How should I remove/fix internal Rust on a luggage rack?

[dougallison]

I picked up a fairly rare rear deck lid luggage rack from the 50's or 60's that was rusting so I sent it to be re-chromed. When the main portion of the rack was dipped and stripped, around a dozen 1/16th to 1/8th inch size holes showed up that go all the way through one section of the 20mm diameter steel pipe. The structure still feels solid at this point, but I am sure that I need to both treat the rust that I can't get to and then fix the holes so I can have it re-chromed.

I would like to use some kind of chemical treatment to pore into the pipe and treat the inside. Recommendations? I'm also thinking I could have someone weld up the holes and then grind it down smooth before re-chroming. I don't weld, so I'd have to find a shop in the DFW area that could do it. Any ideas on how to approach this would be appreciated. Thanks!

This is what the full folding rack looks like.

[Mikhail_lewis]

Try sealing the holes off with a good tape and pour in liquid rust remover until its filled. Ive sandblasted some other chrome luagge racks of the years and did a 6 layers lf truck bed spray on liner. Seems to be tuff enough for strapping skateboards and heavy metal edged items.

If you look up electrolysis rust removal on YouTube, you should be able to make something work depending on the length of your pieces