Believe it or not, you can use vinegar to remove rust from your old truck. It is not only cheap but easy too.
By now you have probably found a couple of rust stains in your old truck and are worrying about it. And you should worry because, if you don't do something about it, the corrosion will slowly eat up the metal and give you a much bigger headache.
The rust removal technique we are going to teach you here works fine on superficial rust only. If the stain has already become a hole, this won't solve the problem. But it will remove the rust stain and you will only have to sand the surface and paint it again. You will have to do this inside your garage and not in the open.
First, get some white vinegar. Depending on the size of the stain you may need a whole gallon or even more since you will have to soak the corroded surface overnight.
You will also need a couple of brushes and a few rags for a thorough rust removal.
If the corroded surface is on a particular part that you can remove from your old truck, do so and find a container big enough to house the part. Let's say you have a corroded headlight housing. Get a plastic bucket, put the white vinegar in it and put the headlight housing inside. Let it soak overnight. The next day, give the headlight housing a good wash, preferably with a hose or a light pressure washer and presto! The rust is gone. Now you must thoroughly dry the headlight housing, prime it and paint it again.
If the corrosion stain is on a bigger part, say a door or a fender, use the rags to soak the stain. Get the rags and soak them completely in white vinegar. Put the soaked rags over the rust stain and let them there overnight. In the morning, remove the rags and give the part a thorough wash with a hose or even a light pressure washer to completely remove the corrosion stain.
As you know, vinegar is very corrosive and there is something else you have to do before painting to protect the metal. Apply a thin coat of phosphoric acid to the surface of the bare metal, after the corrosion is removed. You can use a rag or a paper towel for that. Phosphoric acid can be found in auto parts stores under generic names like rust remover, naval jelly or even miracle paint.
To make sure the rust removal process is done right it is also important that the corroded part or surface is not left in contact with vinegar longer than necessary. After all, as we said above vinegar is a corrosive solution and it will eat up the metal too. The ideal for most cases of rust is to soak between 8 to 10 hours and then apply the phosphoric acid.
One final word: as I said above this technique works only for small rust stains that haven't completely corroded the metal and opened a whole in it. Vinegar will not restore the metal. In fact it only attacks the corrosion and cleans the metal, so to speak. But if left there it will destroy the metal even faster and deeper than natural corrosion.
So, trust vinegar to remove rust from your old truck but make sure you don't overdo it.
