Speaking as someone who gets well paid for providing advice on lubrication, I'd just endorse the OP suggestions including Plus Gas, diesel, and ATF as good candidates, with Plus Gas as probably the best option on the grounds that it is formulated for the job.
Dexron 2 or 3 automatic transmission fluid (the red stuff) mixed with paraffin and/or white spirit 50/50 or 1:1:1 is as good as most and a lot cheaper. For your application the acetone sometimes suggested instead of paraffin will evaporate too quickly.
A separate trolley would keep it completely original including the rusted wheels :-)
Agreed.
Depending on the exact geometry of the stub axle supports, I suppose it may be possible to put each wheel in a container which can be filled up until the axle is completely submerged. If that is the case, you have access from both ends instead of one. You might find that a week in diesel or paraffin alone does the job.
Would citric acid not be better to digest the rust?
NT
I think the issue is how long it would take to get there, given the geometry. *If* I were using acid I would be inclined to use reasonably strong hydrochloric acid, taking due account of the possibility of vulnerable materials such as zinc, brass, stainless steel. I did also wonder about "electrolytic" cleaning using washing soda, but I still suspect the access would make it very slow.
We're going to end up with a Gordon Ramsey style vinagrette dressing at this rate. I've embarked on the simple approach. What I've done is, I've gone with a modified version of the 'dam' approach. To be specific, I'm using 15mm copper elbows as little wells pressed up against the rusted joints with a collar of plastecine. Then I topped up the elbows with Plus Gas. The elbows avoid the use of having to tip the whole thing over and it's easy to see when they will need further topping up and I can do all 3 wheels at once. No leaks so far; no elbows have fallen off so far, so looking good for the time being. The only snagg is, as someone else said, it would have been nice to attack the rust from both ends and halve the time involved, but there's no perfect solution here.
Welding mild steel to cast iron is a problem
Sounds pretty good to me, I like the "elbows" idea very much, but am a bit nervous that the plusgas will soften the plasticine. If it does, silicone sealant should work instead. I think time is what this needs.
The other thing which can be very effective for this general problem is to apply a bit of pressure. In my motorcycle days I had a bowden cable lubricator, basically a reservoir which could be sealed over one end of the cable, filled with oil, then pumped up with a bicycle pump. I've recovered completely rusted cables this way. Not sure if this would be an option here, but you are obviously an ingenious chap.
Well, you are correct about that. I was relieved and pleased to see that 24hrs later, none of the elbows had fallen off and the oil levels were only slightly down on yesterday. I had been worried the PG would evaporate and there'd be none left by today, but clearly it's not that volatile. However, the plasticine has softened somewhat like you say. I did try Blu-tack as well, but the PG attacked that pretty quickly and it became rapidly unusable.
Thanks! I came up with another idea today which had completely slipped my mind and no one else suggested: an improvised slide hammer. I'll knock one up once the oil has had a few more days to work and see if I can finally get some movement!
Do you think the wheels might be cast iron? I'd have thought that would be a bit too brittle for this purpose? BTW, they do make rods for mixed metals so I'm sure there'd be a type suitable for cast iron/mild steel combo...
If they are cast, I would have thought they might well be cast iron rather than steel. Ideally "white" though grey would probably be OK.
Another thought occurs to me. I wonder if the chassis is "earthed". If so, then when welding on, say, a steel boat or other structure with an inadequate earth connection, the return current could be going through the wheels and axles. Unless the wheels have rubber tyres of course.
That would create the possibility that the wheels might be welded in place. Lets hope not.
If all else fails you could give it a strap-on, ie castors on a board strapped to the thing :)
NT
Brace the inside of each side of each wheel against the bottom of a wall with a couple of stout wooden beams a couple of feet long and whack seven shades of crap out of the stub axle with a drift and a lump hammer.
Why break it when you can pickle it in situ?
NT
Pickling now over 5 days in progress.... How long do you think it should take to penetrate the whole way through 1" from the elbows I've set up? I wonder if there were some pressure behind the solvent it would drive the process faster? I'm guessing pressure behind the solvent oil plus vibration of the seized parts would get the job done at an accelerated rate?
By pickling I meant acid. I cant see any use in a long oil soak, once the oil's in there, if it doesnt work it doesnt work. And the oil now blocks anything else that doesnt eat oil.
NT
Well if they weren't welded in place they might as well have been as I still haven't been able to budge 'em a single milimetre. Despite all that extended soaking in various supposed "release agents" the blowlamps the chistles the lump and slide hammers and lastly a gear puller, I was no nearer to a result. So I've had to go for the nuclear option and have given up and cut through the stup axels with an angle grinder.I suppose if I gave a toss I could now put the wheels under a hydraulic press and see if the centres can be driven out at all. Anyway, no sign of any degree of penetration by the "release agents" (they're all rubbish in my experience and seem to rely on the parts having at least *some* limited range of movement in the first place, which wasn't the case here). So anyway, I've got myself 4 x 250kg HD castors and am constructing a dolly for the weel-less welder to sit on. This dolly will be constructed in such a way as to not only enable the welder to be moved around easily, but also any other heavy item with a similar sized footprint (I have a small 1tonne mobile crane to enable easy lifting on and off for such purposes). One plus is that the castors will be a damn site more manoeverable than the original wheels ever were, so nothing lost except loads of time, blood sweat and (almost) tears. ;-)
Ahh well, I bet the tears would've done the trick :-)
Jim K
In message , Cursitor Doom writes
snip. I told you to cut a slot in the wheels:-)
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