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Recently retired and with all the house building finished, and with a nice new large shed to play in, I could not resist the opportunity to bring the remains of this sad old car home. A sensible person would have left it where it was.

Doesn't look too bad does it? Don't be fooled. Lots of house paint over the rusted panels with riveted on galvanised iron and up to an inch of bog over it. No wood remaining at all and most of the important small things missing as well as all of the rear panels.

I stood and spent a lot of time just looking at it but eventually had to start somewhere to work out what I actually needed. Took the body off and started on the chassis.

Drew up a long list, joined the Chev Club in Adelaide and contacted old rally friends with Chev experiance

I was astonished at the amount of rust, probably has been in a near marine environment to create rust so thick. An internet search found me a site devoted to the restoration of tools and the rust removal method they used.

This method works, is safe and low cost.

You need :-

A 200 litre plastic drum, add
2 kilograms washing soda ( $6.00 at Woolworths ) and fill with water.
Battery charger
Scrap piece of stainless steel.

Attach the black cable to the item to be derusted.

Attach the red to the stainless steel.

Immerse both in the drum, do not let them touch.

Control the draw on the battery charger by the depth the piece of stainless steel is immersed in the drum.

This method only removes rust, will not etch or damage steel or remove copper plating.

Clean off with a wire brush, wash and then apply rust converter ( phosphoric acid ) wash, dry and paint.