Let me start by apologizing if I'm posting this in the wrong place. I've been poking around for a while, and looked through a lot of the forums, and then searched for any threads titled "repair, maintenance, or cleaning" without much luck.

I recently got back into paintball after 15 years out. I purchased and heavily modified a Carver One, and basically got a crash course in modifying/assembling Tippmanns.

I was pretty impressed with it so I started looking for a 98 for my wife.

I just purchased my first original Model 98 used off eBay. It was extremely cheap, and I knew what I was getting into. When I got it, it became apparent that it was clearly a field gun, and had seen some rough years.

Below are two pics of it, both inside and out. The condition it arrived in was... less than stellar.





Despite the terrible condition it arrived in, it fired like a champ. However, not wanting to give my wife a gun that looked like it had been left outside since WWII, I set about cleaning it.

This has proved to be more difficult that I thought. Rebuilding the guts I've already got covered.

Internals aside, I just need some advice regarding cleaning the two shell halves, even if it's just pointing me in the direction of a thread I should have already read/found.

I'd like to strip the two halves of the receiver down to the bare aluminum, and then polish it up nice and shiny.

I started in with a dremel using a wirebrush, and have already worn through several, and not made a ton of progress.

I'm basically wondering if there's any kind of solution I can wash/soak this in to remove all the paint/grime etc, even down in the nooks and crannies, without having to do an ungodly amount of scrubbing, and without damaging the shell.

Oh wise and powerful moderators, lurkers and trolls, please grant me your wisdom!

I know that some people have used SOS pads or steel wool to clean and polish the internals.
Here is a link for you-How To Polish Internals other than that alot of elbow grease.
Good luck with it, looks like you need it.

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A good paint stripper should do the job, the aircraft grade stuff is normally stronger and should do the job nicely. Usually they come in either a liquid you can soak it in or a gel that you paint/glob on just don't get it on any plastic or rubber. Most home improvement stores will have some form of stripper you can use then just follow it up with some polish if that's the look you want.

ya use paint stripper for the paint and the inside use the steelwool.

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Illll/llll\lIliilllllIlliillll/lllll\llIl
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wow.........your right it looks like a marker form WWII lol

maybe a lil CLR lol hahha thats some heavy wear on that marker
ya like mentioned use steel wool (pick up a large box of em, you will need it)
on the internals, also get some nice tippmann oil after you polish the internals!

and then hit up
Tippmann Paintball Guns - Tippmann Paintball Upgrades - Tippmann Paintball Gun Packages

for a set of new set screws and that o-rign that sits in the back behind the hammer, you know what it would be best to get a tippmann parts kit
just in case the orings are really old!

Now im not sure on how old that m98 is but if it is really really old then you might need a barrel adaptor for the new 98 threaded barrel
(well here a quick test take the barrel off your carver and try and screw it in, and if it works then your all good!)

good luck man

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Thanks for the comments. Ok, so, seems like:

Step 1: Paint Stripper
Step 2: Steel Wool
Step 3: ?????
Step 4: Profit!

I'll post pics of how it comes out.

Arson, I've already got a Tippmann universal 98 parts kit on the way, gonna replace a good bit of the internals, just to be safe. All the o-rings and springs are getting replaced. Good thought on the barrel though. It looks the same as my Carver One, but I'll double check.

Thanks.

Yup, less than stellar condition all right. All I can say is steel wool/s.o.s./brillo pads for the inside, and I guess paint stripper for the outside. If you have access to a sandblaster, that works well too. I did it with one of mine, and it really helped to get the paint out of all the little cracks and crevises. Sandblasting is also a little less toxic than most paint strippers. I'd stay away from a dremmel on the internals. They have potential to remove too much too fast. And once it's off, it's hard to put it back on. Unless you're a wizzard with a dremmel. I'm not, so I avoid them unless I deliberately want to cut something off.
Ever thought of getting the gills/fins machined? Looks pretty cool when the slots are opened up, especially if you have a polished marker and black accents.
Just my 2 cents worth...

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a good paint stripper is grease lighting cleaner its used for car parts ive seen it remover metallic purple off a aluminium part. all you have to do is soak it in that stuff and the paint would come right off but not sure how it will take affect on the inner part of the receiver it might do the trick of polishing them i haven't tried the product since its fairly hard to find where i am. another thing is easy off oven cleaner does the same job

i did mine with part paint stripper, good sand paper and LOT of time.. worked very well tho

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Well, in the end it looks like the best grease is still "elbow grease." After several hours of scrubbing, both the front and rear bolt sections of both sides of the receiver are mirror smooth (aside from pitting). The rear bolt sections still look clouded, but that's mostly smudging from my fingers.



Fergus, I've seen several 98's with machined grills, it does look very nice, however, with this model, I'm going to try my hand at... soundproofing it as much as possible. To that end, I'm actually going to try to cut a custom gasket for the two halves of the receiver, and will be using a very thing rubber foam self adhesive weather stripping around the feed elbow, gas line entrance, trigger aperture, and on the rocket cock I ordered for the rear bolt. Hopefully this will have it sounding less like a jackhammer.