[EICO] Eico 723

[ks1u]

Dick:
     Hello and nice to hear of your acquisition.  You could "test" small
areas of the "gunk" with various solvents.  MEK, alcohol, even gasoline.  Of
course you need to be careful when testing these solvents.  Many are
available in professional paint stores.  If all else fails let it soak in a
mixture of Oxyclean and water overnight.  If that doesn't work, you can
either look for a 723 junker with a good faceplate or try scraping it down,
repainting and either doing dry transfer lettering followed by a protective
coating of acrylic, or go the silk screen route.  It could be very expensive
to have someone else do the silk screen, so the other choices are probably
best.  As far as the plating, you can do it yourself by visiting some of the
"self plating" sites on the internet and ordering their products.  It
generally involves removing all the old material and polishing the metal and
then putting on a nickel and then a copper layer.  The nickel is easy, you
just dip it in a hot water/nickel solution.  The copper or other layer can
be applied with a battery and a few dollars of parts and chemicals.  You
might also check with local platers, they may have a large project and will
throw your chassis in the bath for a reduced fee.  A copper plate will
probably run about 40 to 50 bucks if done by a pro who handles large items.
Although I had a different perspective when redoing my 723, I chose to gold
plate it and it cost about $100.  The gold plate probably doesn't add much
to the performance, but it definitely gets a high grade for the cool factor.
     Before you start investing a lot of time and money, I'd really suggest
looking for another 723, taking the best parts of both to make one, and
keeping the rest as backups.

73
George
KS1U