My son found a Coleman lantern that turned out to be a 635 with a nickel plated fount. It's going to be my birthday present, which is nice, but it looks like the fount will need some cleaning up. My question is, are the tanks on these models steel or brass? The damage looks like rust so I assume it is steel in which case there's not much I can do apart from using fine grade wire wool to remove the worst of the oxidation. Still, I'm very pleased with it as it will be a companion to my 639. It's also my first nickel plated lantern even if it has seen better days!
Nevr-dull works well with rusty plated steel, perhaps then coat with clear lacquer to stop the rust coming out again. Home Page
The rust blooms through tiny holes in the plating and looks a lot worse than it is. A longish bath in warm citric acid, rubbed wet with wire wool untill it feels smooth. See if you can mask off the decal before immersing. Then neutralize with soapy water, dry off, polish with autosol. Last step is to seal with car wax. There will be a slight freckling but it will look almost like new. If the vinyl sticker (decal) is damaged, replacements can be found on ebay. Keep the vent dry and rub with dry steel wool to make it shine again. A very powerful lantern, needing a very big sock type mantle.
I think I'd rather add the citric acid to wallpaper paste and paint the resulting 'goo' onto the tank - the wallpaper paste holds the citric acid in place. If you use a small brush to paint carefully around the sticker, damage can be prevented. It works for me...
Good advice, David. Over on CCS someone had excellent results on a brass stove using cheap tomato sauce.
