Cleaning up those rusty bolts?

Nevus

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I have heard some here say that they cleaned up rusty bolts with a little overnight diet coke bath?

Some of the CP's on my games have rusty bolts on otherwise pretty cabs and cps. Is the basic suggestion an overnight bath? Any others?

Thanks
 
Some bolts have some sort of coating on them that gets rubbed off from contact with people's hands, I don't think there's much to do there other than get new bolts.

If the shine isn't important I've had amazing success using Coke on other corrosion to the point that it seems to work better than the commercial products. Also works great on battery contacts.
 
I usually use the Dremel with a small wire brush bit to clean off rust. If it's a carriage bolt, I'll put it in the chuck of my drill and spin it on some fine grit sandpaper to clean the top. I think I'll try the Coke bath next time though, it seems like less effort if it does work.
 
rusty bolts

if they are just black colored bolts that are rusted, soak them 24hrs in vinegar(sp) and rust will be gone. dry them and then shoot them with automotive black trim paint. they will look amazing. I also use it for control panels and some coin doors.

-don
 
You guys all do it the hard way.

Chuck the threaded end of the CP bolt (relevant only for lag bolts) in a drill, and spin the drill head in a piece of 220 or so sand paper.

It'll come out looking like spin-polished stainless steel.

Poke the bolt into a cardboard box, spray on a couple coats of clear. Looks amazing.
 
My black carriage bolts get sanded by hand and sprayed Rustoleum Satin Black. Same with coin door carriage bolts.

Pitted steel, or zinc carriage bolts, get replaced.

I've heard Coke does remove rust, but I've never tried it and to me, it would take too long. If you got a steal one, that's not pitted, I guess thorwing it in some Coke for a few days would be a good option.
 
I spin in a drill, sand to remove rust and pitting then spin in a piece of steel wool. If they are black, I use gun blue chemical to turn it the blue black again like the factory. Never saw a black painted bolt head on a game before, they were always chemically black.
 
I usually use the Dremel with a small wire brush bit to clean off rust. If it's a carriage bolt, I'll put it in the chuck of my drill and spin it on some fine grit sandpaper to clean the top. I think I'll try the Coke bath next time though, it seems like less effort if it does work.

I do the same thing with the sander on a dremel. I spray it with some rustoleum silver paint afterwards, but as most of you know, that comes off with time.
 
That's the same stuff I use, and yea, warnings are harsh so don't drink and/or bathe with it. :)
 
I'm in the middle of a project so I figured I'd try some of the stuff suggested here and share..

Put the bolts in Coke about 9pm yesterday. Took them out about 7pm today.


bolts-1.jpg

Nintendo Coin Door Bolts and Nuts getting ready for a coke bath


bolts-2.jpg

Detail shot of some of the bolt heads before coke bath


bolts-3.jpg

Two of the bolts are pretty bad

bolts-4.jpg

In they went!
 
bolts-5.jpg

Fresh out of the coke bath. Wiped clean with a paper towel. For sure removed some surface rust on most bolts. But didn't do a lot to the two bad ones.


bolts-6.jpg

Bolt heads. Shiny.

bolts-7.jpg

Afterwards I tried some of this...

Next I hand sanded the bolts with 120 grit sandpaper, then used "0" steel wool. Degreased with simple green and applied the gun blue. I thought I did a pretty good job prepping but I guess not. The gun blue turned out pretty bad (splotchy) and only covered the bolt head on most of them. The instructions said to cure the gun blue by dipping in water. Well since most of the metal was still exposed it just started to rust... so for now the bolts are back in coke soaking for tonight to help prevent any more rust from forming. not sure if I'm gonna try gun blue again. Maybe sand them and just use satin black rustoleum. (i know these bolts aren't originally black but I want them to be) I'm a noob, but I'm glad I didn't get a chemical burn or kill myself on the positive side. :)
 
bolts-5.jpg

Fresh out of the coke bath. Wiped clean with a paper towel. For sure removed some surface rust on most bolts. But didn't do a lot to the two bad ones.


bolts-6.jpg

Bolt heads. Shiny.

bolts-7.jpg

Afterwards I tried some of this...

Next I hand sanded the bolts with 120 grit sandpaper, then used "0" steel wool. Degreased with simple green and applied the gun blue. I thought I did a pretty good job prepping but I guess not. The gun blue turned out pretty bad (splotchy) and only covered the bolt head on most of them. The instructions said to cure the gun blue by dipping in water. Well since most of the metal was still exposed it just started to rust... so for now the bolts are back in coke soaking for tonight to help prevent any more rust from forming. not sure if I'm gonna try gun blue again. Maybe sand them and just use satin black rustoleum. (i know these bolts aren't originally black but I want them to be) I'm a noob, but I'm glad I didn't get a chemical burn or kill myself on the positive side. :)

Why are you making those Nintendo bolts black?:confused:
They are supposed to be shiny.
 
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