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SPEC Rack Facelift

OldSkool

OldSkool

Pioneer Nut
I recently acquired a Pioneer SPEC rack, but it had cosmetic and structural issues. The main issue was that all the cam-locks were missing on the bottom shelf. Because they were missing the particle board had gotten busted up some as the rack was moved about due to movement. Secondly the rack was scratched up a lot, covered in a yellow-tint due to what I guess was decades in a smokey environment. The lower shelf also had the laminate trying to come off, and on the top shelf all the threaded anchors that are in the particle board were pulled out.

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So I started by taking the whole thing down and generally cleaning everything. It was covered in spiderwebs and on the bottom, and the rest of the unit totally yellowed from smoke. I cleaned everything best I could, and then started sanding the metal frames with scotch brite.

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Next, I mixed up some epoxy, and put the anchors back in the top shelf, then cleaned it and painted it flat black. Since I didnt want epoxy in the threads, I put a small piece of tape on the tops of them before I pushed them in.

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You could probably find the camlocks at Home Depot or Lowes or Ace Hardware. I would repaint and you could always go to Home Depot and get a section of countertop, remove the backsplash and use it as the shelves. Formica is pretty durable and you could chose what color you want. Just an idea.
 
Next, I took the bottom shelf, cleaned them up much as possible, cleaned away all the crumbling particle board, then used wood glue to stop further crumbling, waited for it to dry, then painted that bottom also with flat black.

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Since I dont have the lower cam-locks, I decided to secure the lower shelf with some small brackets from the hardware store. Further, since the shelf was not going to be secured by cam-locks, that gave me the freedom to spin the shelf around, and put the damaged side towards the back, and the backside towards the front. The laminate on the back area was not damaged and looks great.

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Now those were out of the way, I then took each castor and thoroughly cleaned them (they were full of spider nests and debris) and took sandpaper and radius'd all the outer edges of the wheels. It seems the rack had been rolled over coarse concrete and the wheels were very rough. So I sanded the plastic wheels smooth, bathed them twice in Armor-All, and polished the plastic chrome covers.

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After the metal frames were sanded nicely, I cleaned them up with rags and Acetone, and started painting them. I found a great match for the OEM color at the autoparts store. It is a DupliColor paint, the color is called 'Seattle Silver' .

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After the lower end was assembled, stand it up and put on top shelf.

Looks LOTS better than it did this morning when I started and strong enough to put the separate units back in. :thmbsp:

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Since the end caps are missing at the bottom, Im going to machine two blocks out of billet aluminum on the end mill, then paint it to match the frame and slide them in with a touch of superglue to close off the frames.
 
Any chance of some dimensions?

I'd love to copy it (probably from mild steel and hardwood)

I would have little or no chance finding one here.

You have done a great job!
 
aussiedan said:
Any chance of some dimensions?

I'd love to copy it (probably from mild steel and hardwood)

I would have little or no chance finding one here.

You have done a great job!
Click to expand...

Sure, I will measure everything exactly, draw up some drawings and post 'em. Shouldnt be that hard really. I could easily replicate this thing with the tig welder and some light wall tubing. I even saw some castors at Ace Hardware that were almost exactly the same as these.

The el cheapo camera doesnt show how nice it has turned out, the flat black areas ARE perfectly painted - just that hoaky flash on the $60 pocket camera makes it look bad. And that paint is almost a perfect match. (well as close as I can determine after washing off decades of tar & nicotine grime.)

Will get the dimensions soon as possible.
 
OldSkool said:
Sure, I will measure everything exactly, draw up some drawings and post 'em. Shouldnt be that hard really. I could easily replicate this thing with the tig welder and some light wall tubing. I even saw some castors at Ace Hardware that were almost exactly the same as these.

The el cheapo camera doesnt show how nice it has turned out, the flat black areas ARE perfectly painted - just that hoaky flash on the $60 pocket camera makes it look bad. And that paint is almost a perfect match. (well as close as I can determine after washing off decades of tar & nicotine grime.)

Will get the dimensions soon as possible.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate.
I have some wheels that look very similar, only black not chrome. They may do.
I can source some stainless that would make for a nice job and save painting - depending on the sections in your dims. I only have a dc tig, I would have to use a mates ac/dc to do it in alum - then owe him a favor!
So Im picturing one in polished stainless, with a dark coloured wood like walnut (or maybe cheaper veneer)

Im no photographer, but I get good results using a worklight on a stand, camera rest, and turn the flash off. You can adjust the position of the light for the least/most reflection. The rest helps as the shutter stays open longer and can get blurry.Try it and see if it works for you.
 
That looks like work very well thought out and nicely completed! With this much attention to the rack I can imagine that the rest will look like when you get it loaded with gear! Keep posting.
DC
 
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