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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / ATF+acetone = best penetrant ???

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Posted By Discussion Topic: ATF+acetone = best penetrant ???     Grant 04-15-2012 @ 5:14 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 536 Joined: Oct 2009 Has anybody tried using a 50/50 mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone as a penetrating oil for disassembling rusty parts ? Is it possible that acetone might damage aluminum, chrome plating or stainless steel ? At yesterday morning's London Auto Modifiers club breakfast, one of the members brought in a printed email with the following information. Apparently a magazine called Machinist's Workshop tested various penetrants with the control being amount of torque required to break loose a nut from "a scientifically rusted environment". The test results are: Penetrating Oil Average Load None 516 pounds WD-40 238 pounds PB Blaster 214 pounds Liquid Wrench 127 pounds Kano Kroil 106 pounds ATF Acetone mix 53 pounds The mixture of ATF and acetone was reported to be a 50/50 home brew that worked better than any commercial product. Stroker 04-15-2012 @ 8:50 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Grant: My personal favorite is Kroil, and WD-40 shouldn't even be on the list, as it was never engineered to be a penetrant, but rather a water displacer. As for the acetone/ATF brew, it works; and no, acetone won't hurt aluminum, stainless or chrome plating. The problem with acetone is that it is highly flammable, and will attack most painted surfaces. This may explain why consumer product manufacturers haven't used it in their concoctions. supereal 04-15-2012 @ 11:49 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 I certainly agree with Stroker regarding the danger in using acetone. It is highly explosive, even in low concentrations. WD40 has come out with a new line of penetrating oils that are formulated separately from their well known lubricant line. I haven't tried them, but plan to. The only method missing from the list is heat. Applying heat, usually from a fine pointed acetylne torch flame, where possible, causes almost all rust to let go. Penetrating oils take a long time, and often are useless. Using two hammers, one to back up and the other to strike the part, will hasten the release. Stroker 04-15-2012 @ 12:54 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 And I agree with Super regarding heat. One old-timer trick with the heat is to apply candle wax to the thread joint after heating. Some of our local "hit and miss" farm engine restorers have been known to build a large fire and after it turns to coals, place the entire engine that they dug out of a fence row in it prior to dis-assembly. I haven't resorted to this, and probably never will. TomO 04-16-2012 @ 8:32 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 When using a torch to heat and free a bolt in cast iron, heat the bolt, not the casting. A torch provides localized heat and will crack the casting. That is why the Hit and Miss guys put the whole casting in the heat and bring the temperature the complete casting up high enough to break the rust bond. Tom supereal 04-16-2012 @ 8:48 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 When we remove a stuck bolt from an engine, such as an exhaust manifold stud, we use a wire welder to join a nut to the stud. The heat of the weld almost always releases the rusty threads so the stud can be turned out. If the piece is a bolt, and has a usable head, we use the torch. I agree with the others that caution must be exercised when using heat on engine part. However, it isn't practical to try to heat a whole block. As Tom says, heat the bolt, not the material around it. I should have been more specific. Grant 04-17-2012 @ 5:36 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 536 Joined: Oct 2009 Thank you all for responding to our inquiry. I am always impressed by the seemingly endless knowledge which you guys are able to share with the rest of us. It is my intention to experiment with this ATF/acetone concoction outdoors. First, on five spark plugs which so far refuse to come out of a pair of nice 8BA heads. And also, on a number of other 1949/1950 small parts in a bucket. If it is necessary to heat anything up after a few days of soaking, all penetrant will be thoroughly rinsed off before the torch is lit. supereal 04-18-2012 @ 10:09 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Be careful when removing stuck spark plugs. Often carbon is the problem, or someone cross threaded them, or tried to install the wrong type. Work them back and forth a small bit at a time to get them loose before backing them clear out to minimize damage to the threads in the head. Our shop does a big business in repairing stripped heads, as new vehicles use mostly aluminum heads. Your 8BA heads should be easier, but take patience. BERTHA 04-27-2012 @ 12:20 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 129 Joined: Nov 2009 You'd be surprised how much a few sharp smacks with the appropriately sized drift will help. Spray & smack, heat if needed. "it's only original once""

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