26 Year Old Facelift - Snap On KR657B

[CentenIJ]

Here’s the subject in question.



I bought a couple of months ago off craigslist for $400. Its a Snap On KR657B dated 1994 which I believe was the last year for this model. All the drawers work and for the most part it’s in great condition. Notice how fresh the paint still is in the bottom and no rust on the casters.



Still, I decided to freshen it up and give a mild restoration so it can look nice for another 26 years. First thing I did was remover all the drawers and test fit for some tools. The box is 33 inch wide, 36 inch tall and 18 inch deep. The slides are all ball bearing.



Next I decided to start looking at what needed to be addressed on the drawers. Some sport had pitting present. This particular spot had paint flacking off so I decided to sand it down to bare metal.




One of the drawers had some paint type residue on it. After hitting it with some Goo gone and elbow grease it was good as new.

 

[Speed-Racer]

Great price for a classic snap-on tool box.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

That's a classic tool box.

 

[ianguilly]

The paint on those cleans up so well. I've always sanded with 3000 and buffed and polished and they shone like new.

 

[CentenIJ]

Little update.

I forgot to take pictures of the painted drawers but they’re done for now just waiting for them to cure.

Moving on to the cabinet, this was a real PITA to remove. I don’t know what type of adhesive they used to stick this but it could hold London bridge together if it broke in two.



Finally gone. But unfortunately left some marks on the paint.



And here’s the cab all clened and prepped. More to come!

 

[CentenIJ]

All finished up. She’s now beauty queen but she’ll definitely do.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Nice job!

 

[CentenIJ]

Nice job!

Thank you!

 

[CentenIJ]

I forgot to take some more pictures but basically apart from touching up the paint and polishing the original paint to get a match, I got a key from LDV, and degreased then regreased the drawer sliders with liquid wrench white lithium grease. Surprisingly all the drawer slides still have detents and only just one had a bent tab. I quickly fixed that with a set of pliers. Now the locking mechanism and the drawers operate smoothly.

I also got the solid drawer liners from Harbor Freight and cut them to fit. Initially I wanted to do gym mats but I’m already pretty close to my height limit on the socket drawer so I decided on the thinner stuff. It should work fine.

That’s pretty much it. All in for materials I’d say I spent about $100 to get it here ($10 key, $40 paint, $30 drawer liners, $12 primer, $7 liquid wrench, polish, tape, etc.)

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

For the paint, did you get a color match or buy the original paint from Snap On? How much paint did $40 get you?

 

[M635_Guy]

That's awesome - nice job!

 

[CentenIJ]

I got it from a local paint shop. It’s still quite expensive at around $17+tax but compared to snap-on ($25+tax+shipping) I did save some coin.

I only got two cans. Probably should’ve done 3.

 

[Rinspeed]

Great job, looks much better.

 

[Bigdogboogie]

Nice job OP! Congrats on finding it at that price too.

 

[CentenIJ]

Thank you all, I’m satisfied on how it turned out. There’s definitely things I would do differently a second time around but for my first tool box resto/touch up, I can’t complain.

This forum really helped me prepare for this, so thank you to everyone who indirectly helped me with this.

Here’s the socket drawer all loaded up. Still have to finish organizing some of the other drawers.

 

[CentenIJ]

So instead of starting a new thread, I decided to keep building on this one. I picked up this 1989 Snap On Pride of America KR637/KR657A for a pretty good price. The plan for this one is just to clean it up, install missing parts and put it to work. Here are so pictures of the progress so far.


The picture from the listing:



Some rough spots:



The siblings. I called them the siblings since the KR657B was build in 1994, the year I was born, and the PA set was built in 1989, the year my big sister was born. It’s very fitting.

 

[CentenIJ]

Here it is with all the drawers removed. Use the tips on here to remove the drawers from the ball bearings slides, and the file folder rod method for the friction sliders, it worked beautifully.

 

[CentenIJ]

Managed to get the lid holder installed.

