So, I bought a box and now to restore it...

FordExplorer · Jul 12, 2012

Today I bought a 1980's 6 drawer roller cabinet with a 10 drawer top cabinet for $100 and it even came with keys! The only problem is that it was fairly rusted. It was in a body shop and a lot of splatter hit it over time. The drawer bodies are spotless except for the fronts which are nasty. The cabinet has some rust on it and it needs to be refinished. The original color scheme was all gray with contrasting shades b/w drawers and body. The handle trim was a composite plastic with a red bead down the center.

Since only the fronts show any wear, I am only going to paint the fronts. I already sanded down the fronts of all of the drawers to remove any rust/ loose paint. Before I did that, I was able to remove the drawer trim so that I don't need to mess with taping it off. Currently two of the drawer fronts are in primer and they look really good so far.

My question is what painting process do I need to take from here. I am planning on doing 2 coats of primer with sanding after each to make sure it is smooth. Then I will do 3 coats of satin black rustoleum for the drawers and 3 coats of regal red rustoleum for the cabinet frame. Will this be enough, or do I need to spray clear over the color? I will add pics tomorrow sometime.

Does anybody have experience with doing a basic paint job like this? I see a lot of threads on some pretty amazing paint jobs where it turns out like a mirror. I don't want or need that so I figured that I would be good with what I'm planning now. However I wanted to double check and see what you guys think.

FordExplorer · Jul 12, 2012

I am still trying to decide if I want to drill out the rivets holding on the logo and re-rivet when done or if I should just tape it off. What would you do?

biscuit141 · Jul 12, 2012

If it looks easy enough, drill out the rivets. SHouldn't be too hard to rivet them back in and save time and hassle taping off.

bobcatdan · Jul 12, 2012

thehazmatguy · Jul 12, 2012

I recently did a repaint on an old Equipto box that I bought from Craigslist. It had a rusted top, various holes in the sides and front from add ons... I welded the holes closed and fixed the rust with rust jelly and a bit of body filler to smooth things out. I didn't get carried away with a mirror finish though. I figured I'd end up scratching it so I didn't want to work too hard on it. I painted the cabinet black with white drawer fronts.

I used a 1 trash bag per drawer to tape off the drawer front. I set the drawers "on end" so the drawer face was pointing up. That way, I figured I could lay the paint on really wet and thick and not have to worry about the paint dripping. It worked great.

FordExplorer · Jul 12, 2012

thehazmatguy said:
I used a 1 trash bag per drawer to tape off the drawer front. I set the drawers "on end" so the drawer face was pointing up. That way, I figured I could lay the paint on really wet and thick and not have to worry about the paint dripping. It worked great.

Using a trash bag is a great idea, and it didn't quite occur to me for some reason. I'm glad you said that b/c it will save me some time from taping newspaper over the whole thing like I was doing today :lol:

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

This thread is now useful, I have come with pics

I only am working on the base cabinet now, and the top chest is currently stored in a different location so there are no pics (for now). Here are some before pics of the base. I wish I would have taken a picture of the bottom drawer b/c it was really banged up but I did some bodywork and it came out great so far.

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

Prepping and priming drawers

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

Cabinet bodywork/ paint removal

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

I really didn't want to mess with sanding the inside since there was only rust on the bottom that you will never see. So I sprayed rust inhibitor on it. Then I wiped the whole thing down with paint thinner and sprayed primer until I ran out. So now I just have to do one more side, the back and bottom to have a first coat of primer down on the box.

ford guy · Jul 13, 2012

Am I the only one who can't see the pics???

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

ford guy said:
Am I the only one who can't see the pics???

I had to resize some of the pics and edit a couple of the posts a couple minutes ago. It should show up fine now as far as I know. It looks good on my end

pain · Jul 13, 2012

Thats Awesome :rocker:

It's looking great. You said that the bottom drawer was really hammered. How did you get the dents out and did you fill them? If so, what did you use. I have an old SO box that I was thinking about working on. Thanks

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

Thanks for the feedback! I was able to buy the rest of the paint/primer tonight. Right now, everything is primed and ready to be block sanded.

