M5A1 coming along...

[jdmcm]

Doug

precisely why I used the molasses and water to remove the rust, the process of chelation will not remove the hardness from the gears as would acid, sand blasting or chemical stripping. The sugars in the molasses do not have the ability to penetrate the surface of the metal just the rust on top...after the gears and bearings were washed and oiled thoroughly they were inspected for damage and pitting. I am keenly aware that if the hardness of gears is effected you end up with a mess, I owned my own trucking company and have plenty of experience in the replacement of heavy truck differentials. We found that after a truck had sat for a year or more, the top of the ring gear inside the differential was often rusty as it had sat out of the oil for the extended period. On good quality gear sets this never proved a problem if the oil was changed regularly after the truck was put back in service...but if they were cheap import gears...a slight brown tinge of rust signaled immediate replacement lest they "grenade" and take out more parts or cause an accident...