Getting rust off of stepper motor stack

[Bill-kun]

I've got three of four 5.25-inch floppy drives that have significant rust on the top of the stepper motor. There is what looks like a stack of metal plates that make up the body of the motor. If I use vinegar or some other liquid to remove the rust, would the liquid stay between the plates via surface tension/capillary action?
And if so, wouldn't that do more harm than good?
And if so, what then is the best way to clean the rust off?

 

[Bill-kun]

Picture to illustrate the rust damage.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Oh, those are just the field laminations, mostly. I'd carefully buff them off with a small wire brush, making sure that the dust doesn't contaminate the works. Then coat them with a bit of urethane varnish to head off a recurrence.

 

[ldkraemer]

You could try some of the CRC Knock'er Loose, as it is supposed to dissolve rust and corrosion.
I have a can (from NAPA) but haven't tried it yet. A wire brush should help remove the rust.

Larry

 

[Hugo Holden]

I have been restoring vintage gear for many decades with power and other types of transformers which have rusted edges on the laminations. The better method to deal with these, both preventing any future rusting and improving the appearance, is to first remove most of the superficial rust or scale , you can use the wire brush as suggested, but I use 600 or 1000 grade abrasive paper, it will shower less debris than the brush and much of it will stay on the paper. Once that is done, use a small artist's paint brush to apply Fertan organic rust converter, which is a light brown fluid, not too much just enough to wet the surface. A small amount of it will also seep between the laminations, When it dries after an hour or so it will change the surface, including where any rust crystals are to a dark blue-black color. Any future moisture reactivates it and stops rusting. If you like after this, you can then coat it with varnish and it then acquires a very good gloss black appearance, and you will have no recurrent rusting.