware store. now all my friends want to come over and use it for their stuff.

 

[MHumpy]

Just remember you guys who like to do it yourself with sandblasting, wear a respirator!! Not just a dust mask!! The dust from the sand gets into the lungs ans does some seriously nasty things to you (from what I am told, very similar to the effects of asbestos!)...always protect yourself with proper eqiupment.
Aside from that, have at it...it's easy enough to do, a little messy on cleaning up afterwards if you don't prepare for it

.
Mike

 

[psivory]

This housing came out of a junkyard. I used engine brite, ss brush, and green scouring pads to clean and then painted.

 

[mavman]

dang right. If you blast it, wear a respirator! Silicosis is a nasty thing to have...ask me how I know.

I would blast it. It comes out perfectly clean after blasting it and its ready for paint/primer/powder coating.

 

[dirtball]

you could also get a kids plastic wading pool and do the old electrolisisissiis (sorry, I remember how to start spelling it but can never remember how to quit) trick with baking soda, an annode, an old battery charger and a chunk of stainless steel. Gets it as clean as sandblasting (although it takes a few days - you can leave it sit and do other things) without nasty airborne particles polluting your lungs.

 

[slow-poke]

Electrolysys, now that sounds interesting, can you give a few more details????