After posting the pics on the OWWM site, I did get a number of ideas of what to look for, as I had never worked on one of these units before. Despite my poor photos, "Hawkeye" Dean Gebhardt pointed out that the saw was missing the engagement lever. For now i"ll use a screwdriver to lever over the shaft to engage the gearbox. (UPDATE: Dave Potts wisely pointed out that the engagement lever was used on earlier models and that this saw has the correct "push-pull" knob that is used for the gear engagement)

I first removed a side section of the cast base. Most machinery in Calif does not have much rust. However since there is little in the way of rainfall, some "people" tend to leave their machinery out in the yard!! (In NJ, I am told, this is punishable by death and dismemberment). This lack of lucidity, combined with morning dew, inevitably leads to surface rust on tables and non-painted surfaces.

The saw had been painted light gray, ( 1 coat), and just the exterior surfaces were touched. All interior surfaces wore the traditional Delta dark gray. I pulled out the trusty Super Clean and scrubbed a section of casting. The results are seen in the 2nd photo. This solution has to be washed off completely as it does leave a film. Next I tried Home Depot's Zep spray stripper.

The ZEP solution took it one step further and made the part ready for light sanding and primering. The great thing about Zep Stripper is that it washes off with water. I try to use Rustoleum high zinc content primer, (especially on the lower parts of the machines), when available as i find it does give the best results. The downside is that the primer is thin and tends to run if not carefully applied. Oftentimes I'll omit primer for cast iron parts, as it seems that the mfgr's did as well. The hot california sun acts as a great drying oven and the parts are soon ready for their first coat of Rustoleum, (I-wish-it-were-a-little-darker), Dark Machinery Gray. Newsflash....Today I found a paint that is a better match for the old Delta warm gray. It is put out by "Do it best Corp" Decorator Enamel #2038 Medium Gray. There aren't any Do-It centers around here anymore, but there is one place that carries this paint. It is a much better match for the Delta Dark gray. Good news is...it is only $2.50 a 12oz can!! So I plan to use Rustoleum for the initial coat and finish off with the Do-It gray. Click here for more on the paint

Logos are always tough customers. Some that are screw riveted to sheet metal are easily removed for painting/cleaning. Others that are riveted to castings are best left in place and cleaned up "in situ". I don't like painting the badging as it always seems to look contrived. I find that a simple cleaning process is best followed up with a coat or 3 of clear lacquer. Delta seems to have coated their logoplates with some type of lacquer and this usually has turned yellow over the years. This coat must be removed first. In the photo (left) I used a soap and water solution, followed by a rubdown with automotive swirl remover, followed by a wash of alcohol and then soap and water again. Once this has dried thoroughly, I will dust on 2-3 thin coats of clear lacquer or clear acrylic. The blue Store nameplate will eventually get the same treatment.

You'll notice in the photos (top and left) that the top coat of paint was easily removed from the cover by light scraping with a 1" putty knife across the top surface.

Surface scratches on sheet metal parts that were missed in the sanding of the primer will surely show themselves on the first light coat of the finish color. These microscopic scratches are quickly taken care of with a 3M green (rough) sanding pad. In fact these pads are better than sandpaper as they do not produce the little "rolls" of fresh paint that sandpaper tends to generate.