[2.3Turbo_T]

I moved my first couple of posts from 'Rat rods in general' over to here, 'cause it just seems right.

Finally got the other projects out of the way, cleaned out the garage and brought in the roadster today. Spent the majority of the day disassembling the body. My first time delving into an 80 year old car. This is gonna be a long, slow project! One thing I learned, when it comes to rivetheads, a 1/4" die grinder is your friend. They definitely don't build todays cars like they did back then!









Still have to disassemble the turtle deck. Then I need to build a 4' square box and fill it with a molasses/water mix, submerge all the panels for about 2 weeks and I should come out with rust free sheetmetal.
Also, the rear half of the subframe rails are bent, mangled and cracked. I'll have to fab some new ones. I'm almost done with my welding class at the local JC. Gotta get me a MIG!

[2.3Turbo_T]

Got the turtle deck disassembled today. Looks like there's a bit of metalwork in my future! Also got half the molasses box built. I'll finish it this week. I'll give a full report of the procedure and results when it's all said and done.

[2.3Turbo_T]

Got the molasses box finished. Money is pretty much non-existent right now so I'm trying to do everything as cheaply as possible. Hey, that's what this site's all about, right! I used 2x4's and OSB I saved from another project that I dismantled and built a 4'x4'x3' box.



I confiscated an old pond liner from a pond in our backyard (wife was not pleased)! I powerwashed 15 years of mud and slime off it and installed it in the box.

[2.3Turbo_T]

Proof positive a complete '27 Model T roadster will fit inside a 4'x4' box, with turtle deck!



20 gallons of feed grade molasses and a whole bunch of water.



Entire car completely submerged in a 7:1 molasses/water mix. Check back on christmas morning to see what happens!

[21willys]

ok... educate me on the molasses.... Im always learning something on here...

[big-oh]

oh wow cant wait to see how this works out

[zzrodder]

Yeehaw ! Looks like yer brewin' up a batch of Kickapoo Joy Juice !!
My buddy used molasses and vinegar together and it did an amazing job, parts came out looking like new, pretty much as good as stuff I paid a fortune to have chemically stipped years ago by Redi-strip. You just have to be patient, it also helps to keep it warm as it speeds up the process a bit.
Looking forward to the results !

[2.3Turbo_T]

Yeah, it's an ol' skool method of rust removal. Dirt cheap but the tradeoff is, it takes awhile. I figure 2 weeks outta do it for my stuff. Just let it soak, pull it out and hose it off. Tends to flash rust right away, though. I figure I'll give each panel a light dusting with the sandblaster to clean off the flash rust and promote paint adhesion. Here's a guy that did a door. Left it in for a week.

Before......................



After......................

[21willys]

wow, thanks for the education. I wiill have to keep this in mind for future projects.

[paintedfly]

Where would as guy find feed grade molasses at ? and is 25 degrees to cold ?