How to remove surface rust w/o abrasives?

[Twoxentrix]

Originally Posted by E-350

Not sure how it looks right now and whether or not the number have been stamped in.
But if you would paint it in red or green or so and THEN use 1000 grit sand paper you might just remove the paint on the sheet and NOT in the grooves...

I’ve successfully done similar on several occasions, the most important part is to keep the sandpaper from being pushed in too far, wrap it around something that will not allow it to indent - like a small block of wood

[posplayr]

I always have some acid magic on hand if trying to strip rust. Much less toxic than other acids.

https://www.amazon.com/CERTOL-INTERN...08980818&psc=1

To make any numbers how up, spray a thin coat of black or read paint onto the label let dry and sand with some 600 grit to take off the surface. If any of the paint got down into the lettering it should remain. Use a sanding block of a small block of wood. The letters should be readable before you ever get all the paint of the flat surface.

[Mikerson]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6-MC_ZEXQbw

[moorefc]

Mostly rust converters ie naval jelly etc. active ingredient is dilute phosphoric acid. Ospho is a good brand. It converts the iron oxide to iron dioxide if I remember correctly. Very good for stopping the oxidation process. It is wiped off with water after reaction is complete without removing much material (prep for painting). Maybe wire brush. Then lightly paint as suggested above, and maybe burnish, photo etc....nothing to lose...
This may be a bit of a repeat. Home Depot and others have carried Ospho and it is very useful over time for metal treatment....


By the way Certol acid magic is dilute hydrochloric acid per its msds....

[Dhale]

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I've used this W-D Specialist recently and it worked great with no damage. It's called the rust remover soak and comes in a gallon jug about $20 bucks but you can keep reusing it untill the liquid turns very dirty. It's designed to be used to soak thinfs in but on something I didn't want to take off I soaked a towel in the solution then put it on the part and covered with plastc. The next day I took it off and scrubbed this very heavily rusted part with a toothbrush and it was close to perfect.
Definitely recommend trying it, I'm glad I did

[nyyankees588]

Wow, thanks for all of the ideas. Ended up not needing to do anything out of the ordinary (sandpaper, wd-40 and creative flashlight angles). I was only able to just barely make out two lines of text and I did the smart thing and googled those. They provided all the necessary info to ID the cat. Now we wait on the CA smog "referee" (I laughed out loud at when I heard that was what they are called).