Hi,Last summer I picked up an original 165 crane at a flea market and am now finally getting on to fixing it. I believe mine to be an example from 1942 because the tower is painted gray, not silver like earlier production years. The whole thing seems to be in pretty good shape except for the rotating base of the cab and boom. I think it is suffering from zinc rot, but only in the thin areas of the casting, the gear on the bottom seems to still be sound where as the surrounding areas are bowing and cracking. This leaves me with a few questions; has anyone ever seen zinc rot in this crane before, is there a possibility of this problem getting worse in the future, if a replacement is needed does anyone know if the casting from the MTH remake is a drop in replacement for the original, and is it worth trying to straighten the casting out or will that simply destroy it? Any impute would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
