Snap On chest rehab questions.

[Recoil Rob]

Got a nice deal on a KR537C top and KR557B bottom. I have all the drawers and slides out and am just going to clean up the rust and repaint where necessary, lube the slides and that's it.

On the small door that covers the small drawers on the 537C there is a black coated metal plate glued to the door front. I had to remove it to get to the rust underneath, it got all bent up and is useless now. Did it serve any purpose or was it just cosmetic? Here's a pic from a nice restoration by Lookin4'67Galaxieconv that shows the black panel.

 

[Recoil Rob]

Anyone?

 

[ZRX61]

You could powdercoat or anodize a piece of aluminum to go there, maybe a piece of polished or brush finish stainless?

 

[jrherald420]

An engine turned aluminum panel would look killer!

http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~eamonn/et/et.htm

 

[Recoil Rob]

Yep, there's a lot of things I can do but I was wondering if the rubber coated metal served a purpose?

 

[Slip_Kid]

The black coated piece was for looks only, it would look killer with a piece in diamond plate in there.

 

[crewchief888]

i hate that lil friggin door.

 

[Recoil Rob]

I'll figure something out for the door but here's a caution for anyone planning to repaint one of these.

I sanded off most of the rust and the shot the spots with some Rustoleum Rust Reformer, 24 hours to dry, then Rustoleum primer.

My plan for the finish coat was to use Rustoleum Sunrise red which is pretty close to Snap On's red to cover the priming and then use some real Snap On paint for a top coat.

The SO paint reacted with the Rustoleum underneath and I got some bubbling. If I was a perfectionist I would have sanded and started over but it's time to use the damn chests. Good enough for my garage, the rust is gone and they are red.

 

[Slip_Kid]

Sounds good, now for the pictures..................

 

[NUTTSGT]

Is the side compartment made for manuals/paperwork ?

 

[Recoil Rob]

Here's the bottom, just finished putting in the liners. I had ordered some of the liners sold on eBay, looked like a good deal but turned out it wasn't. The pictures make them look solid but when they arrived they were a flimsy mesh, worse that kitchen cabinet liners so they're going back. I went to Wally World and bought 3 yoga mats. Cut them to size and we're ready to start sorting tools. And I need to get some protection for the top, some thick rubber or Masonite.

 

[Carl B]

Did it serve any purpose or was it just cosmetic?

I have no idea what Snap-On intended - - but you can stick magnetic clips to the rubber coated surface, without scratching the paint. Then you can clip invoices, notes, parts order sheets etc there. At least that is what a friend of mine does.

On mine - I have the 65th Anniversary Logo there..

Snap-On has their own formula for their Snap-On Red... but I believe several different paint suppliers can mix it up for you, in different types of paint. Sorry to hear you had a problem mixing the Rustoleum base coat with whatever top coat you used.


FWIW,
Carl B.

 

[Recoil Rob]

Carl,

That was the only thing I could think of, attaching magnets without scratching the paint. Snap On, no longer has the part so I'll have to think of something interesting.

Just finished filling the bottom and sorting out tools, drawers fill up fast. There must be a way to maximize storing sockets and wrenches, they seem to be the biggest space hogs.