Think I will experiment with molasses

[lavron]

so if you ever have a troublesome possum......

I think they have learned around here you don't eat the strawberries they are lethal

I just wired brushed mine sprayed with degreaser, and used paint prep. Working great thus far.
Another trick is on an aluminum intake, degreaser it and then go get etching mag wheel cleaner. Spray it on and scrub then rinse. Looks like it came right out of the box.

I just ordered some POR15 degreaser and metal prep, I found my bottle of Purple Power that I use to clean up grease and oil off the garage floor and used it on the block today, it worked pretty good, the POR degreaser is better stuff but don't get it on your skin because it degreases you as well, I wonder what it would do to my fat belly?

I was looking for mag wheel cleaner when I cleaned up the timing chain cover but couldn't find it (like a lot of stuff I have) I found the Mothers polish instead, that is why my cover came out so shiny really didn't want it that shiny but..oh well it doesn't show too much anyway.

I wish I had a bead blast cabinet so I could bead blast that stuff but I would probably end up ruining more stuff than cleaning it up.

Another question for anyone who might know, I think I am, more than likely, be modifying my oil pan into a rear sump because I can't seem to find a Fox body pan and pickup, which I don't think will be a big deal, but my question is about oil pickup tube, I am guessing I am going to have to find someone who can TIG weld to make me a new one, I only have my cheapie MIG. I might start looking for a long pickup to modify off of something else, I even wonder if something else will bolt right to the oil pump because most I have seen all look the same.

See Ya,
Mike

[BJB]

possums love it and are likely to get stuck and drown in it

The ones around here mostly suffer from lead poisoning if I see them

See Ya,
Mike

Our possums are a tad different to yours

Brush tail and ring tail species....

[lavron]

Our possums are a tad different to yours

I pretty much figured so your's are a bit more handsome than ours.

See Ya,
Mike

[Matty]

Mike I live in Springfield, Mo. I noticed you live in the ozarks also. Not sure how far away you are but I converted a explorer 5.0 to a front sump for my car. I did have an old one laying around. Not sure if it's still there but you could have it if you can use it. Not sure what your build requires but mine required the front sump.

[lavron]

Matt, I am not too far away, 75 miles north, however I am looking for the 200 L6 (3.3L) rear sump pan and pickup, it would have been out of cars like the fox body 79-82 Mustang/Capri or 81-82 Granda etc.

My choice if I can't find one is to cut up my current pan and make it rear sump but getting my hands on the Fox body pan would be a bolt on, I really haven't looked to hard for one but was surprised there was no aftermarket pan available when you can still get the front sump pans, of course front sumps are what most people need.

I need to travel down to Stutesman salvage yard some day, that is where I got the bulk of my stuff back in the day when I was wrenching on the car the first time. I understand there is a pick and pull in Springfield now as well but don't know how old of cars they might have.

Still considering an 8.8 Explorer rear if I can find one with at least 3.75 gears, trac lock, and disc brakes and they are short enough or I can have it shortened to the length I need (that has to happen with my 8" if I use it anyway as well)

Thanks for the offer I appreciate it all the same

See Ya,
Mike

[Matty]

Got ya. Pick n pull doesn't have much older stuff but buddys has some. Most awd explorers used 373 gears as far as I know. That's what I used. Worked great. They're 60 inches flange to flange and have an offset pinion. I narrowed and centered mine to 54". I paid $125 for mine. Pretty cheap build.

[lavron]

Ok I finally got something to test molasses on, I have no doubt it work but want to see it myself

I have the brake caliper brackets off the 8.8 and 3 (I have one extra) emergency brake levers that 2 are frozen solid together, a gallon jug of feed grade molasses, a bucket (suggestion, don't use an old plastic bucket that has been sitting behind the shed for the last few months), bucket lid, concrete block and some hanging wire.



Good and rusty

I added a little water to the bucket and poured about 1/2 gallon of molasses in, stirred it a little with a stick, added my parts with hanging wires (more pulling wires so I don't have to fish), finished filling the bucket with water to cover the parts well, put the lid on the best I could with wire hanging out, tried to pick the bucket up by the edge because the handle was under the hanging wires, old UV weakened bucket broke the edge ribs I was gripping about the time I got it a foot or so off the ground causing the bucket to slam down hard (sit quickly is closer to what happened) that cause the bottom of the bucket to split open draining all my water and molasses out onto the driveway



The next step you won't have to do if you learned from my mistake of using an old brittle bucket; go back behind the shed and dig one out that looks better (not heeding my own advice here), sit it just inside the shed (in case of any further spillage) repeat the steps above except don't lift the bucket, snap on lid, sit block on lid to deter varmints (of course they already have some to lick off the ground) and now wait two or three weeks to see how well it works



I will pull them out was the appointed time and hose them down and post new pictures of the results so we can compare.

See Ya,
Mike

[popscomet]

BE SURE AND TELL HOW CLEAN YOUR DRIVE-way gets pop

[lavron]

BE SURE AND TELL HOW CLEAN YOUR DRIVE-way gets

Might get licked clean

See ya,
Mike

[popscomet]

BE SURE AND TELL HOW CLEAN YOUR DRIVE-way gets

Might get licked clean

See ya,
Mike

and a drive way full of piss ants....

[lavron]

I may have to rent an aardvark

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

12 days in, this would be around half way through the process, I pulled them out and sprayed them off with the hose.

First the bucket with molasses, yes it is nasty and I can confirm it does not smell all that pleasant, however it does not smell of chemicals.


These are the E-brake levers, they look like the one on the left and I did not try to separate them, just rinsed them with the hose, it is still stuck together just don't know how tightly, the one on the right I have brushed it a little with the wire brush and rinsed it, the other half fell off into the bucket, there are now 3 parts in the bottom of the bucket that I will retrieve later. (sorry about the fuzzy pictures it was hard to see my phone screen in the bright sunlight)


And finally the brake brackets, the one on the top is how they looked when they came out and the bottom one shows after I rinsed them with the hose.


Everything went back in the bucket and I will check them again in a week or two, I added just a little more molasses because I really did not have a full 1/2 gallon in there, but don't know how necessary it was because it appears to be working fine.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

BE SURE AND TELL HOW CLEAN YOUR DRIVE-way gets pop

Oh yeah, no ill affects from the spill, had a good rain after that and you can't tell it ever happened, no ant either, and so far no ants around the bucket.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

As a second experiment, and based off my results so far, I decided to put some brake backing plates in molasses, in the name of science I decided to leave the grease and dirt on the two that I just got a couple of weeks ago, it looks like there was some leakage in the wheel bearings on it. Curious to see how it will be affected if at all.

I had to use an old Rubbermaid 30 gal. trashcan and only filled it partway up because a 5 gal. bucket was too small of diameter for them to fit.



Even though I don't intend to use them (new are too cheap) I dropped the rotors in to see how they would come out Because they are not all that rusty.



Thought they would be a good example of de-rusting something similar if you had no choice.

See Ya,
Mike

[lavron]

3 Weeks in, I pulled the parts out of the molasses again today, gave them a quick scrub with a little wire brush and hosed them off, I went ahead and fished the parts from the bottom of the bucket with a magnet.



I went ahead and put them back in for another week, the little E-brake brackets are still stuck/rusted together so it has not been able to free them yet, next week I may tap on them with a hammer, I think the brackets will be good enough by then and I could even hit them with a wire wheel if I need too then. The black you see on the brackets is paint I believe (around the hub).

It does work but you can't be in a hurry, however there is not a lot of effort required just waiting for the process to complete.

See Ya,
Mike