Frozen nuts and bolts

[Patrick]

Here is a tip from Neil, who hosts the 4-eyed BBQ every year up in Washington.

Mix 1/2 acetone and 1/2 ATF as a concoction to loosen up rusty nuts and screws. Apply on the threads and let the mix work for a while. If it is really pesky, apply heat, apply one more time and try again. I need to replace a cracked exhaust manifold tomorrow, so this task reminded me to post the info here.

I did this before and it worked like a champ.

[Raven855]

Here's the rest of it:
From the April/May 2007 edition of Machinist's Workshop. They did a test of penetrating oils where they measured the force required to loosen rusty test devices. Buy the issue if you want to see how they did the test. The results reported were interesting. The lower the number of pounds the better.

Penetrating oil . Average load .. Price per fluid ounce
None ................. 516 pounds .
WD-40 .............. 238 pounds .. $0.25
PB Blaster ......... 214 pounds .. $0.35
Liquid Wrench ... 127 pounds .. $0.21
Kano Kroil ........ 106 pounds .. $0.75
ATF-Acetone mix.. 53 pounds .. $0.10