FordExplorer · Jul 13, 2012

pain said:
Thats Awesome
It's looking great. You said that the bottom drawer was really hammered. How did you get the dents out and did you fill them? If so, what did you use. I have an old SO box that I was thinking about working on. Thanks

The only tools that I used were from a really cheap Harbor Freight body and fender set. Then what I did was take the small hammer (with a perfectly flat smooth head) and then whack the dent on the raised side while holding one of the dollys with a flat edge on the other side. That way the hammer strike flattens the dent against the metal block. I just kept doing that until it was smooth, no filler needed. I have had a couple coats of primer on it, and after block sanding the area, it evened out perfectly. But to put it in perspective, I probably spent a half hour on a 1/4" x 4" x 5" dent. So it does take quite a while.

thehazmatguy · Jul 14, 2012

Nice work!!

DFW-LSX · Jul 14, 2012

Looks awesome! Im bidding on some right now that will need some work. Ill have to research some way to knock out dents about 1/8" around. Looks like it was hit a few times.

miketyler · Jul 14, 2012

Nice. I have the same box but mine is the classic red and has the little security drawer in the center top. This was my first box that I bought when I started my 15 year career in aviation. I think it was $300 new and was very well built. I would like to restore it too at some point once I get all the other things done. I need to find the spring steel slide clips as several of mine are missing. Are you missing those as well? Maybe they can be purchased from Sears?

FordExplorer · Jul 14, 2012

miketyler said:
Nice. I have the same box but mine is the classic red and has the little security drawer in the center top. This was my first box that I bought when I started my 15 year career in aviation. I think it was $300 new and was very well built. I would like to restore it too at some point once I get all the other things done. I need to find the spring steel slide clips as several of mine are missing. Are you missing those as well? Maybe they can be purchased from Sears?

The drawer slides on my set keep the drawer attached by a punched ad bent out section of the slide that will snap into the drawer body. It is all one piece so I think you might have a different version. I found a date on it too, and it was made September of 1988. Most likely you will be able to buy any parts you need. Sears parts direct has the parts that you could nearly build any cabinet you would want.

FordExplorer · Jul 14, 2012

Here is a glimpse of what the drawers will look like. As you can see I had a little sanding whoops on the large drawer. :eyecrazy:

I will sand it out and then it should be fine. For some reason I started to use paint thinner to clean up the PRIMER?!?!?! Then i caught myself and I obviously didnt sand it out good enough. Also, sorry about the feet in the pic. I didn't catch it until I was already ready to upload.

pain · Jul 15, 2012

Did you have to do anything to the drawer slides? I have, I think, the same type. They are pretty sticky when pushing the drawers in and out. Any suggestions?

By the way, Yours is turning out great! :drool:

FordExplorer · Jul 15, 2012

The drawer slides were a little sticky when I was disassembling it. What I will probably do is just use some lacquer thinner to wipe down the channel for the slide. My particular set was in a body shop for a long time, so there is a LOT of dried paint dust in the slides. Honestly though, I will probably just oil it and use it. I think it will smooth out over time as long as the slides are kept clean.

FordExplorer · Jul 15, 2012

I also wanted to say that, if you take on a project like this, you will need a lot more paint than you expect. As of now, I have used 3 1/2 cans of primer (2 coats on drawer fronts and cabinet), and a whole can of black for just one coat on the drawer fronts. I have another can of black, and 4 cans of red because I think that I'm going to need it.

My other question is about how many coats of red I should do. I was planning 2 but, now I'm thinking that 3 might be a good idea. What do you guys think?

whelenfan · Jul 15, 2012

can't wait to see more progress! So far it looks great!

pain · Jul 17, 2012

FordExplorer said:
I also wanted to say that, if you take on a project like this, you will need a lot more paint than you expect. As of now, I have used 3 1/2 cans of primer (2 coats on drawer fronts and cabinet), and a whole can of black for just one coat on the drawer fronts. I have another can of black, and 4 cans of red because I think that I'm going to need it.

My other question is about how many coats of red I should do. I was planning 2 but, now I'm thinking that 3 might be a good idea. What do you guys think?

You could probably get away with 2 but 3 would be best. Red, yellow and all the other safety colors don't cover very well. sometimes it looks covered but if you had different colored primers underneath the paint you would see a difference in the color of the red that turned out.

