Topcat chassis clean-up

[mogul]

Does anyone have advice in how to cleanup the metal chassis of a Topcat?
I recently accquired a chassis as part of a restoration project, but the underside is in terrible condition. There is a huge amount of super glue for some reason, and it looks as though the previous owner has had a go at removing it using sand paper. I think I can remove the glue easily enough, but the scratches and general scuffs are a problem.

[Moggie XL]

I had the same problem mogul and all you can really do is get some wet and dry
paper and spend hours sanding it down.Mine isn't perfect but it's much nicer then when I first got the car.

[uzzi]

Dip the chassis in a container of acetone (with lid) the super glue will come off....this would then expose the bare chassis to tackle the scratches.

[mikedealer]

without looking at it, u can do a few things mentioned here already. if its really bad and u want to really get it perfect, u can use a FINE wirebrush with a drill, and brush the chassis down to a even baremetal finish. Then sand the heck out of it flat, then polish with wheel or rag/compound depending on finish you want. ive done this to have a RC10 chassis re-finished and anodized, and for the price of chasssis's it almost wasnt worth the effort i put in, but came out really nice.

the wirebrush will leave some grooves and pits that sanding will be the only way to smooth out. a FINE sanding wheel is key, dont get something from a hardware store made for cleaning welds or something lol. Fine brass wire ones should do it.

[john73]

Sand blasting is the option i took, it got rid of the minor scratches and reduced the deeper ones

http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=22405

I still have not decided on the finish

[tamiya_d1_junky]

you can just sand it with an orbi, keep going down grades of paper to get the desired result, easy as to polish up with a buff on a bench grinder

[8rad]

Sand blasting is the best. The Topcat chassis has a lot of nooks and crannies that are hard to get into with a sander/buffer.

I would be willing to do it for you if you send it to me.

[mogul]

Thanks everyone for your comments.
Brad- thanks for the offer to sand blast it. I'll have a go at cleaning it here first and see how it comes out. It's in pretty bad shape, so may never really recover. I'll get back to you later if it is ok?