Looking at restoring a bunch of old rusted bolts on my car and was wondering what would be the best way to go about doing it? Ive been told to use a sand blaster but that I do not have. Also I dont want to damage the bolts either. Any suggestions?
Think Joe has mentioned a video coming up soon that’ll touch on this subject.
But so far my way was to suck bolts in 10% vinegar (may take a few days tho if rusted real good), that cleans to bare metal and then zink electroplate. Not the prettiest result however, a dull gray finish, I am not a pro at electroplating, but kinda works if you really need to save that particular bolt.
Looking forward to learning Joe’s trick 
What a coincidence that you should mention this. I am doing this video this weekend. Please don’t bother with sandblasting or vinegar. I will be showing you how to get them to look like they just came out of the factory.
It may take a week or two to get to you because Mitch is still a bit behind on the uploading and then the patreons get advanced viewing but it will be soon. There are a number of videos which are done but awaiting upload.
9 Likes
oh wow that is very good news. Cant wait to see that video.
I’ve used two methods that work, one is ok, the other is fantastic. The ok method is to use a rock tumbler and abrasive media. It takes a few days but takes off 90% of the rust. You still have to clean the pieces and I used parts cleaner solvent and a wire brush. The fantastic method is a product called Evapo-Rust. It comes in 1 gallon, 5 gallon, and 55 gallon sizes. The gallon size costs about $20 and can do several pounds of rusted metal. You drop your parts in and 24 to 48 hours later take them out completely rust free. They need to be coated after to prevent flash rusting but it can be anything from painting to a coat of WD-40. I also have a sand blaster but doing hardware is tedious unless they are large pieces. Evapo-Rust is the way to go and you can buy it a Walmart, Amazon, or order direct from their website. Hope this helps.
1 Like
Those are the methods ive seen online but im curious as to what joe does.
1 Like
Guys Guys Guys
You are working way too hard at this and spending a fortune to get a so so job.
The video is complete and will be uploaded very soon. It will tell you how to get a kilo (2.2lbs) of nuts and bolts to look like they just left the factory for around ten bucks and you don’t even have to do the job yourself if you don’t want to. In fact, it actually costs more if you do it yourself.
2 Likes
Well now I am curious as to what you have in mind Joe. You haven’t steered me wrong on any video I have watched so far. Can’t wait to see it!
2 Likes
Before
After
Same parts after 24 hours. Cost me £30 ($40)
Worth every penny. Look like brand new parts and I didn’t have to get dirty.
6 Likes
Do tell … the suspense is killing me
That all came out amazing
Wait WHAT?? HOW??! 
Those look brand spanking new!
All the tubes videos I watched about yellow zinc plating show the process being tedious involving quite a few chemicals and besides, removing rust as a prerequisit by means of acids (or other chemicals) or elecrolysis looked to be a must step anyways.
Super intrigued to know Joe’s magic spell
Wow!!!
They look brand new!
Come on Joe tell us, …the suspense is killing us 
1 Like
I will give you a teaser for one of the processes. You will have to wait for the video or become a patreon for the others.
Google zinc platers near me.
Take all your old yellow nuts and bolts to them.
Ask for them to be stripped, zinc plated and yellow passivated. They will soak them in hydrochloric acid for what ever time is required to remove all of the rust and bring them back to clean metal.
They will then wash them. They then put a bright zinc electroplated coating on them using a rolling barrel. Finally, the lovely shiny bolts are dipped into a special coating called yellow passivate.
You can buy a kit to do this yourself but to be honest, it is cheaper to have someone else do it and a lot less work.
I pay about £10 per kilo and there is about 9kg of yellow bolts on a fully stripped car. If you take less, you will pay more because the same amount of work is involved for 1 bolt or a thousand. The process takes 2 hours if they aren’t busy and up to 2 weeks if they are.
If you bought all of the bolts from mitsubishi, it would cost close to £2k. Is this saving worth being a patreon for ?
There are many more processes yet to be revealed on the rest of the car. It has taken me years of research and a small fortune to find out how all of these things are done and the cheapest way to bring them back to life.
4 Likes
Ah darnit… Was really excited about it being something we self could do as there are no such zinc platers here on the islands 
If you don’t mind posting them to the UK, I’d be happy to take them to a local platers for you or you might be able to post them direct. This place is pretty close to me:
I can’t comment on the quality of their work though or their pricing as I’ve never had anything done there before.
You can buy a kit to do it yourself if you want to. I have done it myself many times with professional results but I just find it easier to have someone else do the work.
Joe quick question, Is it even possible still to buy bolts and screws from mitsubishi? And if so how do you go about finding like part numbers for those things?
Many of the bolts are used on other models. I think the part number remains the same but you should talk to your local mitsubishi dealer for advice.
1 Like
As much as I love originality, I’m more of a bright zinc finish lover than the yellow passivate. I can vouch for the Evaporust solution, although don’t expect it to work miracles on some of the bolts if they are too far gone. Some of the worst bolts come out pitted after zinc plating but usable.
4 Likes