Stanley Vidmar Cabinet Restoration

[72 Satellite]

Recently scored a 90's Stanley Vidmar Cabinet from work. A manager got about a half dozen cabinets from another plant location, and "raffled" them off. I was lucky enough to get one. These are definitely top shelf units, and I'm sure glad they didn't get scrapped. Not sure how long they sat around not being used, but the 30 plus year grease in the drawer roller bearings was stiff as could be. First order of business was a complete cleaning of the exterior in preparation for repaint. Next I hit it with some 80 grit on the DA sander. Followed by another cleaning, and finally a thorough Acetone wipedown. Applied a coat of Primer in preparation for the Basecoat. I had 3.5 cans of B5 blue paint from Herbs that I decided to use. I knew I'd probably need more, so I ordered 3 more cans in the meantime. I decided to paint the aluminum drawer pulls gloss white. This blue/White scheme would match my 72 Satellite. Not exactly, since the blue on my Satellite isn't B5, at least not yet. I ordered some 6" Casters from Service Caster. They make some killer wheels with inner & outter grease fittings. Bonus that they are red, so now I have the complete Satellite color scheme! Cleaning, degreasing, drying all 48 roller bearings, before re-greasing, took longer than i thought. Next up I'll clear coat the box, before putting the pull handles back on. Lastly, I'm considering a 72 style strobe stripe, along with other Mopar related decals.

Thanks for listening.

Rob

 

[72 Satellite]

Drawer pulls removed, and first stage of cleaning/degreasing underway.

 

[72 Satellite]

Car Condom on, and Primer application.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Nice! I could use a few of those... But I'd have to sell my cars to afford them...

 

[72 Satellite]

First few coats of B5 bright blue.

 

[72 Satellite]

Nice! I could use a few of those... But I'd have to sell my cars to afford them...

You're not kidding, they are expensive. That's why I didn't mind spending a few bucks on paint and Casters...

 

[72 Satellite]

Could use another coat, but that will have to do. Man I could use a paint booth, what a pain cleaning and vacuuming up afterwards. You wouldn't think a few spraybombs could make that much of a mess! Oh well, I'll send more pics as I progress. Also, I ordered new plastic drawer pull ends, and paper label inserts, along with the clear plastic strips that cover the labels. I'll order drawer covers/mats as well. I shouldn't need any dividers since these had a whole lot of different sizes in the drawers to begin with.

 

[72 Satellite]

Wet sanding and Polishing finished. Drawer pulls installed. Waiting on paper/label inserts, and clear covers for the drawer pulls.

This was really an exercise in educating myself about paint correction, so I'd have the courage to tackle those issues on my car. Bought a decent random orbital polisher kit from Griots, and went to town. Again increased my respect for those that do this on an expert level.

Rob

 

[72 Satellite]

Stanley label (upper left corner) delaminated when I removed masking tape. That's all getting covered with a cool Plymouth piece the P.O. had made as a bezel in place of the Strato-Vent on the 72 Satellite.

 

[72 Satellite]

Plymouth piece barely fit...up against the lock cylinder on one side, and an inner support rail on the other.

 

[72 Satellite]

Drawer label inserts, and end caps arrived. Was able to remove the lock cylinder and decipher the key#. Ordered a used key from ebay.

Now I can stop procrastinating on the work that needs to be done on the Satellite. First up will be installing the new, larger T-bars. Then change over to Hydro-boost brakes, along with new Borgeson steering box. Might as well get a new steering pump and brackets while I'm at it.