I've been in the process of restoring my suspension on my A12. This is the first time I've really tried to do a more authentic resto than just POR paint and rattle cans.

I cleaned/blasted my LCA's then painted them with Seymours Stainless steal paint. (i know, its rattle can!) Then found this product called Weathershed that is cosmoline in a can. I sprayed for about a week 2-3X a day with letting it dry in between. 1 can did both arms.

Tell me what you think. Still have paint daubs to go.

The struts were rusty as usual and I soaked them in a 2" pipe filled with Evapo-rust. Man that is some impressive stuff. They look like new and only soaked for a day. I took them out and scrubbed them with a plastic bristle brush a few times during the soak.

I found these products by accident online. To buy direct, I had to buy a case of 12, but they allowed me to mix and match.

The "cosmoline" is actually a penetrating oil.

The "rust veto" is a dry film protectant. Like MP50.

The "weather shed" is the cosmoline like we all look for. A heavy wax base product.

Cost with shipping was about $7.00 a can.

Looks great.. Much better than mine.. If I was going to do it over again, I would have done it straight from this stuff.. Have a can, but didn't have the patience...

Look forward in seeing your next step...

I soaked these parts in Saferustremovel.com's product and I have to say I was again impressed with the results. These were just a little cruddy and had surface rust. A soak for about 3 hours had them all cleaned up.

I sprayed Rust Veto on them to keep them from flashing.

after soak.

I ordered the saferustremover, then, by chance, I was at Harbor Freight and they had Evapo-rust. So I decided to do some experimenting.

I think the evapo rust is a little more aggressive and I soaked my struts and drag link in it. In the end, I think they both work well.

Since Saferustremover is "green", I ordered more to soak me brake pedal assembly and Ebrake assemly in.

looks good, keep posting please.

Tav

Chris..
Great information and good idea on the e-brake mechanism and pedal assembly. I'm in need of addressing these soon on my '68 to get them back in the car...

I really can't tell. Both say they are biodegradable and non toxic. The Evapo Rust has a bit of a chemical smell. Maybe its so people can tell your not suppose to drink it. The other stuff is oderless and colorless. From what I can tell, they both work equally well.

Here is my drag link before and after as well as a side by side comparison on some door hardware.

just pulled it out after work today. Its basically been in for 24 hours. I think it was OK to take out this morning, but didn't have time.

how often do you need to use fresh solvent?

Do you think its safe to be submerging the tie rod ends?

one more. The tie rod ends are the originals with the factory knock of zerks.

I think the tie rod ends will be fine. One of them is bad and needs replaced. I have noticed that the solution had alot of grease in it. I used a whole gallon to do these and am soaking more right now. Its pretty dirty, so I think you should spend quit a bit of time cleaning with Mean Green (i get at the dollar general along with $1 cans of oven cleaner). I didn't get the tie rod end sleeves clean enough before derusting.

This is what I have soaking now.

and these....

The directions say keep reusing it until the activation power is lost.

I thought about using muratic acid thats diluted, but its some pretty nasty stuff.

my rusty assembly...after tear down.

I find this interesting I've never really heard of this stuff before. I've used muratic acid with great results, but if the parts are not attended t right away they will flash rust pretty quick.

Two Questions:

What do you rinse the parts with after soaking?

Will the parts flash rust?

Parts will flash right away. The pics I took after work today were basically flash rusting during the pics.

I neutralized with water and let dry. The wind is blowing at about 40mph right now, so it was a quick air dry.

I followed up by using the Rust Veto. If I need to paint later on or something, I can resubmerge or clean off the Rust Veto with lacquer thinner.