[R-390] Wiring harness removal and cleaning

[Grayson Evans]

I recently got very lucky and found (and rescued) three R390A’s from a junk yard here in Turkey.   They are in amazingly good condition, nothing missing except a knob or two.  Never owned one of these “hummers” before but always wanted one.
I figured I would use one for parts, but even the worst one is totally restorable if I can figure out how to get the dents out of it.  

So I am starting a long restore process.  I have restored a lot of Collins S-line (really easy radios to work on), but nothing this complicated.  I love it.
I bought the Hi-Res videos and I have downloaded all the amazing docs from the 2K site (amazing site).  This has got to be the most well documented radio in history.   Is there ANYTHING someone hasn’t written about this radio?

The radios are fairly dirty so I want to strip them down completely.  I have removed all the modules and the front panel from the oldest one (Collins, 1955 or 56).   I removed all the controls/pots/switches still attached to the wiring harness.   I want to completely remove the harness from the chassis for cleaning.
It looks like the best thing to do is leave all the stuff attached to the harness and try to clean it as one piece, being careful not to break any of the connections to the pots/switches, etc.
Any suggestions on cleaning the harness?   I thought about submerging it in a bucket with water and a mild detergent for awhile then spraying it off, then clean the pots/switches with WD40 and Deoxit and blow dry (or oven dry).

The chassis side pieces are dented and bent at the corners.  One looks like it was dragged behind a truck, but no damage to the modules.  I’ll ask more questions about that later.

Thanks in advance guys

Grayson
TA2ZGE - Ankara, Turkey
KJ7UM
Follow the Hollow-State Design Blog
hollowstatedesign.tumblr.com