Restoring Snap-On Tool Box and Tools

[C-130 Driver]

Unfortunately my father just passed away and I went to his body shop and recovered all his tools and tool boxes. He was a body man (great one too) for the past 40 years and accumulated a massive quantity of Snap-On and Matco tools and a couple of large vintage tool boxes. I brought home the main box and some of the tools and will go retrieve the rest later. The boxes are all straight with no rust but are worn out from daily use. Any starting point to cleaning them up?

His tools were daily users, both them and the boxes were covered in a thick layer of dust from decades of grinding and painting. Many of the tools are dirty.

Before I go to cleaning it all up, what should I know? Are there any "do nots" for cleaning up the tools? Any best methods for restoring the hand tools to original shine?

I don't have a shop compressor so I left all of his pneumatic tools at his house for now. He only ever used pneumatic tools and it appears he may have single-handedly kept his Snap-On and Matco dealers in business for decades with the dozens and dozens of models he has.

What should I know about the pneumatics? Many of them are decades old, is there any restoration work I should do before putting them on the line and trying to use them?

 

[ZRX61]

Start by posting pics
... & location if you're going to sell them

 

[C-130 Driver]

I don't know how I didn't think of including pictures. Here are the boxes I brought home. Every drawer was overflowing with tools so I had to remove most to move it.

 

[C-130 Driver]

Unfortunately he was good at keeping track of everyghing, but every drawer looks like this. I didn't know until I got home that Snap-On tools were as high quality as they are.

So now I'm wanting to get all the grime and dust off the tools. I just don't want to find out later I've ruined something buy dunking it in water or using simple green or anything.

 

[FJ 432]

Paint can be fragile on the boxes. First use Dawn Dish detergent in a spray bottle mixed with water. This will remove most of the dust.

Simple green can be used in some cases but I would test the back of the box first. It can at full strength Remove paint.

 

[FJ 432]

Your father's boxes are fairly typical, the middle box being the rarest of the three.

Body men (with their dusty environment) are brutal on the tools.

Do not remove the stickers.

 

[C-130 Driver]

Paint can be fragile on the boxes. First use Dawn Dish detergent in a spray bottle mixed with water. This will remove most of the dust.

Simple green can be used in some cases but I would test the back of the box first. It can at full strength Remove paint.

Thank you very much, that's the starting advice I was hoping for. My fear was that I would walk out and suddenly start removing paint or creating a hot spot for rust accidentally.

You're right about how hard he was on the boxes. The dust is extremely fine and probably part of every car he worked on in the past 40 years. All those years of grinding, bondo, paint, and so on. But under the grime the tools still look really good.

I just feel like a fool for emptying several drawers of wrenches and leaving them at his house for now because "Well I don't need this many wrenches for now and all this is too heavy. Besides these are all specialty tools that I won't use for a while..."

 

[C-130 Driver]

Your father's boxes are fairly typical, the middle box being the rarest of the three.

Body men (with their dusty environment) are brutal on the tools.

Do not remove the stickers.

I've seen you guys reference the model numbers, these are listed as KR-537A, KR-547B, and KR-557B.

Is the "78" after "Kenosha Wisc USA" the year number?

 

[FJ 432]

I've seen you guys reference the model numbers, these are listed as KR-537A, KR-547B, and KR-557B.

Is the "78" after "Kenosha Wisc USA" the year number?

Yes. Good quality boxes.
Post where you're located.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Sorry to hear about your father. As for cleaning the tools, for the standard stuff (wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.) soap and water will work fine. There are a number of threads here about how to disassemble ratchets to clean and grease them. For the boxes themselves, again soap and water is a good place to start. Since they were in a body shop there may be overspray on them - you can paint prep products that will help remove that, or else a regular automotive rubbing compound followed by an automotive wax. Chances are his coworkers will be able to advise and maybe even help on cleaning up the boxes.

 

[FJ 432]

Sorry to hear about your father.

I second this sentiment.

My father passed away in 2010. I cherish his tools being that these are the items that placed food on our table.

 

[C-130 Driver]

Yes. Good quality boxes.
Post where you're located.

Thank you. My father was a simple man who was not very materialistic and I never realized the quality of his tools. We just used them. He and I worked on a few projects together. I live out of state now and went to his shop to clean up his area, his coworkers were helping me and pointing out more of his stuff and I said "I don't do much body work so if you guys have a better use for his jack or any of this I could probably leave it with you..." I was told pretty quick "No, this is good stuff, you're going to want to hang on to all of this."

I'm in Arkansas now and am hoping to clean all of this up and put it to use teaching my own kids to be self sufficient.

 

[C-130 Driver]

Sorry to hear about your father. As for cleaning the tools, for the standard stuff (wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.) soap and water will work fine. There are a number of threads here about how to disassemble ratchets to clean and grease them. For the boxes themselves, again soap and water is a good place to start. Since they were in a body shop there may be overspray on them - you can paint prep products that will help remove that, or else a regular automotive rubbing compound followed by an automotive wax. Chances are his coworkers will be able to advise and maybe even help on cleaning up the boxes.

Thank you very much. It's tough losing a parent. He was sick the past couple of years and you would think that would give you time to prepare but it doesn't.

