Sks touch up recommendations

[N⁰1 Rookie]

Hi everyone. Relatively new to firearms. I purchased a Chinese "bubba" SKS recently and its pretty beat up looking. My plan is to clean it up and drop it into another aftermarket chassis as its in an ati strikeforce right now. Most of the serial numbers dont match, its still got a good amount of cosmoline in the bore and other parts and it has some wear.

My question to everyone is what is a good way to clean the cosmoline and how should I go about restoring the metal (making it look newer/ preventing rust) as I'd like to try for a "new" look and hopefully make it outlive me.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Buck1950]

I am NOT a gunsmith and only 'suggest' these actions on an SKS. YOU May NOT want this responsibility. I suggest you document and photograph what you do with mods.
I used Varsol "Outdoors" to remove all the cosmo from a NIB FT last year. Washed all parts in a pan, then burned off the 'V' after. Gotta get the
gas tube clean with a shotgun brush, and be sure to remove the 'extension' from the receiver or it can get stuck and mag-dump AD-city. If you take out the Sear & spring you can 'polish' the 'rails inside with a fine file, then lube the rails on both the Sear and the Frame with PTFE grease (Permatex Synthetic Grease @ C-T, has silicone). Try to get some grease on the sear 'release notch' too. In the first pic below, the 'Right End' of the Sear tips is the part that needs smoothing, just with 600g or finer silica paper. DO NOT change the 'angle' of this 'Slope' or you might need a new Sear. This is a very fine adjustment and should be done with CAUTION or NOT DONE! The 'Upward Slope' of those tips makes a 'POSITIVE SEAR Engagement' which is needed to avoid Accidental Discharges!! Read 'advice' on SKSFILES .com to understand the relationships. And you can use the grease 'spread really thin' throughout the action for rust protection - it doesn't "migrate" IME. Dollar store 'small' wire brushes work to do the cleaning in general, and on the sights just add a bit of oil; let it soak an hour or two, then wipe off most of it. I painted the front sight post and hood and the rear sight face with white then Yellow to be more visible. Lotsa info here on CGN and 'SKSFILES .COM' .