FordExplorer · Jul 18, 2012

So, after a couple of 100 degree days, I worked on it again today. I have decided to do three coats of paint on both the drawers and the cabinet, and I finally have enough paint to do so. The drawers have 2 coats on them right now. I am going to spray the three coats on the bottom of the cabinet first so that i can paint the rest of it while it is standing on the bottom. The first coat of red is on the bottom, and it looks REALLY good.

The only other piece of news is that the drawer that I pounded the dents out of didn't turn out quite as good as I had hoped. Honestly though, it is way better than it was, and I can always finish it up good later down the road. Pics soon

littleviking · Jul 18, 2012

looks exactly like mine. what were the drawers originally colored?

FordExplorer · Jul 18, 2012

littleviking said:
looks exactly like mine. what were the drawers originally colored?

Drawers were gray, and so was the cabinet. You can see an original unpainted drawer in some of the first pictures.

cbacres · Jul 18, 2012

FordExplorer said:
The drawer slides were a little sticky when I was disassembling it. What I will probably do is just use some lacquer thinner to wipe down the channel for the slide. My particular set was in a body shop for a long time, so there is a LOT of dried paint dust in the slides. Honestly though, I will probably just oil it and use it. I think it will smooth out over time as long as the slides are kept clean.

I redone some Kennedy boxes with friction slide. They had years of gunk on them.

The best way I found was to give them a soaking of brak clean and wire brush the channels.
I then lubed and reasembled, worked great and made a world of differance.

Looks great.

FordExplorer · Jul 18, 2012

As I said earlier, I will finish painting the base of the unit first so that I will be able to set it on the bottom for the rest of it.

Two coats of black, and one more to go

You can see the remnants of the dent in the large bottom drawer. It isn't great but it is a lot better than it was.

Hopefully I will have enough paint now to finish it all up

FordExplorer · Jul 18, 2012

I just did a little looking, and I found out that sears sells replacement drawers for pretty much any chest. So, if I ever get the urge to replace that drawer, I could get a new one and then paint it for under $40 shipped.

FordExplorer · Jul 19, 2012

Third and final coat of black is on the drawers, and they look pretty good!

pain · Jul 19, 2012

Pics please.

FordExplorer · Jul 19, 2012

pain said:
Pics please.

Will do soon. Nothing has really changed since the last batch.

FordExplorer · Jul 20, 2012

Drawers Finished

FordExplorer · Jul 20, 2012

So, today I discovered something rather interesting. It is not a good idea to wear flip flops when you are using red spray paint, as the over spray makes you look like you have sun burn lines on your feet lol.

softailgarage · Jul 21, 2012

Shouldn't be wearin flip flops in a shop anyway...now hand over yer man card! :lol:

The drawers look pretty sharp, I like the red trim against the black, may steal that idea on the next one. Nice job :beer:

FordExplorer · Jul 21, 2012

softailgarage said:
Shouldn't be wearin flip flops in a shop anyway...now hand over yer man card!
The drawers look pretty sharp, I like the red trim against the black, may steal that idea on the next one. Nice job

Yeah, well I figure that hundred degree days are a fairly decent excuse :lol:

. The trim came like that, and apparently it was standard back then. I am kind of curious if I can get trim like that to replace my standard chrome trim on the rest of my boxes.

littleviking · Jul 22, 2012

FordExplorer said:
Yeah, well I figure that hundred degree days are a fairly decent excuse . The trim came like that, and apparently it was standard back then. I am kind of curious if I can get trim like that to replace my standard chrome trim on the rest of my boxes.

That is the exact same box i picked up weekend before last.

How did you get the paint off?

I think i see a bristle cup on your grinder, how many of those did you go through?

What kind of primer did you end up using?

I have more questions but i cant think of them right now.
Ill be back lol.

Edit: how did you get the trim off?

FordExplorer · Jul 22, 2012

littleviking said:
That is the exact same box i picked up weekend before last.

How did you get the paint off?

I think i see a bristle cup on your grinder, how many of those did you go through?

What kind of primer did you end up using?

I have more questions but i cant think of them right now.
Ill be back lol.

Edit: how did you get the trim off?

I ended up using one bristle cup, which was very worn out when I was done. The primer I used was regular rustoleum automotive. Also, the trim was removed by using a regular flat tapered punch with a hammer on the thick part of the drawer trim. If you whack the punch with a small hammer, they will slide right off. Feel free to PM me with any more questions that you have. I'm glad to help :thumbup:

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So, I bought a box and now to restore it...

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