I am restoring the '70 DownBeat kit I found recently, and I have found a strange thing about my floor tom. On one lug, one mounting screw might be rusted to hell and back, and the other is nearly perfect. Two inches apart for 40 years and totally different aging. Unlike my bass and tom, these majority of these screws are rusty for whatever reason. Totally random which ones are, and which aren't. Also, the washers for my tom leg mounts (from the inside of the shell) have cleaned up nicely (were decently corroded).

I noticed when I restored my 12" tom that where my ratchet had slightly scratched the washers of the lug mounting screws that they appeared to be copper. These screws were so clean that they didn't even really need cleaning. My floor tom ones had to be soaked in vinegar for about 24 hours to remove all of their rust, but the light grey I thought they would end up is no where to be found. They look like copper! Of course, the ones that were in better shape to start are still more grey, steel looking. I am certain they are all original.

Did Ludwig use really uneven quality plating on these screws? I am soaking mine floor tom ones in a bit of baking soda / water to neutralize any remaining acid from the vinegar, but is there anything I can do beyond painting (which I don't want to do) to slow them from corroding again?

Thanks.

BEFORE

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/before.jpg[/IMG]

JUST AFTER PUTTING INTO VINEGAR

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/justputinvinegar.jpg[/IMG]

THE LEFTOVER RUST AFTER 24 HOURS

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/theleftoverrust.jpg[/IMG]

AFTER SOAKING FOR A BIT IN BAKING SODA TO NEUTRALIZE ACID

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/mweasel/ludwig/after.jpg[/IMG]