little update, in the bottom of the box was a set of brushes new in the box. took it apart and it is working again. Guess it just needed a little maintenance..
When I was a boat mechanic the guy that owned the joint had a bunch of storage units. One day he handed me some bolt cutters and angrily said "go cut open number 130 and clean it out. I don't care what's there, get rid of it. Guy hasn't paid me in six months.". I went and cut the lock off, popped the door to find an 88 Chevy regular cab 4x4, with the bed full of vintage tools in beautiful vintage machinist tool boxes. He said get rid of it, and I did! Lol. I still have all the boxes and tools and I drove the truck for years before selling it (had to have one of my girlfriends at the SOS help me out with 'creative titling')... I don't think to this day he had any idea what was in there, and he didn't care I guess...
Oldest useful tools - 1/2" drive ratchet, sockets and speeder made by New Britain for Craftsman in the late 30s. Not chrome, not cad or nickel plated, just bare steel. Found the set in the trunk of a parts car about 38 years ago. The Breaker bar disappeared ages ago and the ratchet lost its little push thru peg a long time ago. I also have some sockets that were made of/stamped from pressed steel, about 100 years old, but they are more of a "decorative" thing in my toolbox.
The Jalopy Journal
