Kennedy tool box make over.

[DandDMachine]

I picked up this Kennedy tool top and bottom box maybe a years or so ago. If I remember right a paid $50 or $60 for it. It was badly beat up, with lots of small dents. This had been used in a machine shop so the caster wheels had metal shavings wedged in them. The drawer slides were so filthy with grit and metal shavings that opening the drawers was a 2 handed operation. Many of the original drawer pulls were mismatched and loose. As bad as it was when I went to look at it I could tell nothing was terminal, and the price was fair. I did a little clean up on the box before taking the before pics so they really dont show how ugly this thing was.

I did a quick clean on the drawers and they worked better, then used this in my shop for a while. After selling my home box I decided to clean this one up a bit and bring it home. It was going to be a quick paint job and replace the drwer pulls with the correct ones. Of course like many projects It snowballed from there. More details in the next post.

 

[JeremyManning]

waiting in anticipation

 

[jimjj211]

Definitely a steal, box looks great already. Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

 

[redintex]

I love Kennedy boxes - have you talked to the police about stealing it yet???



Nice job - it looks great now - can't wait to see what happens when you really work it over!!!

Again, nice score!

 

[DandDMachine]

So after thinking about it I thought why not spend a few minutes longer and try and fix some of the dents first. I pulled the drawers out and relized that with the double panels inside you cant simply use a hammer and dolly to take out the dents. So I had to go with some body filler. I forgot how long it takes to do body work. I havent done it for 20+ years when I was in high school auto body class. I didnt have a lot of time to work on it so I kind of worked at it a little at a time. Well there is a reason I am not a paint and body guy. I finally told myself that this is just a tool box that will probably get dented and scratched again, and my budget restoration was starting to take a lot of time and a lot more money than originally thought. Here is "during" picture. I filled the kennedy logo holes in the top and the holes in the front when someone put in a padlock hasp

 

[DandDMachine]

I decided to paint it flat black to hide some of the dents and hide my lack of patience and body work skills. So it looks decent now, but the drawer pulls were next I decided to go with something different than the Kennedy pulls since they are expensive. I went to Menards and bought some 8 foot lengths of aluminum trim I think its for window but not sure. I measured them and cut them to fit. Now since the box is a boring flat black color i thought I needed little bling on it somewhere. So after cutting the new drawer pulls I polished them on the buffer to a nice shine, then hit them with 2 coats of transparent red paint. It looks like they were anodized. After letting them dry a put on a few coats of clear to help keep the scratches from going through to the color. I also did the same thing to a couple pieces of angle for the front sides. I just got the bottom back together today. I still have to put a little paint on the rivets, not sure if those should be red or black yet. I havent started the top yet but will soon. I think it turned out nice. The drawers now work like they did when they were new. I washed them in the parts washer and straightened a few of them that were tweaked. I also found a set of casters at a swap meet that were new for $5 They are exactly like the ones that were on there before. It now rolls around easily. There is a grease smudge on the upper right hand corner in case you were wondering what that was.

 

[DandDMachine]

So I think that I have about $120 total including the boxes themselves. I have enough paint and other parts left to finish the top. I still need to either figure out a lock or just put something in the hole to cover it up. Here is a pic of a box that gave me the idea for the red handles. I dont remember if I found that picture here in the GJ or somewhere else.

 

[greasemonkey44]

wow looks great

 

[Matt018]

Looks **** as all hell. I love your avatar too! is it a head from something?

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Nice job. You're going to end up with a couple of awfully nice toolboxes for a little over $100 and some hard work on your end.

 

[DandDMachine]

Looks **** as all hell. I love your avatar too! is it a head from something?

Matt the head is for a Vortec 350. I was doing a little port work on them and noticed a face in there.

 

[vga]

Great work. Looking good.!!!

 

[jeffmoss26]

Wow, that looks great!

 

[Provincial]

Nice work! The flat black is a great idea. It gives the box a no-nonsense look.

Ask around about a lock to fill the hole. Most tool box locks fit the same hole, and it is probably and industry standard. Many times people get a box with no key and find that they can replace the lock cheaper than re-keying. The old lock gets tossed. I've done that before. If I hadn't thrown the old lock out, I'd give it to you. Your local locksmith may have a discard.

 

[JASTECH]

I had a thread a while back about upgrading my tool box locks to the new barrel key locks. If you are interested?
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Thanks, JASTECH & Son

 

[DandDMachine]

Thanks for the compliments. In the past I have used screen door locks from Menards. they cost about $5. They usually fit withot too much hassle. I have a bad habit of never locking my tool box, so its not too much of an issue for me at the moment, just thought it would look better to not have a hole in the middle of the box.

I am thinking that the 2 pieces of red trim on the outside edges might be a little too much. Opinions?