Winter often leads to cold, wet days, making it hard to get your Spridget out of the shed and enjoy the winding roads and the wind in your hair! Therefore, one heads to the shed to have a potter, clean, sort one’s tools, and tidy a few things up on the car ready for the looming sports car season.
In preparation for the 2026 National Challenge, I needed to change the master cylinder due to a few issues. I had obtained an original ¾” master cylinder and pedal box, pedals, etc., that needed restoration and refurbishing — thanks, Chris Mignone!
I’ll discuss the master cylinder in another article, but I decided to use the pedal box, as it was in better physical shape and condition than the one fitted to the Bugeye. While it was rusty, due to many years of brake fluid leaking and dribbling over the surface, the pedal box was not bent or warped — so the decision was to use it. I just needed to remove the rust and repaint the pedal box.
Now, how do I remove the rust — use a chemical cleaner or rust converter fluid, have it sandblasted, or use lots of elbow grease with wire brushes, etc.? While these would clean the rust, there were issues with each. Chemical cleaners can be dangerous to use, rust converter leaves a coating on the metal, sandblasting is great if you have a cabinet in your shed (which I don’t), and wire brushes do not get into the corner areas.
So, after some deep thought, I remembered a colleague had used a molasses bath to remove rust from steel. A quick search of the internet led to many sites, YouTube clips and other comments, which finalised my decision to give this a go with the rusty pedal box. The various sites stated that a 10:1 mixture of molasses and water should be used.
Molasses removes rust because it contains organic acids and complex sugars, which cause a chemical reaction that latches onto the iron oxide (rust), breaks it down, and pulls it into solution — without attacking good steel.
A trip to Bunnings led to a 27-litre plastic box and loose-fitting lid, with some raised mouldings on the base to keep the items in the solution. I also stopped at Kilkenny Grain and Fodder Store, where I picked up 2 litres of molasses at the bargain price of $6.00! Molasses is used for pet food and can even be purchased at your local supermarket. Mixing the 2 litres of molasses (with some warm water) and 10 litres of water gave me a mixture to try.
While molasses works on rust and bare steel, it does not remove grease, oil or paint. So, after a quick application of degreaser to the pedal box, pedals, nuts, bolts and master cylinder pushrods, these items were placed into the molasses bath. The smaller items were put in a small plastic tray with perforations so the fluid could surround the bolts, etc.
After one week, I opened the box to find a brown, frothy foam on top of the mixture in the outline of the pedals and the pedal box. There were even some mould patches on the surface. The smell reminded me of a cross between Coopers Stout and Darrell Lea Liquorice! Yum!
Removing the pedal box revealed a dark coating on the surface. After a quick rinse with a hose, I soon saw a lot of differences from what I had put into the molasses a week prior — some of the rust had been removed and some paint had come off, but not all. The bolts (that were originally plated) had the rust removed and were certainly cleaner.
The recommendations are to leave the items for a few weeks, so I removed the paint using a paint stripper, washed off the surface and put the items back in the molasses bath and left them for another two to three weeks.
Opening the box the second time, there was less froth and foam, and removing the pedal box and pedals showed them coated in a dark coloured coating. A squirt with the garden hose removed the sludge and revealed some very clean steel, with no rust. Closer inspection showed that the rust had been removed completely and had even etched into the surface of the steel.
Once removed from the mixture, the steel starts to oxidise, so out with a wire brush and Scotch-Brite pad (great for lightly cleaning or sanding without damage to the surface), and the surface looked better than new!
Even the bolts and pushrods were well etched, with all rust removed and looking clean and ready for use — though I decided to protect these using another process that I will cover in another article.
Once all the steel was cleaned, I quickly coated the fresh raw steel with a red-brown etch primer. Having used this product over the years, I know it bonds well with steel and almost becomes part of the steel. This product also allows the colour coat to bond well, particularly as it needs to prevent any bubbling or being affected if any brake fluid is spilt. A final couple of coats of gloss black had the pedal box and pedals ready for use, and the master cylinder was ready to be installed — this I will cover in another article.
If you have some time on your hands and some rusty items, have a go with the molasses bath. It does smell, so you might need to place the box outside. Molasses is safe and environmentally friendly; you can even eat it if you like, before you mix it with water and rusty steel. There are many ways to clean rusty steel, but the molasses bath works, so give it a try.
If you need to check out a YouTube clip here is another explanation of how the molasses bath works on rust. Love the safe boots!
Yours Rusty, Gordon Boyce
PS I have since has this “pop up” on my Social Feeds – CRC has developed and released a Rust Remover in a Jar – I am yet to try this product – CRC Evapo-Rust, but this might suit nuts, bolts and small items.
And I do not have any financial association to Supercheap or CRC.