Help Needed Opening Older Mac Toolbox

[racerbvd]

I picked up what I think is an 80s, smaller Mac toolbox today. It doesn't have the lock assembly, but the drawers are locked in place and won't come out. 1st thing I did when I got home was to turn it upside-down and see if it would release, no luck with that.
I'm into Vintage BMX, starting in the 70s and figured this would be a great way to store some of my 70s and 80s smaller parts
Any help/advice is appreciated.

 

[senlow]

The drawer handles indicate that this box was made in the late '70s to the mid '80s. Earlier boxes had similar die cast drawer handles with an oval recess for the Mac Tools name. Even earlier, Mac used stamped steel drawer handles. In the mid '80s, Mac switched to full length extruded aluminum drawer handles.

The locking mechanism is inside the back of the box. a steel rod connects this mechanism to the lock. If the rod is still attached to the locking mechanism, it's not hard to unlock. You will need to turn the box upside down and tip it forward. This will cause the end of the rod to move near the lock opening. Use a wire loop, needle nose pliers or whatever to line up the end of the rod with the lock hole. Use needle nose pliers to rotate the rod 90 degrees to unlock.

 

[racerbvd]

Great, thanks for the history lesson (was my best subject in school)
I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back.

 

[racerbvd]

Still working on it, but found the part number