A neighbor gave me a Heath DX-40 transmitter and VF-1 VFO that had been
sitting God knows where for God knows how long, and tonight I pulled them
up into the shack from the garage to see what if anything I could do with
them.

You can see the "Before" photos at http://www.rkt-tech.com/DX40 (at least
for the transmitter ... I haven't taken the VFO out of its case yet).

You can see that it needs a little work. :-\

(Amazingly, though, the underside doesn't look half bad...)

Having never done one of these restorations before ... where do I start?

I know ... "First, get a medium-size trash can and lay them both gently
within...". I also know about what they'd be worth if they were in good
shape... not nearly enough to justify the work. Still, I would like to
see if I can get them running just to see if I can.

What kinds of cleaners can I use to clean the cabinet (as best it can be
cleaned) and the top of the chassis, that won't eat the paint from the
cabinet or damage the components inside (assuming any of the components
are any good)?

Then I guess I'll need to find me a variac... pretty sure there's one
around here someplace...