The fuse connections in my car were very coated in surface rust to the point that when I started working on it the cigarette lighter, heater fan and dash lights didn’t even make a circuit. I’ve spent quite a bit of time awkwardly brushing them with a wire brush, trying to scrape them with a flat head screwdriver, and trying to sandpaper them to get better connections.
At this point, everything works, but if the car sits for a week or two, I’ll have to re-clean the cigarette lighter circuit because it will be dead again. My radio memory constant power is hooked in to the back of the cigarette lighter, but after 15 or 20 minutes of the car being off, the voltage drops enough that it forgets all the pre-sets, etc.
What is the very best way to clean all the surface rust off of those flimsy metal pieces that hold the fuses? Is there a good trick?
Unfortunately those connections were originally nickel plated steel. The plating is long gone and now the connections rust easily. The only way to really fix the problem is to replace the fuse panel. It’s not easy, and in general it is a job for a professional.
I’ve used muriatic acid with a Q tip to clean them. Then wash the acid off with degreaser/brake cleaner. Coat with some dielectric grease right away. Otherwise, they will flash rust again within a day. Unhook you battery cable first
I’ve found the best way is to remove the harness and glass bead blast the fuse box clips (don’t forget the backside as well). Yes, this does remove the plating. Air blow well, and then use a used toothbrush (your MIL’s works best!) with some good solvent cleaner (like lacquer thinner). Then, either apply dielectric grease or Boeshield T9. The Boeshield is the cat’s meow for protecting all sorts of exposed unpainted metal from rapid rust and should last a couple of years. The Concours crowd (e.g. Jeff Speegle) recommend it highly. From that point, my fuse clips almost always give great connections from the get-go.
I’ve also used Evaporust with good results, but it does take a long soaking and it tends to penetrate into the wires.
