After disassembling all the attached parts, we finally can get down to cleaning off the corrosion from the tender floor of our Lionel modern era Hudson locomotive.
Removing the rivets holding the battery mount in place is going to be messy, because it’s ground zero for our corrosion source, the battery. If you haven’t up to this point, it’s time to don splash-proof goggles and a dust mask, as grinding these rivets will release a whole bunch of metal dust that’s also contaminated with the contents of the battery. We attached the shop vac hose just below where we will be grinding to catch as much as possible.
About the only way to remove rivets is to drill them out. We used a Dremel tool with a grinding stone, vacuuming up as much of the dust as possible. The sides of the battery mount broke off when we put the Dremel tool between them, so that piece is shot. If I later decide to use a battery, I will probably just use two-sided sticky foam tape to secure it.
After the rivets were removed, the base of the battery clamp was still stuck to the tender floor by the corrosion, so I had to nurse it up from the surface using a screwdriver.
The other halves of the rivets were still stuck in the holes, so I had to flip the tender floor over and remove them with a pair of needle-nose pliers.
I used an old toothbrush to remove as much of the loose corrosion as possible, dry brushing it into the vacuum to catch the dust.
After brushing off the loose corrosion, we got out our old friend 91% isopropyl alcohol to rinse the corroded area.
After rinsing off what corrosion we could, we went back to our toothbrush and brushed the area with alcohol to remove stubborn spots. Again, wear goggles and a mask, you don’t want to splash this stuff in your eyes or mouth.
I finally resorted to wet/dry sandpaper to prep the area and remove any last bits of corrosion and to make sure the paint was feathered into the bare metal. I also used the alcohol to remove the sticky residue from the two-sided tape.
After drying off the tender floor, I carefully went over it with a makeup brush, removing any dust specks before priming it.
I used a rust-inhibiting primer to recoat the tender floor, being careful to keep the can moving while spraying to avoid thick spots or runs.
After the primer dried, I lightly sanded it with 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper to keep it as thin as possible and also give some “tooth” for the paint to better hold onto.
After sanding I used a tack cloth to remove any of the sanding dust. Note, I should have been wearing gloves these past two steps to avoid getting finger oils on the tender floor. Luckily I didn’t, and the following coats of satin black enamel came out perfect. From there, I simply reversed the order of all the disassembly steps, and ended up with a repair that I’d like to think could not be discerned from the outside by any but a professional. I put a note inside the tender giving the date and the repair description so it didn’t seem like there was any attempt to fool someone down the line. I will also note the repair in any sales listing for the item, but since it’s a personal favorite, I don’t anticipate that any time soon.