Hey Duncan
My two cents worth here. In my opinion the best way to restore them is to take them apart and blast each one until nice and clean. Then what I did was use a good etching primer and a good frame paint to paint mine Before assembly I show the inside of mine where they come together with a graphite lube spray. It goes on dry but will keep them from squeaking when they are assembled. I'd be afraid that if you just dipped them in the Molasses solution that it would seep up into the frame and when you cleaned them off some residue would still be left working it's magic and could return to rusting again from the inside. When you blast them I used some good strong tape to tape off the ends that go to the frame so they would not get pitted. That's what I did and mine look showroom new.

Mike

Where Are You From? Oviedo, Florida

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1928 Durant Model 65 4 door sedan

Thanks Mike
Much appreciated.
Duncan

Where Are You From? Waihi, New Zealand

Do You own a car built by Durant? Yes, 1928 Rugby 4 door sedan still in parts

I've not tried de rusting anything as large as leaf springs, but if you can build a plastic container to hold it, try building electrolysis with a simple system using washing soda,water,battery charger. Make that rust go away...

Where Are You From? Detroit Michigan

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1923 Star sedan

I am a little late picking up this discussion. I am restoring a 1929 D-40 and keeping a blog on the process. You can see how I did my springs if you go to www.jimmys-durant.com. They are easy to disassemble and I used a wire brush on an angle grinder to clean them and used a product called ospho to convert the rust left in any of the pits. It is a good product which I have used on most of the car.

Where Are You From? Lombardy, Ontario

Do You own a car built by Durant? 1929 D 40