What is the best way to protect bare iron metal from rust? Options

[Langing]

I picked off a steering knuckle from a junkyard Celica, removed the ball joint and wheel bearing, and cleaned it with a wire wheel to the point where it seems rust and yuck free. Now it is almost all bare metal and I have two questions:

1) What is the best/easiest way to remove the remaining rust? (I don't have a sand blaster.)

2) What is a good/long-lasting way to protect the bare metal from rusting again?

To show what I am talking about I include a photo of the newly cleaned SN next to my Celica's SN (the one with with bent ears). The junkyard SN is the lighter of the two, the golden rust colored one; it came from a red 1995 Celica and is going on a white 1994 Celica:



Thanks to anyone who takes time to help me by discussing these questions.

[Special_Edy]

Addressing your concerns,

1. Paint is the best barrier for exposed metal, grease or anti seize would be susceptible to washing away. Like I said in an earlier post, the fact that older vehicles tend to accumulate lots of grime and oil on them acts as a natural rust inhibitor (oh my 64 chevy had at least an inch of grime when I first got it).

2. Paint would still be a better barrier but keep in mind that both paint and anti seize will alter the thickness of the part. Probably not enough to matter but your two metal parts now have hundredths or thousandths of an inch of paint or w/e throwing them out of alignment. In this case rust would actually cause the two surfaces to bond and adhere to each other.

3. Honestly it depends on the bolt. Some are intended to be torqued completely dry (head bolts), some require oil on the threads (head bolts on different motors), some require antiseize (steel into aluminum), and some are best with a compound like LocTite. It will affect the torque of the bolt, and sometimes the bolt will loosen on its own rather than seize. Id suggest Blue LocTite if you are in doubt, it will dry and prevent the bolt from turning, but it will keep it from seizing.

4. The press fit parts have extremely tight tolerances, anti seize is kind of chunky so I wouldnt recommend it. Some light oil can be used though the help press the parts in.

[Langing]

Addressing your concerns,

1. Paint is the best barrier for exposed metal, grease or anti seize would be susceptible to washing away. Like I said in an earlier post, the fact that older vehicles tend to accumulate lots of grime and oil on them acts as a natural rust inhibitor (oh my 64 chevy had at least an inch of grime when I first got it).

2. Paint would still be a better barrier but keep in mind that both paint and anti seize will alter the thickness of the part. Probably not enough to matter but your two metal parts now have hundredths or thousandths of an inch of paint or w/e throwing them out of alignment. In this case rust would actually cause the two surfaces to bond and adhere to each other.

3. Honestly it depends on the bolt. Some are intended to be torqued completely dry (head bolts), some require oil on the threads (head bolts on different motors), some require antiseize (steel into aluminum), and some are best with a compound like LocTite. It will affect the torque of the bolt, and sometimes the bolt will loosen on its own rather than seize. Id suggest Blue LocTite if you are in doubt, it will dry and prevent the bolt from turning, but it will keep it from seizing.

4. The press fit parts have extremely tight tolerances, anti seize is kind of chunky so I wouldnt recommend it. Some light oil can be used though the help press the parts in.

Thanks for the helpful advice, Special_Edy. I'll be putting it to work immediately as I am reassembling my right front wheel/hub today. I do have one last question.

I'm fixing the passenger side motor mount with nuts I got from dealer. Two studs pointing down are got at from below. Do you know off the top of your head whether these need LocTite?