Another Taco Wagon Restored

[Racewriter]

In October, my dad passed away. Dad had been a mechanic basically all his life, and had accumulated a lot of tools - many of which were Snap-On. His box setup was a KRA-537 top box sitting on a KR-562Taco Wagon. He had bought the top box off the tool truck in 1986 - I was with him that day - but the Taco Wagon came from an auction several years ago. It was roached. Three drawers didn't work, the appearance was awful, and it had to have belonged previously to a diesel mechanic. I've never seen a box that grubby and I know it didn't come from Dad (the grubby part). So....tools are the closest thing to an heirloom in our family. The top box was still acceptable, appearance wise, especially after a good cleanup and waxing. It looked decent but not great. The Taco Wagon....there was no way it would look or function well. There were numerous holes drilled to mount things, the aforementioned drawer problems, bent drawers, etc. So, I called Snap-On and got new slides for the drawers. Then I went to work. Massive cleanup (Castrol Superclean is the stuff), straightening of the drawers, welding up of the holes, straightening lock rods, and mucho sanding. Got the color code from here, and three coats of Snap-On red Nason acrylic enamel, and then repolishing of the drawer trim. I got some rubber hallway runner for a top mat, and I'm still in the process of restoring the emblem. Maybe over-restoring, but I'll wear that jacket. Here are before-and-afters. I then put the KRA-537 on top of it, did some measuring, and discovered that I still have enough room for a 26" wide top chest if I put it sideways on the end. So now I'm scouting Craigslist for an old Snap-On top chest. I now have a problem. Restoring old toolboxes may get addictive. I do want to thank everyone posting here. This is my first post, but reading the forum here gave me the info I needed to restore this box.

[snapmom]

Very nice.

[snapy64]

great job looking forward to future restores and pictures

[KR537D]

Looks great, would love to see more restoration pics. I have two of these boxes myself.

What's the date code on yours?

[spacedoutbob]

I have a KR562 and I have a KR537 with a KR547 midsection mounted on the front side, on the other side, I have a KR533 with a KR541 mounted. A friend used to call it the Condominium.

Bob

[Alz]

I'm impressed, you do excellent work!

[bsg]

well done on a great family heirloom. i admire the result of your project that was obviously undertaken as a labor of love. i'd love to see more pictures. this past week i found and purchased a KR-537A (1978) top at my favorite swap meet to match and accompany my KR-577 (1978) bottom. the new-to-me KR-537A wore two of the same decals as yours was sporting before your restoration project.