[jrblasde]

Despite my lack of posts lately, I’ve been working in the background on cleaning this nasty chassis! I think I’ve made it through about 3/4 of the cleanup. 

Regular 5% “eating” vinegar simply wasn’t cutting through the rust very well, so I bought some 6% cleaning vinegar. That 1% makes a big difference! In fact, it’s a 20% (relative) increase in concentration. It’ll burn any cuts on your hands, too! But finally I have found something strong enough to eat the rust. I’ve been soaking cotton balls in the vinegar, squeezing out the excess, and applying them to the rust. I let it soak for half a day or so, and then scrub the area with a toothbrush. Oftentimes I have needed to repeat this four or five times on the same spot, but it’s working! Here’s my current progress.

   

   

   

   

I’ve gotten the larger areas cleaned up. Right now I have the power transformer dismounted, and I’m cleaning the chassis around it. I still have to clean around a few tube sockets, but that will come next. I also need to remove the two electrolytic capacitors to clean the area around them. But the most serious rust has already been dealt with, and that’s great!

I’ve read that you can apply a protective coating of microcrystalline wax over the chassis once it’s been cleaned. In doing so, it will look original (unpainted, that is) but will be protected from further rust. I may give that a go! I’m also going to strip and repaint the bells of the transformer, and will use a brass wire wheel to clean the rust from the core.