SE3 restore or not to restore that is the question

stevet · SE3 restore or not to restore that is the question

I got this at a local auction with its box with a view to selling it on ebay sometime next year and im not an expert, but as collectors what is more important to you 'as is' and do it yourself or restorred. Im a little concerned about the boiler you may see in the picture what looks like corrosion ( sorry thats probably a swear word) front bottom. If i go the restoration route can anyone point me in the right direction.
Cheers
Steve

Steve_S

Hi Steve and welcome to the forum! (several Steves here now... this is getting confusing!

) The restore or not question is an old chestnut that gets a regular airing on this forum. Some people just clean an engine and hardly ever repaint anything, prefering to keep everything as original as possible. Others of us (including me!) are a bit more inclined to reach for the paint if the engine looks tatty. This one of yours looks fine to me, and I'd be inclined to just give it a good clean then live with it for a while and see if you're happy with its looks. You can always do more restoration later, but once done it can't be undone. The boiler may be ok under the surface... you could clean it then try it out on compressed air to look for leaks. If its does turn out to be beyond repair then its not the end of the world. Several members have fixed this kind of thing with brass patches soldered on the inside, or by making a new endcap. Both of those options are not as hard as they sound, and there are many threads on here which describe such repairs. If you need to go down that road just ask you'll get plenty of tips and pointers!

tmuir

I personally don't buy restored engines for several reasons.
1) I like to restore them
2) There are plenty of members here wh have horror stories of buying a restored engine only to have the paint melt off it on the first firing
3) You never know how good a job the restorer has done.

But on the flip side a nice clean shiny engine does usually sell for more than a dirty engine so a clean and polish is always a good thing.

If someone has resoldered something on an engine that wouldn't worry me though, only repaints scare me.

So if you want to maximise how much you would make on a sale I would say clean and polish the paintwork, car polish brings them up lovely just don't use it on the decal.

Polish the boiler and see if that corrosion spot goes away.
If it does, great, if not and it turns into a pin hole atleast you will then know what your up against and can decide what to do and won't get negative feedback from an upset buyer.

Before cleaning it though give it a test fire to see if there is any other problems so once you have it cleaned you don't need to fire it again.

johnreid

That corrosion looks a bit scary ( dezincafication? ) , Aside from that, I would give it a good cleaning and polishing but not much more.

Atticman

Cranko

Hi Steve t , welcome to the forum from New zealand . It appears you already have the answers

Sandman

Hi Steve. A big Scottish welcome to the forum.

Although the corrosion on the boiler looks bad, I have had some that polished out. As has been said before, try polishing it out and assess the damage.

Here is a little tip I've discovered if indeed the bad areas polish out.

Once you have polished the corroded area, apply a film of olive oil to the suspect area.

I've found that this simple measure prevents the problem from re-occurring.

Sandman.

stevet

I bet its out of warranty

Thanks for that will give it a go. Best polish to use?

Sandman

flywheel61

Hi Steve, welcome the forums, I hope you enjoy your time here as much as I have.

Like the others I hope thast the mark polishes out. if not, and you end up with a pin hole, this thread may be of assistance to you in fixing it,

http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about7085.html

Cheers

Chris

stevet

Is there a way of cleaning off the label without destroying it or is it lost forever. Seems a stupid place to put it under the boiler

flywheel61

Steve the lable is actually a decal and is sunk slightly into the paintwaork so there's no way of getting it off so you can put it back on again. The decals on the SE3 actually last the longest of the firebox mounted decals as they are further away from the heat.

if youwish they can be replaced, Mamodman 123 has them for sale here,

http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about3550.html

Cheers

Chris

johnreid

That firebox looks clean enough that you shouldnt need to worry about the Decal, just clean it and leave it be, no painting or heavy polishing on that part should be needed.