Hello!! I am new to garage journal and am wondering if anybody can give me some steps on tool box restoration, I have acquired an old proto top chest box and it has a few scratches, bumps and somebody had decided to try to paint it black although I would like to bring it back to life in its original color red, let me know if you have been through this before and have any advice to lend me, thanks
Tool box restoration
- Thread starter Mittys
- Start date
Matt018888
Well-known member
I just sand blasted it, primed and painted. If you have anything with the original color any paint store can match it. If you can't sand blast it you could chemically strip it or sand it. I wouldn't use a rattle can tho.
Welcome aboard Mittys! Meanwhile, you might be able to strip/rub/brush that black paint off while doing little damage to the original red (if it's still there). I recently finished 'restoring' a '79 Proto roll-around that I picked up for $20 ~ 3 yrs ago. Box was pretty badly dented on two lower corners and had some serious surface rust here and there. Got it straightened out enough and removed the worst rust with much effort. I let the 'bare' de-rusted steel gain a forced patina using vinegar. I left the remaining 90+% (?) OEM red paint as is. It turned out to be much better than I expected.
Hammer1963
Well-known member
There have been several good post in the Tool section of the GJ that have documented restores of such. I would search those and put together the best of each profile and see where that takes you.
Walkers
Well-known member
Most of the time that a red tool box has been painted black it was done with little prep and spray cans. I bought a 2007 diesel Silverado on eBay super cheap because some ******* spray painted a lot of stuff inside and outside. I simply used brake fluid, painted on with a foam brush, waited a few hours and pressure washed everything off. None of the factory painted surfaces were damaged.
I picked up a Mac MB920 recently that needs some cleanup, not even really restoration just TLC.
The first step I’m planning is to wipe things down with WD40 to discourage any further rusting. I’ll try to scrape the rust and loose paint off with paper towels but leave as much of the original paint as I can.
Initially I had planned to sandblast and re-paint it, but I don’t have blasting gear yet and the problem spots are reasonably isolated.
The first step I’m planning is to wipe things down with WD40 to discourage any further rusting. I’ll try to scrape the rust and loose paint off with paper towels but leave as much of the original paint as I can.
Initially I had planned to sandblast and re-paint it, but I don’t have blasting gear yet and the problem spots are reasonably isolated.
ZRX61
Well-known member
The paint on those Mac boxes wipes off with a rag & lacquer thinner. Then you can just buzz any rust off with a scotchbrite roloc disc.
I cut a deal with a local powder coater where I paid the material cost for two colors & traded (free to me) ammo for the labor. Cost me $80 out of pocket, would have been $240.
That looks fantastic! I may go that way with it eventually but for now I don’t mind the chipped and peeling paint at all. I’ll probably do my best to knock the rust off with wire brushes, and wipe the surfaces down with WD40 so it rusts a little slower..
A few of the slides don’t work perfectly. Looks like somebody leaned on the right corner of the top drawer at full extension. The slide is only slight bent but it sticks at the halfway point. I switched it with the one second from the bottom and the top drawer now moves freely. The other drawer where I put the vent slide also moves freely, I guess the mating parts are in better shape.
Posts from a few years ago say that Mac still supplies these slides. Maybe I should grab a few.
I really like these friction slide boxes. When the drawer hits the backstops on the slides the whole chest makes a satisfying little “boom” sound.
A few of the slides don’t work perfectly. Looks like somebody leaned on the right corner of the top drawer at full extension. The slide is only slight bent but it sticks at the halfway point. I switched it with the one second from the bottom and the top drawer now moves freely. The other drawer where I put the vent slide also moves freely, I guess the mating parts are in better shape.
Posts from a few years ago say that Mac still supplies these slides. Maybe I should grab a few.
I really like these friction slide boxes. When the drawer hits the backstops on the slides the whole chest makes a satisfying little “boom” sound.
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ZRX61
Well-known member
Gibbs Oil...
Interesting. Some people say the WD-40 will damage paint, over the long term. I’d rather not do that. Other people say WD-40 leaves an oily residue that attracts dust. This is certainly true but not really a big problem for most surfaces of a toolbox.
Why do you recommend Gibbs lubricant over WD-40? I’m coming from a place of ignorance, just trying to sort out conflicting information from around the web.
ZRX61
Well-known member
There's a guy out of a Colorado salvage yard driving a '39 Plymouth pickup with a Jacobs radial engine up front. They use Gibbs oil on the bare metal.
I just finished one really similar to that. I didn’t have a sandblaster either so I just sanded the paint until it was scuffed up really good and then cleaned it up before painting. I ended up selling it because it was too good to pass up the but last I saw it was holding up really well.I picked up a Mac MB920 recently that needs some cleanup, not even really restoration just TLC.
The first step I’m planning is to wipe things down with WD40 to discourage any further rusting. I’ll try to scrape the rust and loose paint off with paper towels but leave as much of the original paint as I can.
Initially I had planned to sandblast and re-paint it, but I don’t have blasting gear yet and the problem spots are reasonably isolated.
