Rust Removal on Small Parts

[radare]

One of the things I often have to do on my XJ is remove rust/corrosion from used parts before reconditioning them. For small things, like bearing spacers, speedometer drives, etc, I soak them in a bowl with Phosphoric Acid. The acid removes the rust and leaves a nice bare-metal part which is easily painted or coated.

It also works well as a soak to remove the rust from inside gas tanks. Seal up the tank, pour it in through the filler cap and seal the tank. Slosh the acid around, occasionally, over about 30 minutes. Drain the acid, rinse the tank with alcohol and coat it with WD-40 to prevent flash rusting. Note; this will likely discolor the paint so I'd recommend doing this on a tank BEFORE painting it.

You can find it at Home Depot in the paint section (with the paint thinners, mineral spirits, etc). It's sold as Phosphoric Prep & Etch and runs about $15 a gallon.