Snap On box resto, drawer pulls

[Glassdave]

Hi all, dont post much but just scored an older Snap On box that i want to restore and was hoping someone on here could point me in a direction to get a suitable replacement for the drawer edge pulls/guards. They dont necessarily have to be the OEM ones but i would like a nice press fit aluminum pieces. Not interested in the plastic door edge guard stuff. Its a KR550B and KR555B, not sure what year but i am thinking mid eighties maybe?

I got this box for $30 (yeah . . . thirty bucks ) out of a storage unit that is across the street from my shop. My local scrap guy has a contract to haul off stuff they clean out of abandoned units and he came right over with it when they called him to get it knowing i'd be interested. Said hey you can have it for scrap value lol. Figured i could use another box anyway and other then being pretty dirty its in good shape no dents to speak of, certainly worth throwing some time at

 

[Druder]

Are those ones bad enough that you couldn't restore them? With some heat you could probably get them off and refinish them.

 

[crewchief888]

yea i'd say mid 80's as well. the date codes should be stamped on the boxes right near the model numbers...

during those years the drawer pulls were a matte finish. i never saw any polished ones until the mid 90's

i have the same boxes, as well as the funky,( and kinda rare) side opening side box....

 

[Glassdave]

Druder - yes i cleaned them with some 0000 steel wool and they came out ok but I'd figure i check and see if new ones could be located anywhere. I own a custom paint shop so i can get the painted surface lookin good as new, i really would like to bring it up to better then OEM when finished. Hope to find some suitable drawer edge guard thingys, corner caps would be nice to but thats a long shot

Crew - i graduated high school in the mid 80's and bought my first Snap-On box, a 65th anniversary Showcase, right around then. I seem to remember the KR55? style box coming out at that time. It pre dates bearing sliders with my Showcase being the first box to have them (just on the bottom drawers though). This certainly is a BIG box, for that time anyway. I get a kick out of finding something like this and restoring it, back then it was out of my range and i had to settle for the smaller Showcase which served me very well for many years. Right around that time i also spied one of these at the local Snap On regional office and was told they were giveaway incentives for the sales guys and were not for sale, if memory serves. I seem to also remember they had like one per region or something like that. I found this one a purchased it a couple years ago, the one i saw in the 80's and this one are the only ones i have ever seen. It sits on the desk in my office

 

[crewchief888]

I don't remember the exact dates, I think 85 was the last of the friction slide box, earlier versions had friction slides, and didn't have the drawer trim. 83/84 was the year they switched to the new logo from the old rectangular one.

 

[Glassdave]

she cleaned up pretty good, i ended up just cleaning the drawer pulls with 000 steel wool and taped them off. Spent couple hours sanding and prepping then shot a few coats of PPG Concept single stage. i'm pretty happy with it for the couple hundred i have in it

 

[469 runner]

That looks great. Time well spent.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

You **** bad!

 

[Glassdave]

lol



going to start moving in this morning.

 

[joel63]

she cleaned up pretty good, i ended up just cleaning the drawer pulls with 000 steel wool and taped them off. Spent couple hours sanding and prepping then shot a few coats of PPG Concept single stage. i'm pretty happy with it for the couple hundred i have in it

Damn!

That's one heck of a transformation.

Enjoy.

 

[Glassdave]

welp . . . getting there. bought most of my Snap On stuff in the 80's and 90's so they feel right at home in this vintage box lol . . . .new drawer liners to