Marshall Major restoration

[leydenjar]

I've got a 72 Major I'm going to restore for myself.

The oxidation, dirt, scuzz, e.t.c. on this amp chassis is bad enough that I think I need to clean it up.

The yellowish patina on th chassis is probably in danger and I know I may lose it in the process.

Any advice on how to go about doing this?

These are fairly rare amps and I'd like to put it in decent shape.

Sorry the pictures came out a little blurry. If anyone needs to see the crud better I can take more pics.

Thanks much,
leydenjar.

[DrGonz78]

This might be a great starting post for the new projects forum section...?

[Ampzone]

The yellow hue is the old zinc plating and is hard to keep on if you really try and clean the chassis. Some chassis powder oxidize (no rust) enough where the zinc is totally gone. You can use Naval Jelly to clean the chassis up but it will remove the zinc finish. Maybe just clean with a 100% cotton cloth and Deoxit or Rubbing alcohol. Get a box of q-tips.

[Steve Conner]

I heard rumours that the yellow stuff has cadmium in it, so if you do grind it all off, don't go breathing the dust.

Then again, I heard somewhere else that it's a substance called "yellow chromate" that isn't nearly so toxic. This is a common treatment for steel, and if you stripped the amp down to the bare chassis, you could probably find a local shop that would sandblast it and re-chromate it.

I personally would clean off any loose scuzz, and leave it at that, for an authentic patina. Edit: No, after a good look at the pictures, I'd strip it down completely. The foulness...