I'm glad I found this place while searching the internet for a starting point with his boxes. You're right that there is a lot of conversation that has already been had and a lot that I can learn from.

 

[sweet valley high]

My condolences on your loss.

I lost my father last year and was given many of his tool by him after my mother passed the prior year when he was moving out of their home. I can say my dad was very happy that I had his tools and encouraged me to use them. Some of those tools I remember us using when I was a kid, others came from my grandfather which were given to him when he passed.

Clean them up, cherish them but most importantly use them.

 

[rsanter]

Remove all the tools and sort them by category and then put then into sets as you can.

Remove the toolbox drawers and the slides, pressure wash that toolbox inside and out. It won't hurt the box, I do it to all the boxes I buy used

A lot of the body shop residue will come off with polishing compound like you use on your car. Just don't over do it as you can polish through the paint just like you can with your car.

With it clean and apart you can inspect all the slides and rails. Then reassemble if everything is good

Bob

 

[humber2]

http://collectingsnapon.com/index.php

As you clean and line up sets you should find Catalog pages useful.

Date codes on the tools may give clues when his buying was done.

Lots of options with a substantial collection.

 

[countryroad82]

Sorry for your loss. As stated the hand tools and boxes are pretty easily cleaned up. The air tools however...... I'm a body man, I know how bodymen treat air tools. I see me abuse them every day. How? Most of us rarely oil our air tools. It's out of fear of cross contaminating the metal, body filler, or primer. I always feel it's cheaper to have to replace a die grinder, sander, whatever every once in awhile verses ONE redo due to my air tool spitting oil on my work, soaking in before I notice it or get it REALLY CLEAN, then make the paint or primer lift off or do something crazy and make me look bad. What I'm getting at is don't be surprised if most of his air tools are pretty much junk. But being your fathers and knowing it was him that wore them out I could see really neat wall hanging potential out of them or some type of artsy type thing. Or they might be able to come back to life. Keep us posted!

 

[cgrutt]

Sorry for your loss. The hand tools will clean up easily as mentioned above. Just remember water and steel don't mix so be sure to put everything away dry, esp. if there is a chance that some water may have gotten into internals, like ratchets and such. A light coat of oil or WD-40 on a rag won't do any harm. Run some air tool oil (just a few drops) through the pneumatics and see how they run. They sell rebuild kits if any don't run. Hard to say if its worth it or not without knowing what you'll do with them unless you just want to restore them because they were your dads. Post up pics if you have any questions and good folks here will point you in right direction. The boxes don't look too bad actually. I'd start by wiping them down and see how it goes. You may want to grease slides if drawers aren't opening and closing smoothly. Good luck.

 

[jn50308401]

My condolences and I'm sure your father would be happy his son has the tools and box. My grandfather was a 40 year mechanic and many of his tools were plundered by friends and relatives before my dad could get his box.

On the clean up, I'm wondering if one of those little ultra sonic cleaners from Harbor Freight would take care of the hand tools like sockets and ratchets. If their are any old plastic handle screw drivers, be weary of how you clean them up. The old plastic doesn't like caustic chemicals, just some plain water and some dish soap.

For the box, take as far down as you feel comfortable with. It's a lot of scrubbing and degreasing. I would start gentle. The paint on these old boxes is single stage and thin. Once clean, some buffing compound and wax would clean it up nicely.

The drawer slides are a little tricky to remove, there is a small sheet metal tool snap on had for releasing the slides. You dad may have had one in his box. A thinned down hacksaw blade can work too.

Enjoy and post pics when you can.



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[nynexit]

^^ I'll echo the sentiments above and went through a similar experience ten years ago when my dad died. I would also advise you to be very careful about what you dispose of or give away. It can be overwhelming to sort through - sure but it's part of the process of moving on. Make sets , clean 'em up and use them.


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[mntbkrguy]

I just picked mine up in NC

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JBTJkUF3BmfWmeS2A
https://photos.app.goo.gl/s6iqQ2kND2kQTw1s8

 

[Toolmaker65]

My condolences on the loss of your Dad. The advice on the cleaning of his boxes is spot on since he was a body man and didn't see a whole lot of oil and grease since it does not mix well with paint.

With the hand tools, you can also try mineral spirits as that softens and removes grease and oil. It may also help soften some of the paint overspray that may be present as well as dust. Use a toothbrush (old or new doesn't matter, just don't use on that is currently being used by someone) to clean lettering, kneeling and insides of sockets and box wrenches where possible. Be careful on ratchets or ratcheting wrenches as they will require oiling and greasing of the mechanisms afterwards. Just let them soak until you have time to scrub them up.

Be careful with wood, plastic, and rubber because they (or any labels or painted or inked lettering may not be able to withstand prolonged contact). Wiping these with Dawn dish detergent would probably be best.

When working with the mineral spirits, wear gloves as it will **** the oil out of your skin turning you Caspar the Ghost white and even lead to some possibly painful cracking if contact with bare skin is often or long enough.

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[chrismenke]

I use Tub o Towels to clean every tool before I put them back in the box. Keeps things looking new and are an affordable alternative to Snap On Tool Wipes. LocTite wipes are in the middle.

I'v just set up my grandfather's lathe...it is a nice way to keep a memory alive, using someone's old tools, and worth the effort to clean them up again (drat...maybe I should be cleaning that lathe...).