Does anyone have any experience removing the drawer trim? I know it’s supposed to slide out but its pretty tight on there.



Also does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to remove the Pride of America plaque? I’m thinking using a fish line? I believe it’s glued on there.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

For removing the drawer trim, I'd use a rubber mallet and a long, thin piece of wood that will catch it. Once you can get the trim piece sliding, you're on your way. It can be a pain in the ***. I removed all of them on my Rick Mears box drawers.

As for the Pride of America plaque, I'm not sure there's an easy way to remove.

What's really amazing is both hinges on that top box appear to be in good working condition. Usually the one on the right breaks at some point.

 

[CentenIJ]

For removing the drawer trim, I'd use a rubber mallet and a long, thin piece of wood that will catch it. Once you can get the trim piece sliding, you're on your way. It can be a pain in the ***. I removed all of them on my Rick Mears box drawers.

As for the Pride of America plaque, I'm not sure there's an easy way to remove.

What's really amazing is both hinges on that top box appear to be in good working condition. Usually the one on the right breaks at some point.

Thanks for the tip! I managed to get one of the small trim pieces off using a piece of wood and a dead-blow. I’ll have to keep on with the other 9 drawers.

As for the hinges, the one on the right is new. I just got it riveted last Friday. Works perfect now. The one on the left is a little banged up but still gets the job done.

 

[ianguilly]

I too picked up a pride of American set up earlier this year. Spent 25 year in a Honda dealership and no the nicest but still a good box for it age.

 

[CentenIJ]

I too picked up a pride of American set up earlier this year. Spent 25 year in a Honda dealership and no the nicest but still a good box for it age.

Very nice setup!

 

[CentenIJ]

I’m somewhat having a change of heart and considering converting the top box into a regular red/silver box to match my mint bottom. I’m thinking of removing the anodizing and custom build and aluminum/SS panel to replace the PA panel. Thoughts?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I’m somewhat having a change of heart and considering converting the top box into a regular red/silver box to match my mint bottom. I’m thinking of removing the anodizing and custom build and aluminum/SS panel to replace the PA panel. Thoughts?

Personally, I wouldn't do it. You'd be basically breaking up the Pride of America set, and it would be a PITA.

I'd find a KR 637 to put on your 657. They're still out there.

 

[CentenIJ]

Personally, I wouldn't do it. You'd be basically breaking up the Pride of America set, and it would be a PITA.

I'd find a KR 637 to put on your 657. They're still out there.

Well here’s my reasoning:

I bought the PA set for $500, with really the top box being the driver for the purchase since I already had a bottom. My plan is sell the bottom and recuperate some of the investment. Most regular KR637’s I have found online are going for around $400 and none of them are local. So in a way, if I recuperate at least half of the investment ($250), and make some mods to it (~$100) I would still be in good shape.

I don’t believe there’s a “numbers matching” type of crowd out there for these tool boxes so I’m mostly concerned with making it match my bottom and obviously be functional. I could hold out for a regular KR637 but its a bird in the hand kind off situation. These are 30 year old tool boxes and some have unrecoverable parts missing like drawers. This one was only missing the lock and the lid holder and apart from some surface rust, its in solid shape.

So I think I might go for it?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Well here’s my reasoning:

I bought the PA set for $500, with really the top box being the driver for the purchase since I already had a bottom. My plan is sell the bottom and recuperate some of the investment. Most regular KR637’s I have found online are going for around $400 and none of them are local. So in a way, if I recuperate at least half of the investment ($250), and make some mods to it (~$100) I would still be in good shape.

I don’t believe there’s a “numbers matching” type of crowd out there for these tool boxes so I’m mostly concerned with making it match my bottom and obviously be functional. I could hold out for a regular KR637 but its a bird in the hand kind off situation. These are 30 year old tool boxes and some have unrecoverable parts missing like drawers. This one was only missing the lock and the lid holder and apart from some surface rust, its in solid shape.

So I think I might go for it?

