Success story. I have this nasty rusted and frozen skip tooth chain that most would have junked but its a skip tooth and I only have one. It was a rusty dried up ball stored for over 50 years. Here is how I cleaned it up.
First I unfolded what would move and sprayed it with WD40, lot of it. worked it back and forth trying to loosen it up. I got 80 % loose so I balled it up and put it in a plastic container, sprayed more wd40 all over it and closed the lid. One week later I pulled it out. Holding it up I loosen all the links that I can. a few are still stuck. I loosen the stuck ones with 2 blocks of wood an a hammer. Lay the chain across one block with the stuck link in the middle, lay the other block on top and tap with a hammer, this worked on all the links. OK chain is now loose, but still very dirty. Now I spray it on all sides with EZ Off oven cleaner, wait 2 minutes and brush it with a tooth brush, spray on some more EZ Off, brush some more then rinse with lots of water. Now towel dry. I could not believe how well it came out. Every other link is still blued, there is very little rust on it and the links all move like new. I oiled it up and put it in a plastic box for storage till the bike is done. I wish I had taken before and after pictures but when I'm cleaning things I never think of that, plus I did not think it would come out so well. So if you have a dead chain, don't give up on it.
First I unfolded what would move and sprayed it with WD40, lot of it. worked it back and forth trying to loosen it up. I got 80 % loose so I balled it up and put it in a plastic container, sprayed more wd40 all over it and closed the lid. One week later I pulled it out. Holding it up I loosen all the links that I can. a few are still stuck. I loosen the stuck ones with 2 blocks of wood an a hammer. Lay the chain across one block with the stuck link in the middle, lay the other block on top and tap with a hammer, this worked on all the links. OK chain is now loose, but still very dirty. Now I spray it on all sides with EZ Off oven cleaner, wait 2 minutes and brush it with a tooth brush, spray on some more EZ Off, brush some more then rinse with lots of water. Now towel dry. I could not believe how well it came out. Every other link is still blued, there is very little rust on it and the links all move like new. I oiled it up and put it in a plastic box for storage till the bike is done. I wish I had taken before and after pictures but when I'm cleaning things I never think of that, plus I did not think it would come out so well. So if you have a dead chain, don't give up on it.
