1949 Lincoln Service Merchandizer Work Station restoration.

Before they had the huge Snap-On tool boxes mechanics worked out of these. I've been looking for one for a few years for my shop. I believe that they made quite a few of these back in the day, but they seem to be pretty rare in this part of the country . I finally found one on the local internet marketplace page. A hundred miles away. I've never seen one in person until I got this one. To say it was rough would be generous I think. It was missing the left cabinet door and had holes punched in the sides and dents all over. Painted blue latex over several other colors made it look pretty forlorn. After sandblasting this is what I had to work with. It had been welded together in several places and had some reinforcing done that was probably a good thing. I suspect it helped hold it together all these years. The bottom was rusted on the left side down low. .

 

Congratulations, That’s a good find.

 

That looks like a fun restoration.

 

This is what a nice one looks like. I hope mine can look this good someday.

 

Good find . I’m sure that You will have it back like new in no time at all .

 

There is a company making reproductions of these .

they are too cool !!

Post your progress and more pics please !!

 

The first order of business is to fix the rusted out parts. I cut a piece of sheet metal and bent it up in my table vice to the correct contours. A metal brake would be handy but, I don' have one. I welded it in flush on this one repair, but later decided to wrap the repairs on the outside in order to make the bottom edge into two layers to be more rigid and to simplify the work. To be honest, I don't think this thing warrants a "concourse" restoration back to how it was originally. They don't appear to be terribly valuable so I'm going to build it to please me without getting to crazy on details.

 

The bottom floor of the left cabinet was rusted out so I took a shelf I had laying around and cut a new floor out of it. In order to get a nice sharp edge, It worked best to cut and weld a flange onto the panel rather than to try and bend one. Plasma cutters are so handy. I was able to save the original two preformed edges from the new cut down shelf also. Sure the new part has holes in it the original piece didn't, but it was free and the holes are spaced evenly so it kinda looks like it should be that way.

 

With the new floor installed the next order of business was to build a door to replace the missing one. I had a door from a large cabinet that I could cut down. The plasma cutter made quick work out of it. It turned out much better than I expected.

 

Wow, you're coming along, congrats. What color and appearance will it get? Do you have pics from it in the condition back in the days?

 

Back to the bottom edge. It was easier to just wrap the bottom than to weld in a repair. I had some metal left over from the door fabrication so I cut a nice 3 inch wide strip and bent it to match the profile of the base. Welded in place it looked almost like it should be there.

 

The first door turned out so good I decided to build the others also. I figured it would be easier than straightening the originals. Using another scrap door I was able to build 3 more doors. It worked well to cut the hinge area off the original doors and weld them onto the new doors rather than fabbing up the new hinge mounts. I was missing a handle for the cabinet doors and found a pair on E-Bay that looked appropriate for the era.

 

Shelves are painted and cabinet is primered. .

 

Not only is this thing large and cumbersome it's heavy. The best way to move it around turned out to be a couple of creepers. The original literature says it weighs 600 lbs all together. My back says that's pretty close.

 

I decided on a 2 tone paint job using colors that were common in the 50s. I came up with a turquoise and beige. These were all white originally but I wanted a little more "POP". I drew up a few different paint schemes to see which one I liked the best and chose this one that separates colors top to bottom.

 

This looks so fancy

now you need some grey and her brand tools to fill it up n look period correct

An old snap on coffee mug n ash tray as well !!

 

^^^ And a girlie calendar

 

Now they are called “they , thems that identifies as a gender fluid latte macchiato from star bucks “

don’t be stuck in the past man !!!

 

I'm pleased with the body work and how the colors turned out.

 

Geeze, just trying to be traditional... Gimme a break, would ya, I'm old!

 

Nice job. Only ever saw 1 in a garage years ago. Awesome!

 

It's getting close now. I built a base to lift it about 10 inches off the floor. It was a little short and I thought it would look more impressive if it was taller. I used some 2x6s and 2x10s to build the base, then filled and primed it. With a coat of matching paint it looks like it belongs. Now I need a nice looking work top for the bench and some fancy
chrome trim to dress it up.

 

It's coming out very nice!

 

Now we're talking! It's almost done. I built some side panels for the inner walls of the cabinets above the work surface and painted them green. Those walls were really rough and I didn't think I could straighten them out without a bunch of bondo so I made panels to cover the area. The original lighting works too. The work top was a challenge. The original was steel and covered with dents and rust. I wanted something nice and fairly durable, but it's not going to be used as a work surface anymore so it didn't need to be indestructible. I found some ceramic tiles and used them. They're beautiful and if I break one they cost about $4 to buy a new one. Just a few more details to go. The big problem now is , It's too nice to be in my shop. I've painted cars in less time than I have in this thing. I'm scared something will happen to it. It's just a matter of time before something shoots across the shop and hits it, or something falls into it.

 

Very nice !

 

Amazing work it looks beautiful

 

Not only did you do a great job, but it only took you two weeks!
Seriously, it really looks good. Kudos...

 

These things had an emblem in the center of the header panel originally but because this was such a piece of crap to begin with, it was missing off of this one. I wanted something to put in the spot and thought a clock would look nice. I found one that I thought might look appropriate at a thrift store for $3.00. I painted it white to match and built a fairing to mate it up to the header, then stuck a chrome strip around it, and by golly, it looks pretty good!
Almost like it belongs.
.

 

Beautiful job! Now there's another item on the wish list...