Whistle Maintenance.

I have some questions about working on a whistle.
My dad and I have a StarBrass Mfg. Company 5-Chime Whistle that's off of a UP 2-10-2 5020 that was scrapped in Denver. StarBrass 5-Chimes became standard on all UP power in the mid-20's. All of UP's power had one of these excpet for the Big Boys, Challengers, and their Northers.
We haven't had a chance to use it on anything yet but will soon. I will probably take it to Chama with me next Spring if I get the job.
We want to test it out before we take it apart. The bell part of the whistle, which is the chimes, is cast iron. The bowl and valve are brass.
I think I am going to take it to be bead blasted after we test it because it has a 50 year old coat of black paint on the bell part that we want off of there because it looks like it's eating away the metal. I have cleaned up the bowl and valve to where one can easily tell it's brass.
My first question is, is there any other alternative to cleaning it up other than sand or bead blasting it? People have told me that they soak their whistles in diesel fuel and take them apart after they do that.
I might be afraid to even take it apart if we find it sounds so good the first time we blow it!
Second question: Is there anything I should be careful about if we take the bell off, being that it's cast-iron?
Third: If it leaks like hell, how or what can I do to fix that? Depending on how bad it is.
I have a drawing for it, if I need a valve part, to whom can I take it to be made? I mean, do you know anyone specifically that does this type of stuff?
Thanks for any help guys.
Kevin Bush