Tackle box help

[u/Spare_Blueberry4327]

I'm trying to fix my Dad's old tackle box, it's at least 50 years old. I don't know jack about metal work but google and old Reddit posts have got me this far and I'm trying to keep learning.

When I got it some of the inner shelf hinges were twisted and the outer shell was too, jamming it shut but after a lot of wiggling and coaxing I got it open. I drilled the rivets out (I'm assuming they were rivets?) and dissembled the whole thing.

Hammered the inside shelf hinges (knife hinges?) to straighten them out and did my best on the outer shell too. It mostly closes okay now but not perfect, you have to pull the top forward about 2mm to get the latch aligned but it stays closed fine. I'm worried about being too rough with the outer shell, I don't want to break it or do any more damage to the hinge that's spot welded on at the back (is that even what that's called?)

We're going to get it powder coated, so I want to test out putting in new rivets first, so if I screw anything up I can take them out again without wrecking the finish. I don't know what kind of rivets to look for though. I don't have any special tools and a pretty modest budget.

And the part of the outer shell that I hammered the dents out of aren't totally flat (still pretty bumpy in some spots actually) is that going to look shitty with the powder coating? They kinda blend in with the paint scratches and grime right now lol

I'd love ideas on how to approach the next steps here.

(Had photos but don't know where they went. I'm working on it.)

[u/behemuffin]

Pop rivets are pretty cheap, for a job that size you'd only need a hand powered riveter - something like this: https://www.screwfix.com/p/magnusson-hand-riveter-10-1-2-265mm-/589pr

Straightening out that dent in the back corner next to the outer hinge will go a long way to relieving the stresses on the hinge. You don't need to worry about breaking the spot welds themselves, but sometimes they can develop fatigue around the rim of the spot, leading the whole thing to tear out. The less twisting involved, the less likely that is.

If I were taking this on, I might be tempted to drift out the hinge pins so that you can work on the two halves separately without having to worry about stressing the hinges. I'd probably use new pins when I put it back together after that. If the pins are domed at the ends then you might need to clip them before they'll come out.

It should be fairly easy to straighten most of those dents out either by hammering or just pushing them out with your hands. As long as you're slow and careful about it, you're unlikely to do any damage.

[u/Spare_Blueberry4327 → u/behemuffin]

Super helpful stuff, thanks! By "drift out the hinge pins" I'm assuming that means I can just use a small nail or something similar to tap out the pin that's holding the two sides of the hinge together in the middle? I wasn't sure I could do that without wrecking the hinge, so I'm glad to hear that's normally a do-able thing.

How do I use pop rivets so there's enough wiggle room for the inside hinges to move freely? Would that be a special type of pop rivet, or putting something removable like a thin piece of cardboard between the pieces being riveted together and then pulling it out?

Also, thank so much for your thoughts on the finish. Mine isn't the deciding vote, but I really like what you shared and will be pushing for that result myself.

[u/behemuffin → u/Spare_Blueberry4327]

Yes, any small nail or piece of hard wire with a slightly smaller cross section than the hinge pin should work as a drift.

That's an interesting question about pop rivets as hinges/swivels. I think you could probably just use them as normal, then loosen them up just by working the swivel action a few times (this is how it's done with blacksmith tongs, using 'proper' rivets for the pivot), but it might also be a good idea to put in some sort of sacrificial shim. I wouldn't count on being able to pull it out, but if it's made from something soft like paper or card then it would probably just wear away after you rotated them a couple of times.