With the stuck seat post removed, it was time for the Mongoose to have it's bath; an acid bath to remove the rust. I'd started spending a bit of time trawling the technical and restoration sections of a lot of BMX forums that are out there looking for ideas on how to restore our beloved BMX's.
All these threads lead to the same conclusion; rust on chrome frames can be removed. There was talk of rubbing aluminium foil soaked cola or lemon juice against the frame, but this left scratches. One guy used a razor blade to gently scrape off all of the rust. Most said that the time-old method of using oxalic acid and patience was the best approach.
Oxalic acid found to be pretty tricky to track down. I went to a few Bunnings warehouses who have it advertised on their website as Diggers Rust and Stain Cleaner. This is 100% oxalic acid crystals.
Going to the store they would never be able to find it. Eventually I got them to look it up on their inventory using the Inventory Number (I/N: 0960276 if you do have head to Bunnings) and I had it in my hands. It's actually in the timber and wood painting section, not the cleaning section. The above tub is a Bell Roll-away Under-Bed Giant Storer with an 80 litre capacity and is the perfect size for a bike frame.
I filled the tub almost to the top. Wearing protective gloves, I mixed in 200 grams of oxalic acid crystals, then placed the frame, forks and the bars and seat post from my Haro Group 1b. I covered the container up and left it for 24 hours.
24 hours later you can see the rust being attacked by the oxalic acid turning it yellow in colour. A quick scrub with an old toothbrush freed the rust to fall off and left the metal showing rust free.
I left the Mongoose soaking for three days, scrubbing the insides of all the tubing with a bristled brush to remove any rust and dirt build-up inside the tubing. I wanted to make sure that it was free from all rust before I continued on.
Here's one last photo of the inside of the bottom bracket showing the candy blue that used to coat the entire Team Mongoose.
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