Topic: Slot Car Pit Boxes
I have started working on some of my slot boxes. I took the worst of the boxes (K) and stripped all the hardware off of it. My mission was to keep this box as original as possible. I put the hardware (hinges and latches) in my tumbler for cleaning. The hardware was in pretty sad shape, rustly and corroded. After 24 hours most of the pieces were looking pretty good except for two of the hinges that were destroyed in the cleaning process.
The wood panels were in pretty sad shape as well. The corners and edges were broken and chipped. A trip to Tap Plastics produced an epoxy product that turned out to be exceptional. I used this epoxy to repair all the corners and the edges of the box panels where wood had chipped off. After repairing the panels, re-nailing and regluing loose and broken joints of the box, I sanded the expoxy filler and smoothed the panel surfaces. An original Gulf sticker was still on the front panel of the box. It was in fair condition with the edges just starting to become brittle and pulling loose. I trimmed the edges of the sticker where it had had curled up, and then covered the sticker with Mod Podge to permanently seal it to the panel. Since the original finish on the box was in such bad shape, I used a red mahogany stain to try and match the original dark stain look of the box, or at least get as close as I could to the original finish. After the staining was complete and dry I applied two coats of clear on all the panels.
Once the finish was dry I started reassembling the box. The tumbler had done an excellent job of bringing the latches, hasp, top corner protectors and two of the hinges back. I reinstalled those parts using new brass screws. Two of the hinges were in really bad shape and were destroyed in the cleaning process. I replaced the hinges for the top with a new piano hinge. I also added new brass corner protectors to the bottom corners of the box. The hasp pieces had come apart in the tumbler and I was unable to find the hinge pin for it. I used a new piece of brass rod as a hinge pin and repaired the hasp. I used a wire wheel on a Dremel tool to clean up the handle hardware. I reattached the handle using new brass machine bolts, flat washers, and nuts.
At this point there is no interior in this box. No shelves, no nothing. I will start working on the inside at a later date, but for now here it is:
