The first step in the restoration was a good cleaning. We typically use Extreme
Simple Green Motorsports and we did in this case. It does a good job of removing
dirt, grime and tobacco residue without damaging the original paint.
While some like to stick a chassis in the dishwasher or take a garden hose to it, we prefer the old fashion Q-tips method. It takes time, but it allows us to get intimate with the rig, discovering items needing repair that we might otherwise overlook.
The exception was the tuning capacitor-PW gear train. We took it off the chassis, removed the top off the gearbox and stuck the entire assembly into the dishwasher. After the cycle it came out shining like new, with most of the dried up gearbox grease gone.
It is important to get all of the old grease out of the gearbox, especially the worm gear, which is accessed by removing the front cover plate four screws. Mineral spirits is our choice for removing the old grease. Once spotless, we oiled the split between the two halves of the worm wheel and regreased the worm gear and wheel with lightweight lithium grease. There are plenty of web references that cover preloading the worm wheel and setting up the PW-D dial, so we won't go into those subjects here.
While some like to stick a chassis in the dishwasher or take a garden hose to it, we prefer the old fashion Q-tips method. It takes time, but it allows us to get intimate with the rig, discovering items needing repair that we might otherwise overlook.
The exception was the tuning capacitor-PW gear train. We took it off the chassis, removed the top off the gearbox and stuck the entire assembly into the dishwasher. After the cycle it came out shining like new, with most of the dried up gearbox grease gone.
It is important to get all of the old grease out of the gearbox, especially the worm gear, which is accessed by removing the front cover plate four screws. Mineral spirits is our choice for removing the old grease. Once spotless, we oiled the split between the two halves of the worm wheel and regreased the worm gear and wheel with lightweight lithium grease. There are plenty of web references that cover preloading the worm wheel and setting up the PW-D dial, so we won't go into those subjects here.
Click on any picture to enlarge it
Chassis prior to cleaning.
Chassis after cleaning.