Well rivetting is all but done, i have been cleaning parts up to go back onto the hull so things are moving along at a nice pace now... i made a mollasses bath for some of the larger items which has been excelent, a large portion of my track was rusted solid and seized so i plonked some into the bath a few weeks ago and below is the results.
There is lots of conflicting info on the web about molasses having to be sulphated....this is not the case, i used Lincoln pure cane (animal grade) molasses...the key is that you need to leave the molasses in the water for two weeks to ferment in order for the chillation process to work when the rusty junk is added. i mixed a batch roughly 10:1 using a wheelie bin as my container so 20ltrs of molasses and then fill the rest with water.
this section was a rusted block when it went into the solution two weeks ago, the photo here all i have done is remove the section from the bath and jet wash it...no elbow grease required ! the section is totally free and clean now.
believe it or not the track is clean bare metal however it looks dull in the picture as its still wet
here is a comparrison with an untreated seized section all be it the condition is still better than the first bit was initially
here we have some trunking, another best bit about molasses is its penetrating abilities, anything siezed if you can get a spanner/screw driver on it when it has just been rinsed out of the bath, and is still wet, will come loose with little effort, note all the screws in the trunking are clean and working now
just thought i would post it up....the electrolysis bath was working great but my electricity bills were not clever so opted this route... £30ish quid for the molasses delivered and it lasts up to six months, its non toxic and non invasive for the metal, any rusted bolts are great for this... it free's them up a treat ! the longer you leave it in the better the results.