Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Oh! I didn't know you were cleaning those...

Next time, try Electrolysis.

Suspend the part in a tub of water and 1/4 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda.

Hook the + of a battery charger to some clean scrap iron suspended in the solution.

Hook the - of the battery charger to the part.

Turn on the charger, and walk away.

Come back later and it will be clean, gray, cast iron, ready for header paint.

Quick and dirty video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqTID6rQ5JA

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I'm impressed how things clean up with mineral spirits really.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

You know I have tried it in the past and maybe I did something wrong cause although it was working it seemed like it would take years to remove all the rust. Like I said earlier I am not really cleaning the manifolds nor painting them I am going to swap them out for some long tube headers.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yes sir, you and me both, took me 20 years to discover this gem, and many $$$ spent on wanna be cleaning products, Simple Green, Purple Power, Orange what ever, seems like anything with a color name in it sucks, LOL

Re: Restoring Rusty - Quick Lighting Fix
 

frustrated with poor lighting in my garage I finally came up with a quick fix

the problem was that I like to work with the garage door opened, well as you may know when the door is open it cover my florescent light bars so the light don't shine, so solution zip tie a 4 foot light to the hood, done and done

Re: Restoring Rusty - Makes fer a quick clean up.
 

First of all, who am I to give advice, right?! lol, jk

But in case you don't like oil and grime on your (/your wives) garage floor, here's what works for me

I bought one of these 3 foot wide and 50 foot long rolls of 4 mil plastic that painters use (the 4 mil is pretty thick so I like it, it don't tear like the thin ceran wrap junk)

Anytime I work on the truck I roll out about 4 feet of it and use scissors to cut off a piece, then I slide it under the truck, at 3 foot wide it feels nicely between the wheels even with the car not off the ground, after I am done with the job I just fold it up and stick it in the trash

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

New Years Day two thousand fifteen, Captains Log day 116

9:00 am 30* inside a cold dark garage...

just a man in his favorite blue jeans and dirty ol' sweatshirt (ok, long johns, three T shirts underneath and two pairs of socks, geez, don't judge me - it's California in the winter)

having degreased the driver side it is time to do the same on the passenger side

Re: Restoring Rusty - Reading Exhaust Manifold Bolts
 

looking for the Bolt Whisperer?

I know you read spark plugs but I'm not sure if you can read bolts, exhaust manifold bolts for that matter

anyway, if you don't own one of these magnetic chrome trays I strongly recommend one for storing all your loose nuts and bolts during the disassembly process

so from the rear to the front of the cylinder head, the bolts around #8 were black and wet, the bolts around #6 & #4 were semi black and wet, and the last two bolts around #2 were dry, so what, so what does that mean?

my guess oil from the rocker cover gasket area leaking and seeping down and around the exhaust manifold, but that's just a guess

Re: Restoring Rusty - Exhaust Heat Shields
 

pics of the two heat shields from the passenger side and all four together just because

the one in the upper right hand corner I tried to clean up a bit with Mineral Spirits

Re: Restoring Rusty - What are these for?
 

can somebody tell me what are these do dads for, other than adding a step in order to remove the exhaust manifold bolts by having to reach for a flat screw driver to bend these tabs back in order to ... wait a minute is that what these are for, to prevent the bolts from wiggling out?!

Re: Restoring Rusty - Passenger Side Exhaust Manifold
 

and here is what the passenger side (right side) exhaust manifold looks like

again, same as with the other side (driver side) note the pesky air tubes sticking out of the ports

Re: Restoring Rusty - Manifold vs Header
 

here is the passenger side (right side) manifold compared to the Hedman Hedder, again I don't think this header will fit in my truck, this is just for size/shape comparison

Re: Restoring Rusty - Air Tubes Removed
 

and removed the air tubes out of this one as well, hope this shows you an extra step to take for those of you guys out there deleting the A.I.R. system by simply removing the outside tubes and plugging the holes with those brass plugs - I believe this will improve exhaust flow and is worth doing

Re: Restoring Rusty - What are these for?
 

Yes. A form of "lock washer." Once you get the headers on, you'll wish you had those.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Looking good. So what is your method with the mineral spirits? Do you spray it on? Wipe on or another method. I'm curious. I am impressed how clean it gets things. Keep on keeping man.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Simple, a can of Mineral Spirits, roll of paper towels, putty knife or flat screw driver and some small cheap brushes (nylon, brass, steel set), fine steel wool (optional).

Step 1 - use putty knife (plastic or metal) to scrape off big pieces of gunk, dirt, or grime. Use plastic one if you don't want to scratch the paint, use metal if you plan on repainting or if the surface can handle it.

Step 2 - Take paper towel fold it into a 3inch by 3 inch square and soak it with the fluid. Then unfold the towel and fold it just once and start wiping. Get the area wet, the first towel is not so much to wipe things off as it is to get the area wet. THROW DIRTY TOWEL AWAY do not reuse.

Step 3 - Use brushes to loosen hard to get off dirt. You can use a spray paint cap/lid as a cup to poor some fluid in to dip your brush. You can exchange brushes for steel wool as you progress as the area gets cleaner.

Step 4 - Get new paper towel, a dry one and wipe away what will come off. THROW DIRTY TOWEL AWAY do not reuse.

