Posted about this auction find some time ago. It was advertised as a "Ford" toolbox. With some help from folks on this board, figured out it was in fact a very old Craftsman toolchest and roller cabinet with the hornbutton from a 47 Ford attached to the front.
Found a very similar box in the 1949 Craftsman mechanics catalog. Believe that mine is slightly older as there are a few differences.
So I went to the auction and talked to the family of the man who had passed away. He was a lifelong Ford mechanic and they told me this was his first box and had always been his favorite. I thought the box was very cool, really liked the locking panel on each piece. Some rust but the box was very solid and the emblems were in terrific shape. As a bonus, there were about 100 tools included, some pretty old. So I bid on it and won the auction, for $35!!!!
Some felt that I should just leave the box alone but I decided that it would fit in my garage better if it was restored. I also decided up front that because of the history of the box and the fact that I am a Ford guy, the hornbutton would stay. The original finish was a dark grey/green textured coating. Didn't really like it and I was not able to find a suitable spray can solution so I decided to go with a simple grey finish.
So I first cleaned off 60 plus years of grease and grime. Then I stripped both pieces and all the drawers down to bare metal using chemical stripper and a DA sander. Each piece was then primed using ZeroRust red oxide or grey primer. The final step was to paint everything with Rustoleum Hammered Finish Dark Bronze which in fact looks like a dark grey.
Stripping revealed this marking. Good old 40s Inland steel directly from Chicago.
I am pretty pleased with how it all came out. The original locks and keys are still there and work. I had to replaced the side handles on the roller cabinet so I just went with something that looked simple and functional. This is now my main toolbox and is in use everyday in my home garage. I really enjoyed this mini-restoration project and like to think the original owner would approve.
Found a very similar box in the 1949 Craftsman mechanics catalog. Believe that mine is slightly older as there are a few differences.
So I went to the auction and talked to the family of the man who had passed away. He was a lifelong Ford mechanic and they told me this was his first box and had always been his favorite. I thought the box was very cool, really liked the locking panel on each piece. Some rust but the box was very solid and the emblems were in terrific shape. As a bonus, there were about 100 tools included, some pretty old. So I bid on it and won the auction, for $35!!!!
Some felt that I should just leave the box alone but I decided that it would fit in my garage better if it was restored. I also decided up front that because of the history of the box and the fact that I am a Ford guy, the hornbutton would stay. The original finish was a dark grey/green textured coating. Didn't really like it and I was not able to find a suitable spray can solution so I decided to go with a simple grey finish.
So I first cleaned off 60 plus years of grease and grime. Then I stripped both pieces and all the drawers down to bare metal using chemical stripper and a DA sander. Each piece was then primed using ZeroRust red oxide or grey primer. The final step was to paint everything with Rustoleum Hammered Finish Dark Bronze which in fact looks like a dark grey.
Stripping revealed this marking. Good old 40s Inland steel directly from Chicago.
I am pretty pleased with how it all came out. The original locks and keys are still there and work. I had to replaced the side handles on the roller cabinet so I just went with something that looked simple and functional. This is now my main toolbox and is in use everyday in my home garage. I really enjoyed this mini-restoration project and like to think the original owner would approve.
If you don't mind me asking, what chemical stipper did you use? I was planning to use aircraft remover but wasn't sure if it was too harsh on these old metal boxes.