11-20-2013, 04:17 PM
Charlie, I'm no expert and others will surely offer their thoughts that are specific to the 91 but here are the steps I've taken.
- After I get the chassis out of the cabinet I start dusting off the larger pieces of crud that have accumulated with a small brush. Some folks use compressed air to blow things off.
- I pull all the tubes, (i'd check them at this point if I had a tester but I don't), clean them with a paper towel and isopropyl alcohol, clean the tube pins with fine sandpaper or a nail file, and then store them away until I'm done recapping. I clean the sockets with a little deoxit and a wire.
- Next I'll start taking the dirt and grime off the chassis with Q-tips & paper towels using isopropyl alcohol.
- After that I'll decide how much farther to go depending on the shape its in. A little rust gets naval jelly treatments until its gone; lots of rust and I've stripped the chassis components, taken all the rust off with naval jelly plus some mechanical abrasion; primed and painted the chassis (lots of discussion in other threads on whether to do that or not). Tuning cap, power transformer etc., tube shields get cleaned, lubed as needed. Simichrome or other metal polish can be used particularly on the aluminum cap cans if you like the polished look.
---> Check out Bob Andersen's Youtube on Chassis Cleaning @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLk5oQKvNA
- After I get the chassis out of the cabinet I start dusting off the larger pieces of crud that have accumulated with a small brush. Some folks use compressed air to blow things off.
- I pull all the tubes, (i'd check them at this point if I had a tester but I don't), clean them with a paper towel and isopropyl alcohol, clean the tube pins with fine sandpaper or a nail file, and then store them away until I'm done recapping. I clean the sockets with a little deoxit and a wire.
- Next I'll start taking the dirt and grime off the chassis with Q-tips & paper towels using isopropyl alcohol.
- After that I'll decide how much farther to go depending on the shape its in. A little rust gets naval jelly treatments until its gone; lots of rust and I've stripped the chassis components, taken all the rust off with naval jelly plus some mechanical abrasion; primed and painted the chassis (lots of discussion in other threads on whether to do that or not). Tuning cap, power transformer etc., tube shields get cleaned, lubed as needed. Simichrome or other metal polish can be used particularly on the aluminum cap cans if you like the polished look.
---> Check out Bob Andersen's Youtube on Chassis Cleaning @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYLk5oQKvNA