Step 5 - Repeat 2-4

important, start in the worst part, the dirties place or the one most difficult to reach and work out of that zone, also take a break, cleaning sucks, walk away or better yet finish the job the next day or the following weekend

I don't know how the pros do it, but this works for me.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Kinda like a parts washer, without the parts washer....

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Thanks. That helps. I've got tons of cleaning in my future.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Would you mind posting the part#?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Dang you like it that much aye? Cool, no problem is this what you are looking for?

FTA 9203

Semi Flat Black

http://www.krylon.com/products/rust-...tative-enamel/

Re: Restoring Rusty - Its Fender Time
 

got this 20% Off on All Fenders ad in the mail from our local Pick n Pull junk yard so I had no choice but to go pull one

with tax ($4.73), an environmental fee ($4.24), and some BS core charge ($4.99) it came out to be just under $60 bucks, and took me less than an hour to pull it off a green '79 Scottsdale (I was taking my time enjoying a sunny winter day)

Note: not even gonna touch it till summer, I am not painting in the winter ever again

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Great buy even with all the extra cost they added.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Thank you!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Nice. I could use a pair in that color, haven't seen one in a yard though.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Man, you got that right! Most of that stuff is less effective than dish-washing soap and hot water!

Thank goodness we can still buy Gunk Engine Degreaser. I'll have to try mineral spirits, too.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

hey bro, you're in Cali do you want this one, I will sell it to you for what I paid for it plus I will go pull the other one for you if it helps, I can always get another fender and if it saves you painting yours its a win win, I can even drive it out half way to your house

Re: Restoring Rusty - Header Reinstall
 

OK got her buttoned up whilst listening to the Colts handle the Bengals on the radio

not perfect, but much cleaner, even wire brushed the manifold bolts, wish I knew how to keep them from rusting again cause painting bolts hasn't worked for me, the paint just twists right off as I install them, also wish some of these pictures came out better

Re: Restoring Rusty - Passenger Manifold Comparison
 

and this is just to compare how the passenger side exhaust manifold area looked like when I got the truck and how it looks today, a bit of improvement wouldn't you say

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

You need to clear those bolts or paint them or something, they rust 10x quicker after being cleaned up w/a wire wheel.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Looks better. Did you install new valve cover gaskets?

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yes back in October when I painted the valve covers. I special ordered these black rubber Mr. Gasket ones. This time I did not take them off although I fully planned on it cause I thought my oil leak was seeping out from the back of the passenger side valve cover, but I don't think that's the case. Now I am leaning towards the rear main seal as being the culprit as my bell housing is full of black oil and grime, not nice.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I need to treat them for sure, still looking for a proper solution since I'm not a big fan of paint on the threads and I strip the paint off the heads as soon as I install them, so need something more better, like Eastwoods blackening dip kit.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

New bolts are zinc coated in most cases. While they may be a little ugly after the decades, when you strip all the zinc off they get rusty fast like any unpainted steel.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Yeah, I should have explained a little. I helped a friend freshen up the engine bay in a 78 Corvette he's had a loooong time and we did the same thing with all the bolts for the accessory brackets. Three months later they looked like crap and he had to redo them. Another member here found someone local to him that does the zinc plating, apparently it's fairly cheap to do. You might not care to go that far on this truck but I'd at least hit them with satin black or maybe header paint if you have some. Those will rust like they are.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Good reading. Nice chronicle.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

thank you

Re: Restoring Rusty - TRANSMISSION CONTROL SPARK SYSTEM
 

I decided I would clean up and decluter the engine bay a bit before bolting on my new intake, carb, and air cleaner, that way I won't get any of that old electrical tape glue and grime on the new shiny bits

so if I may borrow a term from the Import Crowd, I will be "deleting" the Transmission Controlled Spark System, TCS

say what?

The Transmission Controlled Spark System is used on all 10 Series vehicles, C-K20 suburban, G20 Series and G30 Sportvans when equipped with a manual transmission.

lucky me

so what does the TCS do?

Control of exhaust emitted by vehicles using the eight cylinder engines, is accomplished by eliminating ignition vaccum advance when the vehicle is operating in reverse, neutral or low forward gears

sounds great - lets get rid of it

Re: Restoring Rusty - TCS Time Relay
 

first we introduce the five usual suspects

TCS Time Relay, this bad boy hides behind the brake booster on the fire wall, I am just going to unscrew it, (one bolt) and leave it plugged in to the wiring harness which will be yanked out anyways

Re: Restoring Rusty - TCS Temperature Switch
 

next is the TCS Temperature Switch, this redundant temperature switch lives in the right cylinder head between the #6 and #8 exhaust ports (unlike it's much more useful cousin in the left cylinder head between #1 and #2 exhaust ports)

for now I will just unplug the single green wire from it and leave the temp switch in the head, sometime later on when I feel like draining the coolant (again) I will replace it with a nicer plug

Re: Restoring Rusty - TCS Vacuum Advance Solenoid
 

the TCS Vacuum Advance Solenoid sits in the front right of the intake manifold, next to the oil filler cap in the photos, both pictures show the same solenoid just from different angles as it is buried behind the heater core hoses