What kind of a monster spray paints over beautiful chrome?! I picked up this poor toolbox off Facebook Marketplace for a whopping $5. Rust was bubbling up under the paint everywhere and the hinges were completely frozen open with gunked up paint and rust. It smelled like a mix of musty carpeting and WD40.

Scraping away the hideous bluegreen spray paint revealed the maker: Kennedy. Kennedy manufactures toolboxes and toolbox accessories in Van Wert, Ohio, USA. This particular toolbox was likely made in the 1960’s or 1970’s. It may have originally come with an insert tray, but this one did not have one when I bought it. This toolbox would’ve been a plain red when originally manufactured, but I decided it deserved a little flair with some stripes after all it had been through. I still wanted to include the Kennedy script logo somewhere as well, so to make it less intrusive and detracting to the eye, I relocated it to the inside lid edge. It was originally located on the outside lowerleft corner of the lid.

Timestamps:
0:00 1:05 Overview
1:16 4:33 Disassembly
4:34 7:06 Paint removal
7:07 7:23 Dent removal
7:24 8:17 Patching and filling in holes
8:16 8:34 Sanding and painting handle
8:35 9:54 Wire wheeling and rust removal on chrome pieces
9:55 10:38 Sanding, polishing, nickel plating pieces
10:39 13:30 Priming and painting
13:31 14:26 Assembly
14:27 15:14 Installing toolbox liner
15:15 15:35 Stenciling logo
15:36 16:53 Before/After
16:54 Thank you and subscribe!

Additional restoration notes: This was the first time I had tried Rustoleum’s Farm & Implement paint. Rustoleum totes it as a superior rustprotecting paint and results in a more durable finish. I noticed the paint did seem to spray on thicker than regular Rustoleum enamel spray paints, but I did not test the durability claim, as I clear coat all my projects anyways. I suspect it performs marginally better than regular spray paint. The nozzle tip is a traditional small tip (unlike the wider tips on most spray paint cans today), which results in finger fatigue quickly and sprays the paint in a small, narrow spray pattern. I’d recommend a pistol grip nozzle attachment if you use this spray paint.

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#Restoration #Vintage #Toolbox