Dip the rusted parts in EVAPO-Rust from Auto Zone or their ilk....

Check every 15 minutes though...if left too long,they get a grey pallor to them....not pretty..

I used to but sold it last year...then bought my first ever Rogers kit in Wine Red Ripple. I've been using this username for a long time. It's hard to ween myself off of it. :)

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Thanks for all the tips folks and keep 'em coming. I do think stripping the hardware from the 13" and sending it out for repair is step 1. Then I want to take the snare down and get it all spiffed up. I do have the arm extension for the 3-point but it is really bent up bad.

You can do the 13" yourself, it's an easy fix, don't let it intimidate you.

1. After removing the hardware from the shell. Use blue painters tape to tape off at the seam (to catch any squeeze-out from the glue,) and on the top of the loose piece of ply. Use an artist brush to clean out any dust/residue between the plies.

2. With the same brush apply some yellow carpenters glue to the underside of the ply and on the shell.

3. Two - 2" wide ratchet straps set-up side by side should be wide enough to hold the ply down in place while drying.

4. Wait 24 hours for glue to dry completely, then remove the blue painters tape and Viola! Fixed ply.

There is enough expertise among the assembled lurkers to walk you through this. I don't see anything that requires you to pay somebody else to do it. It's all fixable with some simple tools and methods.

I'll be peeking over your shoulder as you go along. If you have any questions along the way, just ask.

John

Beautiful Radio Kings! Those are going to be awesome when they are finished. Lots of great people here to help you out too. A few years ago I took on a light blue pearl project Slingerland kit. At the time I couldn't glue 2 popsicle sticks together. With everyones help and advice (and also my son and use of his tools and shop) I blazed through it. Was so much fun I picked up some orphan Radio Kings and started again. That is still a work in progress that's morphed into a bigger kit. I've learned a ton from everyone here. And made some great friends too.

That extension handle can be straightened out. Try it and see how it looks. It's nice to keep all the original parts with it. Radio King parts can get expensive but they are pretty easy to find still. Anyway have fun and post lots of pictures please! Excited

What a great kit!!

The hardware is in amazing shape. It won't take much to get it cleaned up.

Take the lugs apart. Soak same metals in clear glass jars. Vinegar or diluted CLR. Careful with the nickel plated pot metal lugs as stated. CLR will eat the pot metal. With clear jars you can see what is going on.

For the tumbler it's like parts together. Tension rods, lug mounting screws one batch. The plated bits another. Don't want the threads of the tension rods rubbing against the lugs.

Post tumbler, I wipe the plated parts with acetone. The walnut shells leave a bit of oil. Then they get microfiber towel hand polished with Semi Chrome. Tension rods, screws 0000 steel wool and fine wire wheel for final buff.

Things that help:

Air compressor to blow the walnut bits out of nooks and crannies.

Dental pic to get the walnut bits out of the screw heads.

Attached a pic. The pan with the holes found at a thrift store. Works great to dump the tumbler contents. Sift into the oil change pan, then easy to pour the medium back into the tumbler. I like to keep all the hardware from one drum together. Hence the labeled storage flat.

It's working for me.

Hope to see pics as you move along.

Creighton

I can't thank you guys enough. I'm feeling all kinds of positive vibes through the computer screen. Cool1

It's hard to imagine the possibilities when I see so much rust. This is by far the biggest project I've undertaken. I've deep cleaned a 60's Slingerland and 60's Rogers, but they didn't didn't have rust. Glad to know I was on the right track with those as I soaked metal parts with vinegar in mason jars. The CLR is a worry for me. If something can be screwed up, I'm usually the one to do it.

Tumbler:

I've never tumbled before...do you fill the bowl half way with media?

Will the bass drum tension rods fit in the tumbler? If so, how many should I tumble at a time? I bought the 18 lb. tumbler from Harbor Freight.

What can't I put in the tumbler?

I've heard some folks add cleaners and polishes to the walnut shell media. Are there specific "recipes" for the different metals?

Take the 13" drum for example, it has 12 streamline lugs. Do I tumble all 12 together or should I do 6 at a time and consider that a full load? How long should they tumble?

Can I put the clips straight in the tumbler or should they go in a lingerie/mesh bag? I guess the bigger question is what is considered too small to loosely place in the bowl?

Sorry for all the questions. Know that this is lifelong knowledge I'm gaining so your efforts are totally not wasted.

Dan

I fill my 18# half full of shells then add some fine grit auto polishing compound and some automotive wax.

I put around 8 lugs in at a time and leave the screws in them as they will get cleaned up along with the lug. I do the lugs for around 1/2 hour to an hour and then check them. Usually if the screws are pretty bad I put them in a sashay mesh type bag and continue to tumble them. I place all my small parts in a sashay bag most of the time, since I pick the parts out of the tumbler and don't dump the media at all until I need to. Use a magnet or just go fishing for the big stuff.

If the chrome or nickel items are not to corroded or rusty I usually can only leave them for a 1/2 hour of tumbling. I then wipe them off with a micro fiber cloth and then give them a coating of chrome polish for the final coat, buffing again with a micro fiber cloth.

I am just finishing up all the metal parts on the probable last Camco/Hoshino kit made in the USA and the chrome parts were pretty nice so I just tumbled them for around 15 minutes with the "mixture". I still need to buff and polish the shells, but when I am done I will post them up in the gallery. They are going to be stunning to say the least. One owner drums in near mint condition. The tumbler is such a time saver. Once again "Thanks Purdie Shuffle"

I agree with Purdie Shuffle, fix the shell yourself it isn't that hard to do. I have done a ton of those fixes when I was part owner in the commercial cabinet business but then again I had "all" the equipment to do it right and fast. But now retired, I don't and feel John's method would work just as well.

Missed that you had the 18lb tumbler. Bags and magnet best for that.

The only part I don't like tumbling is the lug springs. If they must go in. String them on a piece of coat hanger wire bent into a circle. Won't tangle quite as bad. With that tumbler may be the way to do the lug washers as well. Don't know.

I toss in a couple of pieces of cut up cotton socks soaked in metal polish. If nothing else they seem to soak up at lot of the dirt.

Creighton

Regarding springs...I picked up a tip from someone at DFO when I started cleaning my Slingerland Yellow Tiger kit: Place the springs on a dowel rod and use a wire brush on a bench grinder. I don't think it gets the them 100% cleaned up, but it made a big difference on my springs. They exterior side of the springs were all quiet shiny from normal distance, but the insides of the springs weren't quite as nice.

Thanks for the "cocktail" recipe Myron. I went shopping for containers with dividers today Creighton.

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>>I went shopping for containers with dividers today

How many do you want? They are a by product of my biz.

PM your address and on the way. Anyone else as well.

Tried that tip on the springs as well. Ended up just putting them in the tumbler on a locked hoop.

OT but this Charger has been on Spokane CL for a couple of weeks.

http://spokane.craigslist.org/cto/4121474539.html

The view from behind is classic. 63 Tbird is my fav but not a thing wrong 66 Chargers.

Rust is a very scary word. Can go take a look see if you want.

Creighton