I recently gutted an even bigger can from a Zenith upright chassis without much trouble. The guts came out much cleaner as well but no tar was used in manufacturing. This time I just let it sit on its side in a foil pan on the stove on medium heat, turning it occasionally. It's a real arm/hand saver, worked a treat and there was no smoke; of course I wasn't burning a hidden phenolic wafer this time.

I had acetone for another project and used it to help clean out these cans. My experiments moved some of the mess to the outside of the cans so I may have to wait a while for an opportunity to try the Xylol.

I have a few nos can capacitors, if you need one and can give me dimensions.

I'm good, but thanks. I just have to finish cleaning up what I have. Most of the mess is off/out of them now.

someone should just make new cans with a threaded top. problem solved. easy to get into later.

I was surprised to see this bumped.

I've already worked out a method of converting existing cans to an easy-open setup, no need for threads. Took me a heck of a long time to figure it out though, I'm no engineer. I still need a couple more items to finish the job, but my last revision eliminated the need for any special equipment. Anyone who provided the services I needed before either wanted much more than I could afford or wouldn't give me a quote up front, so that idea went out the window.