637s going for $400? Wow! I bought three of them the last few years, all under $150! The last one I bought was a regular one that had actually been converted to a Pride of America box. It had the plate put on, and it covered up the holes where the Snap On badge was supposed to go. It needed some work when I got it, mostly the hinges needed to be swapped out. I ended up selling it for $250 and that took awhile.

If you think it's a better option to convert your 637 then by all means. Didn't know you were planning on selling the roller. How are you going to get the trim to match?

 

[CentenIJ]

637s going for $400? Wow! I bought three of them the last few years, all under $150! The last one I bought was a regular one that had actually been converted to a Pride of America box. It had the plate put on, and it covered up the holes where the Snap On badge was supposed to go. It needed some work when I got it, mostly the hinges needed to be swapped out. I ended up selling it for $250 and that took awhile.



If you think it's a better option to convert your 637 then by all means. Didn't know you were planning on selling the roller. How are you going to get the trim to match?

Interesting, I appreciate the insight. I think for now I will table it and keep looking for a regular 637. Thankfully, most of my hand tools fit on the KR657B so I don’t have an immediate need for more storage, just want to have the option for expansion.

I was planning on stripping the anodizing with Oven Cleaner and see if that is a close enough match.

 

[CentenIJ]

I just noticed something unusual on the top box and that is that it has handles on both sides. None of the ones I’ve seen in the web have handles. Was this an option from Snap on?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

I just noticed something unusual on the top box and that is that it has handles on both sides. None of the ones I’ve seen in the web have handles. Was this an option from Snap on?

Very interesting. I haven't seen one of those in person.

 

[jeffmoss26]

sweeet

 

[CentenIJ]

It’s been a while but I finally got my hands on some oven cleaner. I decided to try it out first on one of the small drawer pulls. A couple of soaks and some scotch brite and I am pleased with the results.



Here’s a comparison of the finished test piece with the original drawer pulls on my KR657B.



And here’s another one with how the test piece looked originally.

 

[CentenIJ]

Made some significant progress today.

Managed to remove the remaining black trim and the Pride of America plaque. Was pleasantly surprised to see that the backside of the plaque is bare metal. Flipping it over should make it look almost identical to a standard KR637, except for the SO logo being on the Upper Left corner instead of on the plaque. To be honest I kinda like it better this way!

 

[CentenIJ]

Does anyone here know how to remove the nameplate without damaging it/being able to re-use it? From the backside (picture attached) it seems like I would have to sacrifice the black plastic holders.

 

[ianguilly]

Does anyone here know how to remove the nameplate without damaging it/being able to re-use it? From the backside (picture attached) it seems like I would have to sacrifice the black plastic holders.

I usually carefully slide a putty knife behind them and wiggle up and down all across the emblem until it pops off. You can also use a plastic scraper if you don't trust a putty knife

 

[CentenIJ]

I usually carefully slide a putty knife behind them and wiggle up and down all across the emblem until it pops off. You can also use a plastic scraper if you don't trust a putty knife

Ok, I’ll try out this method carefully. I’m just hoping not to damage the emblem.

 

[CGarage]

Fishing line and use it as a hand saw.

 

[CentenIJ]

Fishing line and use it as a hand saw.

I’m assuming you’re referring to stick-on emblems? These have pins that go thru the sheet metal of the box and are held on the backside by plastic collars. I did use a similar method (but with weed trimmer line) to remove the plaque.

I’m thinking another method might be to use car trim removal tool and wedge it between the collar and the sheet metal to pop-off the collars.

 

[CentenIJ]

The putty knife worked great. Was a little scary when it popped off but these emblems are made of metal so they can handle it!

 

[ianguilly]

If you sand that with 3000 and use a good olishing compound and if the paint isn't too thin it will shine up great. Here's a box I did just last week.

 

[CentenIJ]

If you sand that with 3000 and use a good olishing compound and if the paint isn't too thin it will shine up great. Here's a box I did just last week.

What compound do you recommend? There’s some surface rust on some areas so I’m planning on repainting part of it but the sides and the back look pretty good, so might just polish them.