- Location
- Ontario, Canada
Well folks, I made the mistake of leaving my engine to sit on a concrete floor for about 2 years while I went through a full hull reinforcement and some of the worst life trials I have ever been through. The ski is now done but on the first start attempt last night all I got was the starter spinning. I figured a sticky bendix, no big deal it'll let loose and get back to free movement. Nope, it wasn't having any of that lol. So I pull the flywheel cover expecting to see a clean inside as how it always has been when I nearly puked a little in my mouth. I saw the dreaded Davey Jones locker. I pulled all the hardware out to prep for clean up but wasn't really sure what to do about the rust. A wire brush attempt showed a lot of work was ahead so I resorted to my go to yourube channel Project Farm. I remembered seeing a video on rust removal awhile ago and hunted it up. Not willing to pay for an expensive chemical because I'm just going to replace the flywheel anyway after this, I thought I would give the ol white vinegar a try. I can't believe what I saw when I pulled the flywheel and bendix out. This was about a 14 hour soak, remove and rinse, compressed air dry off and soon to be wite brush finish up. I'm sold, Heinz white vinegar was what I already had and what I used. The bendix was far worse looking than the flywheel but now it looks better than the flywheel. It's still stuck but it's manageable for disassembly and final clean up.
