Blackhawk cabinet restoration

[GMjonn]

Thought I would share pictures of a Blackhawk Porto Power press cabinet that I got from my dad when his Chrysler Plymouth dealership closed in 92. I don’t know for sure but I believe it came with the Chrysler Desoto dealership he bought in 1954.
From 92 till 2018 or so it stayed at my father in laws body shop as he had a use for it and I was in Ga and it was in NY
It’s down here with me in Ga now and I’ve had the pump and ram for the tower rebuilt. One side of the cabinet was in pretty good shape and one side wasn’t, a fair amount of light surface rust. I emptied it out and cleaned and scrubbed it all up. It still looked pretty dingy and I had a hard time trying to figure out what color/shade of red it was because I knew I wanted to refinish it. I took the metal Blackhawk sign off the curved end below the handle and was stunned at the condition of the paint. It had not seen the light of day since it was all put together I’m guessing. That will be picture #2 When I saw that, I knew I was repainting it. Then it was time to get busy taking measurements of the stripes and sanding and stripping.
Metal work has been done and the cabinet has been painted. I’m now working on the press tower. After I finish that, then the stripes will be applied to the bottom of the cabinet More pictures to follow.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Very nice!

 

[Shelbylex]

Got to love it!

 

[don long]

I'm in for the ride cause I have a few that need this kind of love
Nice work

 

[OldNeons]

Very nice! I'm following along too as I have both the red one like this and the white one with "shelves" that need restoration..... Can't wait to see the end result! Great family history too!

 

[thehorse13]

This is one heck of an entrance to this forum. What a great thing to have in your shop. Welcome.

 

[GMjonn]

Painted Porto-Power on top of press tower. Does anyone have a press tower with the painted name in better shape than this? I’m trying to document it so it can be repainted afterwards. When I spray it with glass cleaner the lettering stands out better than looking at it dry
The lettering is 1/4 inch wide. Pic #4 It seems a bit different than the red Porto Power lettering in the print advertisement
Thoughts?

 

[don long]

Here is what I have. The first cart is just a pic the 2nd is my cart

 

[GMjonn]

Thanks. The paint that’s left on mine in spots looks like what is on your upright bars.
I wonder what kind of paint they were using back in the day

 

[four.cycle]

Thank you, Mr. Long.

Here's a couple magazine/catalog advertisements for the "Porto-Power" and accessories.

GMjonn - there is another "Blackhawk" thread HERE: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/the-vintage-black-hawk-thread.127364/
.... and I believe you'll see more than one "Porto-Power" unit in that thread as well.
(* keep this link handy too: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...ads-faq-helpful-hints-and-handy-links.434502/)

Welcome to the site!


1937 Motor Age magazine Blackhawk Porto-Power ad pp 53

1937 Motor Age magazine Blackhawk "Porto-Power" ad pp 57

1937 Janney Semple Hill & Co. catalog pp 3056 Blackhawk "Porto-Powers" ("Porto-Power")

1939 Shadbolt & Boyd Co. catalog pp. 253 Blackhawk "Porto-Power" ad

1939 Shadbolt & Boyd Co. catalog pp. 254 Blackhawk "Porto-Power" ad

 

[GMjonn]

Latest update. Put a lot of time and elbow grease in to Porto-Power metal plaque. It had a lot of grunge on it. I started with soap and water and a sponge. Around the lettering I used a eraser. Eventually moved onto a rubbing compound. The metal is stainless, painted over in black and red. Very tedious cleaning up around the letters.

 

[four.cycle]

^ nice work!

 

[don long]

Wow A lot of work but it sure looks like it was well worth the effort
Nice job

 

[y'sguy]

That turned out awesome. Love your effort! I need one of those too!

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Wow that's beautiful. Damn I want one if these cabinets/set ups so bad. I love old Blackhawk body equipment.

 

[Maui]

Beautiful work! What brand/type of red paint did you end up using on your cabinet? And did you clear coat the badge?

 

[GMjonn]

Beautiful work! What brand/type of red paint did you end up using on your cabinet? And did you clear coat the badge?

I didn’t clear the badge. I don’t think I’m finished with it yet. There are a few scratches that are not going to come out, but I think I can get a few more out. It just became tedious so I shifted to working on the handle This is the red that seemed to match up best with what was under the badge when i removed it from the cabinet

 

[GMjonn]

Well I thought I’d post up some pictures of the handle and how it’s cleaning up. It’s pretty rusty. Not sure I’m going to be able to get the black rust spots out. Plan is to clean it up best I can and spray it with clear

 

[Maui]

If you have access to a glass bead blaster you should be able to clean all of the rust out of the handle.

 

[GMjonn]

Finally got around to disassembling the tower for cleaning and prep for painting. This is the paint that I found underneath the two bottom cross beams.

 

[GMjonn]

Another