With a little elbow grease, I removed some of the rust from the floor of the table. It looks like it's painted or is coated with something so I don't think it will need much work... at least until I get it cleaned up and see if there is damage underneath. It would make sense that the sidewalls and grate holders would be painted/coated if the floor is. The rust on the sidewalls is pretty caked on so even using a rust removing gel may not be enough.
Looking around online I've found suggestions of using vinegar and baking soda to remove the rust and that seems like the cheapest option, but will it damage the coating? Will it even work to break down the caked-on stuff on the sidewalls? Other products such as Evapo-Rust, Metal Rescue, etc. look like they would work, but filling the whole table with them would be a bit too expensive. Could I dilute them with water to cut costs and have them still be effective?
What would the fine people of Plasma Spider suggest my next steps should be?
Here's what it looked like after I started to clear it out

Here's it is almost completely cleared out
