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"re-purposed First Aid cabinets

customcab

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Terra Hote, Indiana
I mentioned to somebody a while back that I would post some pix of some cabinets I was redoing for my tandem (and below grade) garage addition.
I finally remembered to pull the card out of the camera and do it. Please excuse the mess as the additional garage space was a handy place to store "stuff" during the renovations and it got out of hand.
The red ones are old first aid cabinets that had seen better days and had been stored outdoors for a couple years. They needed a good bit of work.
The one with the glass doors I painted hammertone silver inside and put a small LED light bar in the top to display some die cast cars I have. The tall skinny one that's painted white on top is destined to be a "fake" Vendo 44 Coke machine. It's the same size, so some decals and a paint job should do the trick, and it beats the hell out of a $3000.00 real McCoy. I have a coin and vend door off another machine that I'm going to mount on it to do the "look".
The black ones are old modular "cubicle" cabinets for over the desk storage. I had to repaint all of them as they were assorted colors, and had to make brackets to bolt them to the walls, since they had some kind of proprietary hanger things on the back. The door hinges at the top and self stores at the top as it slides back into the cabinet. I thought they'd work nice for over the bench which isn't in the pix, but is in now. I had low overhead on that side anyway because of the HVAC ducting.
The pic with the radio is with a pair of 47 Chrysler tailights I had and just couldn't throw away, so I put puck lights in them and they come on with the overhead lights.
I'll post more when I get further along. It's too nice outside now to spend a lot of time in the garage. Hope you guys like. I finally get to contribute instead of reading all the time!

Later, Phil
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masterlynk

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Hey! I was going to "borrow" those same cabinets from work. They look great. I like your metalized/permatized walls.
 
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customcab

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Thanx, I have that side done now. The block walls all painted and the workbench is in. I'm starting on the front wall and it's cabinets. Gotta get my fridge painted too. I'll put some more pix up as I get em.
Later...
 
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Brunsi

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Very Nice!, What is the sheathing you are putting on the walls?
 

justinmc

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Wow.. digging that work for sure! Do you have any other pics of the whole setup? I'm having a feeling because of zoning, etc I might have to go tandem vs. doubling the width of my exisiting oversized 1 car.
 

UN4GTBL

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Nice!

Can't wait to see more pics!

I'm looking for inspiration for my "re-purposed" kitchen cabinets
 

rsanter

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man o man those came out awsome
and I love what you did with the cabinets installed at the soffit

bob
 

e-tek

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Phenominal. I've always LOVED the medical equipment stuff too - functional and often SS. Great idea to cover the OSB with metal - classy and clean.
 
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customcab

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Thanx, The metal is light gauge, textured (pebble grain) aluminum I got a while back. It's 4 feet wide so I put metal (steel) strips at the seams. I brushed the strips with scotchguard and cleared them to make em look simular to brushed stainless. I had the strips sheared at a local machine / metal shop. I wanted something kind of "industrial" looking and I like it now. I wasn't sure at first. I thought I was in a big refrigeration unit!
The workbench is L shaped in the corner and I put this rubber cointop on one side and plexiglass on the other. That side won't see any heavy duty action other than the bottom side of a beer can or an occasional carburetor now and then, plus I can put pictures under the plexiglass. I'll post some more pix later.

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customcab

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Bob, thanx. I've always been a H&M fan since the hayday of Stockcars, when they really were based on "stock cars". That, and I have a good friend that worked for H&M and Ford's racing R&D for several years and he tells the best stories....ever! There is no more hollowed ground than that for a Ford guy.
Phil

Warning: REAL race cars at this link.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/7634...ascar+heaven...classic+427+powered+stock+cars

http://www.network54.com/Forum/76346/message/1244060829/More+Nascar+vintage+race+photos...
 
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customcab

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Found a couple more pix. The key holder is a 55 T-bird horn button that's a cast off from a project I'm working on now. I hated to throw it away, so I put hooks on it and reused it. The other one just shows the plexiglass top a little better.

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rsanter

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Bob, thanx. I've always been a H&M fan since the hayday of Stockcars, when they really were based on "stock cars". That, and I have a good friend that worked for H&M and Ford's racing R&D for several years and he tells the best stories....ever! There is no more hollowed ground than that for a Ford guy.
Phil

Warning: REAL race cars at this link.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/7634...ascar+heaven...classic+427+powered+stock+cars

http://www.network54.com/Forum/76346/message/1244060829/More+Nascar+vintage+race+photos...

those are some very cool pictures. I love the vintage stock car stuff and the HM stuff as well. it was an incrediblt time in automotive history

bob
 

strnge

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When is the next vintage race? I was at sears point for AMA and photographed that. I just say one of those glass doored cabinets the other day, I just can't remember where.

Mike
 
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customcab

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Update- It's been cold here, so I finally had some time to work in the garage. I got another old cabinet repainted and mounted to put all my manuals in. Also got the old brown beer fridge sanded down, primed and repainted. I covered up the old woodgrained handles with some 3M prism tape to make it look a little more "manly". :beer:
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customcab

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The black cabinets were painted (latex) with a foam roller. The red ones were primed with Zinser 1-2-3 and a foam roller, then sprayed with a rattle can. The fridge was all done (oil) with a foam roller, except the door jambs, which I taped off and sprayed. It was a lot easier that way and it dried a LOT quicker. I didn't want my beer to get warm from the doors being open too long.
 

