So I bought a vintage 4-cell off Ebay a couple months back and am ready to convert it to a TFA Rey saber. This seller has sold several vintage Graflexes on Ebay in recent months, and as many have noted in other threads some of these flash units have been rather (too) heavily buffed to remove age/corrosion, to the point that some edges are rounded and minor details are lost. I think I got a pretty good deal, so I'm ok with that. You can also see in the pics below that the clamp had some corrosion/pitting that looks to have been sanded and then painted with silver paint to reduce its appearance.
But now I'd like to get the finish back to what a vintage Graflex should look like. To my eye, it appears the saber body has been sanded with about 320 grit paper, way too heavy. I've seen someone mention in another thread that sanding the body to a 1200 finish best replicates the original satin finish.
If someone could help me with the following questions, I would really appreciate it.
1. What grit sandpaper or steel wool will get this back to its proper sheen?
2. What is the black assembly inside called? Mine has a front lip that is chipped away, and I may want to replace this. That said, I don't see how to remove it without removing the clamp and bunny ears, destroying the original rivet...Suggestions?
3. The glass eye metal surround is intact, but the clear bubble is gone. Is there a modern replacement for just the clear bubble? I've thought of just cutting down the clear dome of a vending machine toy container and siliconing it in...