What will this do to 14 gauge galvanized steel wire if I dip the wire in the HCl and then quickly dry it off(or use baking soda?)

Hello Anon, The Muriatic Acid will begin dissolving the zinc coating of the galvanized wire. A quick dip followed by neutralization probably won’t remove much of the zinc but we can’t predict how much will actually be removed. How much of the zinc coating gets corroded away depends on how long it is in contact with the acid and the temperature of the acid. The whole purpose of the galvanized wire is that the zinc prevents the wire from rusting. If you remove the galvanized coating the wire itself will rust away under normal atmospheric conditions.