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Bruce, Wire brushing will clean up the surface, but I have always worried that it also degrades the imprinted numbers. If you think about it the imprinted number is created by both compressing and displacing the metal at the surface. Sharp edges are thus created that make the numbers readable. A wire brush will focus the most force on the highest and sharpest places being brushed. Those places are the edges of the imprinted number which makes them the easiest to read. Making the edges rounder, as the wire brush will do because of it"s flexible nature, makes the imprinted depression seem shallower, more like the rest of the surface, especially one that is very rusty. It is much harder to do, but I try to get in with a flat file to file off the paint, rust, etc. which does not wear down the edges of the imprinted numbers. Or sandpaper on a flat hard "handle" could be used carefully if the area of contact of the sandpaper is as large as possible. Where the numbers were poorly struck, as was mine, it sort of is "good luck!" to finally read them. For a long time I thought the first digit on my Uncle"s 8N was a "1", but finally using the other date codes and my knowing that the tractor was bought in 1948, I realized that what I thought wasa "1" was really an "N" since I could see the beginning 8 and had learned that all 8N serial numbers started with "8N". Then the rest fell in place because I had the range on serial numbers for 1948. As a hint for those trying to read badly struck numbers, look at the form of the various numbers. The curves on the 3,5,6,8,and 9 often are slightly different in the font that was used. Of course, when b was substituted for 6/9, and so forth, the differences would be more pronounced. Regards,
Larry
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