rwo978 said:
It works and lights up, although the bulbs flicker some when the right bulb holder is over the motor, so on the left side. I think a good cleaning will take care of that.
The grime on the contact plate and bulb-holder brushes and contacts can be cleared out using some electrical contact cleaner and wiping down with a clean cloth/rag. For the plate, dmathieu suggested in a different thread to use a pencil eraser to clean it up real good.
rwo978 said:
Where do I start with cleaning this up? Will most of that gunk inside just wipe off?
The first thing I'd do is disassemble the entire beacon so all parts can be individually cleaned. From the looks of it, Ryan, it seems that all the cream-colored goop is old white grease spray. Very easy to remove with a moist rag and cleaned up with Goo-Gone so nothing sticky remains.
rwo978 said:
What do I use to clean up the metal after the gunk is off? Just metal polish and some elbow grease? Any power tools I might want to invest in?
Metal polish from Mother's or Turtle Wax should do just fine. Hand-cleaning the parts is best, and the base could be buffed with metal polish and a Mother's Power Ball on a variable-speed drill. I would clean the base off with soap and water first and dry before buffing. Other power tools...ehh, not sure about that. 14 beacons aren't too complicated to get around.
rwo978 said:
Also, it looks like there's 2 different bulb holders. Which is the 'correct' one for the series (A3)?
Both can be considered correct for the A3 series. I've seen A3 14s on here with both the full-cast holder and cut-out cast holder. Mike over at Dakota Guns and Lawman in Bismarck has some of both styles of holders in stock (plus other Federal beacon parts), so I'm sure he can hook you up with whichever one you want. Hope this gives you a good start on your resto, Ryan!
Note: All above advice are my own ideas for a project like this. Other collectors are free to give their input as well
!