The wonders of white vinegar on rusty metal

 I am constantly amazed at how well white vinegar gets rid of rust. 

I recently learned that a weird plate I found in the truck belongs to the ashtray. It is the actual sliding mechanism for the ashtray. It was in poor condition, so off it went, into the vinegar bath for a couple of days. Here is the outcome! 

And this is what it looked like beforehand. 

I do have some reservations about the long term repercussions of leaving metal in the vinegar as I experienced the opposite effect with some nuts and bolts as I left them in there for over a week and the nuts and bolts started to go even rustier. Or so it seemed. Anyway, in this instance, this is a big win.