Removing cosmoline from a water distribution tube.....

[BobT-47P15]

Bought a new distribution tube from a well known supplier.  Has this brown stuff coating it.  What do you use to clean it off?    Thanks.

[Andydodge]

Any solvent such as mineral turpentine, paint or lacquer thinners, a good quality degreaser would probably work......even petrol would work tho' that would be my last choice.........andyd

[greg g]

Wonder if it's necessary to remove it? As long as the slots feeding coolant up toward the valves are open what difference would it make if the coating stayed on?

[Plymouthy Adams]

I think it was recommend by the military that used this stuff extensively was to rinse it in kerosene......kerosene is a good solvent that is still affordable to some degree.....

[greg g]

I read a novel once where some army officers in WW II were forming a special operations team.  They had liberated some Thompson's Frome a Marine supply Depot took them out to a remote firing range and put them into a 55 gallon drum of boiling kerosene.  Probably not a proceedure recommended in any field manual, but they said it worked slicker than snot.

[Plymouthy Adams]

cosmoline has a very low melting point...boiling need not be reached to melt cosmoline and the solvent effect will still dissolve it without heat..that could have been a wild scene if the drum ignited...of course it would not have exploded...only burn on the surface.....when young...I remember the concrete workers building working house foundations staying at the job site late and they would light gasoline in open 5 gallon buckets around the area for lighting...takes a bit to light used motor oil as it has to get up to x temp....but would burn for hours.....

[Los_Control]

1 hour ago, Andydodge said:

Any solvent such as mineral turpentine, paint or lacquer thinners, a good quality degreaser would probably work......even petrol would work tho' that would be my last choice.........andyd

Last I heard, there was also a sock involved in removing cosmoline  

 

[Matt Wilson]

Hot water and dish detergent does a decent job of removing it.  You could let it soak for a while and then go after it with a skinny brush on a long handle  

Edited October 27, 2019 by Matt Wilson

[Plymouthy Adams]

24 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

Last I heard, there was also a sock involved in removing cosmoline  

 

don't ask….truly don't want to know.....!

[BobT-47P15]

ok     thanks for the input guys.  will try one of the suggestions.  i would be afraid that if you put the thing in with a coating,
the stuff would eventually work off the metal due to being in water and stop up some of the openings.  

 

Edited October 27, 2019 by BobT-47P15

[Andydodge]

I'd forgot about kero, that'll work just a well.......but I would definately remove the stuff before sticking it in an engine coolant passage.............andyd

[derbydad276]

OK... second question of the day....today we have coatings that can be applied to metal to reduce or prevent rust I wonder if powder coating or teflon coating a distribution tube  

would help 

[JBNeal]

zinc plating could work...

[Eneto-55]

The problem with either plating or powder coating is that the inside of the tube will not be protected.  But of the two, plating would, in my opinion, be the best option by far.  I would not trust powder coating to not flake off at some point, perhaps in the not distant future.  If plated, I think I would suggest either tin or cadmium.  But the issue remains that both processes involve cleaning the part in muriatic acid before the plating process, and the basically bare inside will very possibly rust faster than just putting it in as it is (after cleaning w/ a solvent). 

 

As far as what mixture is used in the cooling system, is distilled water better or worse than plain tap water?  What about deionized water?  Is that the same thing as distilled?  Or is the additive the only important issue?

Edited October 28, 2019 by Eneto-55

[Andydodge]

I have seen brass water tubes on ebay and as for plating I'd try just straight copper plating which I'd think would be better that tin or zinc and would certainly not powder coat............andyd 

[BobT-47P15]

I also have an aluminum water tube purchased at a swap meet.  But per an earlier post on the subject, others said they would not suggest using it.

So it will have to sit on the shelf and collect dust.  Would they have possibly used aluminum in the late 1950s at the end of the use of the flathead

engines in Mopar vehicles?  Or was this item just some manufacturer's bright idea (that wasn't so good)?

[JBNeal]

Kawasaki put nylon timing gears in 2cyl engines in the 90s, that didn't work out too good for many John Deere lawnmower and gator owners when the gears let go and the engine got destroyed...on paper, many things seem like a good idea, but then reality just laughs and laughs and laughs...

 

I mentioned zinc plating as I have seen this on many OEM parts that see severe service and is used in lieu of stainless steel for cost savings.  From my research and first-hand knowledge on cooling systems, coolant becomes acidic as it ages...this is why OEMs specify a service interval on coolant, to ensure cooling passages are not damaged over time.  I believe it's cheaper in the long run to service the cooling system regularly than it is to try to use more expensive mfg materials, with the WDT being a prime example...brass WDT would be my 1st choice, otherwise zinc plate (cheap) a steel WDT or copper plate better than a raw steel WDT, but definitely change coolant as recommended by the manufacturer