#45 refurb questions

[Lewis Moon]

I just bought a Cheap-O (tm) Stanley #45 to refurb as a user. All of the major parts are there, straight and intact but it has a few issue I wanted to ask the Gurus about. First, the tote is in good shape but with a clean break. How do you (can you?) remove a tote from a 45 to glue it?
Also, it seems to be coated with some sort of dried oil (BLO?) mixed with gahk...I've tried mineral spirits but need to apply a really vigorus brushing to even dent the stuff and I really can't get to the stuff deep in the floral pattern...any suggestions? Brake cleaner seems too volatile to really work well.
Now on to electrolytic rust removal (aka:Magic): Will it harm the nickel plating? I've read where it wouldn't as long as the plating was intact and without underlying rust. Second opinions? The nickel is in OK shape on most of the plane and it would be nice to retain it.
Inquiring minds and all....

[harry strasil]

the tote is put on with hidden flush pins, use a little marvel mystery oil and a toothbrush to remove rust, its a user right, a little rust won't hurt anything.

[Lewis Moon]

the tote is put on with hidden flush pins, use a little marvel mystery oil and a toothbrush to remove rust, its a user right, a little rust won't hurt anything.

I saw the pins, any way to remove them without sacrificing the tote? I can live with the break otherwise.
As for rust, I hate it. My dad was a tool and die maker and always taught me that rust was a sign that a workman didn't care much.
Of course, I live in Arizona and rust is pretty rare here.....

[Bill Houghton]

1. If it's a clean break, and you think it might be clean wood down in the break, have you considered one of the low- to mid-level viscosity cyanocrylate glues? I think Woodcraft used to carry them, and most wood stores that serve woodturners too. It's my impression that these are better than your basic supermarket stuff. If not these, something that you can let run into the crack. Or, if the crack is the right shape, a trick I learned from some magazine that always amazes me: put your shop vac, assuming you own one, on one side of the crack, drizzle white or yellow glue on the other, turn on shop vac, watch glue disappear into the crack, keep dripping glue on until you think you've got enough in there, and clean the glue off the surface. To my amazement when I've done this, I can never see any glue in the vac hose.

2. For the rust: I'm in a distinct minority on this, but I clean rust off with SOS pads in warm water, and then spray WD40 all over the tool and dry it off. The steel wool/soap combination works just as well as it does on pots and pans. DON'T do this in the kitchen sink, unless you're single and live alone. It's very messy. Get a plastic dishpan and do it in that, in the garage or backyard. Steel wool seems to work better than the plastic abrasive pads for this purpose.