Jack Olsen

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Here's the reverse. I had to repurpose a metal box to use as a First Aid cabinet. The odd part was using the wife's color printer to make a label.

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Dan in Pasadena

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The black cabinets were painted (latex) with a foam roller. The red ones were primed with Zinser 1-2-3 and a foam roller, then sprayed with a rattle can. The fridge was all done (oil) with a foam roller, except the door jambs, which I taped off and sprayed. It was a lot easier that way and it dried a LOT quicker. I didn't want my beer to get warm from the doors being open too long.

This makes me feel better knowing the way I would do it comes out looking so good. If you see the finish; say like on the medicine cabinet, up close does it look very "stippled" because in these pictures it looks smooth. Like it self leveled pretty good.
 
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customcab

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Dan, the black cabinets have a VERY slight stippled look, but the other ones are pretty smooth. Not automotive paint "smooth"...but still real smooth. Good luck, Phil
 

Dan in Pasadena

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Thanks Phil. I forgot to ask Jack if he rolled or brushed his steel cabinets? They looked pretty smooth when I saw them.

Not to get too far off topic, but my girlfriend is going out of town for about 10 days in March for a wedding and I am planning a big-ish cleanup/overhaul of my garge during that time including painting some steel cabinets and some "re-purposed" kitchen cabinets(I like that term, sounds so much better than "scrounged"!).

After seeing your medicine cabinet, I am thinking about making some glass fronted doors for one cabinet that I intend to use for reference books and a few model cars & misc. I will be trying for an old school look ala Jack Olsen, but I don't have his flair for style. I'll post a thread if it comes out ok. - Dan
 

z28snksknr

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Nice work there. I would have walked right past those cabinets before, thinking they would never look good in my garage. Now I HOPE I find something like that and see if I can get similar results.

Thanks for sharing.
 

Moldy Oldy

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Great Job...some nice ideas..your local Habitat for Humanity and DOD salvage yard may be a resource for some of these nice old and still usefull jewels..Keep the pics coming..
 
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customcab

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Speaking of Habitat...I drove past ours the other day and there on the curb was an old metal "Icebox" for sale. My wife had to almost restrain me from stopping and buying it.
 
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customcab

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Took a couple more pix as I got a little more done.

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1" thick steel top. 500 lbs and bolted to the wall and floor. Finally a bench that won't move around.
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Jack Olsen

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Few things more satisfying than a 500-pound bench top.

Did you drill into it from below, or is it sitting on top of the frame, with the frame bolted to the wall/floor? I ask, because I thought it would be enough for mine to sit there -- until I moved it a couple of inches while hammering something.
 
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customcab

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Few things more satisfying than a 500-pound bench top.

Did you drill into it from below, or is it sitting on top of the frame, with the frame bolted to the wall/floor? I ask, because I thought it would be enough for mine to sit there -- until I moved it a couple of inches while hammering something.

Jack- the top is countersink drilled from the top and bolted thru the frame with 1/2" flathead allens. (used a mag based drill) I had to make it in pieces so I could put it in position and assemble it. The frame is pretty easy to move by itself. The top...not so much. I lifted the top up with a come-a-long and slid the bench under it, lowered the top and bolted it down. I put a couple of 1/2" anchors in the wall and one in each front leg.
My old bench was pretty solid, but if your doing something like beating out control arm bushings or something like that, it shook quite a bit. I wanted this one to hold still! Wanted something I could clamp stuff down to when welding also.

Love the look of your garage too, by the way! Very Industrial looking. I work in a 1950's era power plant. This place has those kind of cabinets and that exact shade of green from one end to the other.
:beer:
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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A couple more questions. This cabinet looks SO damn good; its amazing. Did you paint the inside? I ask because the top visible through the glass looks like its silver, is it? Are the handles chrome or black? Hard to tell from this picture. Are they original or did you go with something aftermarket?

Can you post an "After" shot of this? I assume you transferred the wall paint scheme to the cabinet?
 
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customcab

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Dan- The silver inside the one cabinet is Silver Hammertone. I put a small LED light strip in the top and displayed some die-cast cars and a model 427 SOHC motor in it. I was originally going to use it for general storage, but once I got to thinking about those glass doors I figured I should make better use of it. The handles are chrome. I got those at Lowes. They really made the front look good. The originals looked pretty bad. I'll take some more pix.
The other cabinet isn't quite finished yet. It's going to be my "fake" Vendo 44 Coke machine. It's almost exactly the same size, but it was free! Just needed some paint, chrome trim and decals. In this pic only the top has been painted. The bottom is still primer grey, it's red now. I have a "vend" door panel from a salvaged Jacobs 26 machine that will be mounted on the front. I'll get some pix of that too.


Vendo 44-
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Jacobs 26-See that small panel where the lever is at.
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Dan in Pasadena

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customcab, Thanks for the additional info. Hammertone silver, huh? Excellent idea. I'm sure it gives the interior a lot more.

I can't wait to see this vend panel you described. I'm sure you'll make the whole thing look awesome.
 

41 Dave

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Phil, Nothing like a died in the wool Ford guy. All my builds are 100 % FoMoCo ! From my '29 Ford RPU Modified with a 2.3 Banger Motor to my chopped and customized '41 Ford Business Coupe with 351 Windsor. Love this kind of thread.

41 Dave
 
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