I realized that these top boxes, or any MAC boxes of this vintage were nearly impossible to find. I would offer him cash from time to time, gradually upping my offers. I also kept after the original mechanic that I bought the bottom box from. I searched the internet, Craigslist and eBay for literally years. I yearned after that retro cool box, with the old school car radio, power outlets, flat top and even the weird cabinet doors. I never forgot about the top box, though. Most shops have their own power and radios/stereos or boom boxes. Meaning, if you needed power and a radio, and tool storage, this box would do it all. Clearly this was an old design, as car radios, even the two post style, came with clocks in the digital age, mid 80's! My best guess is that this top of the line MAC tool box, would be great as a stand alone 'island' in your shop or garage. It even ran off of the converter, if you kept your box plugged in. there was actually a separate, digital clock mounted to the side of the radio. You also had to remove the entire radio 'tray' to access the radio, converter and clock. However on these vintage boxes, the provision is for the older style two post car radio. The automotive radio is an interesting idea, that is still used, today. They said that they had no use for outlets, on the outside of the box, and tripping over the cumbersome extension cord. Both mechanics I talked to virtually never used the 110 outlets. In addition, there are locking compartments, inside the top right 'cubby area, and all of the lower drawers can be locked, separately. These doors/this style was discontinued after only a couple of years of production. One mechanic said that there were way too many little compartments in the swinging cabinet doors, to lose small items in. The doors do swing all the way open, flush to the sides of the tool box. What I found is that most simply left them open, all of the time. These doors did not lend themselves to locking up your tool box at night. They required a lot of clearance, to swing open, on either side. The swinging 'cupboard' doors were not very well liked. The flat top was a well liked feature, as a catch all for paint cans, lubricants, brake kleen etc.
Mac mb1850 tool box for sale professional#
I have spoken with a couple of professional mechanics who own or have owned this box. Here are a few pictures of the MBN1700/MB1710 set. This set came with two 110 outlets, a car stereo provision, with a power converter, a detachable automotive antenna, and two 6 1/2' round automotive speakers, mounted in the doors. Mine originally was a set, with the MB1710 top box, pictured below. You have to imagine a much dirtier, greasy dusty old box, though! The MAC MB1700 that I had just purchased was MAC's top of the line tool box, in the late 80's. The above picture is just how my box looked. He recently closed his business due to health issues and this box is a left over. This actually belongs to my father, who was a Mac Tools Distributor for over 16 years. I have a brand new Mac Tools MB1350 Macsimizer Tool Box for sale. Below is toolbox description from website.
So I bought the bottom box for approximately 1/3 of what they normally sell for, $500! The box would clean up just fine, and the drawer slides just needed to be cleaned, de-greased and then properly lubed. However, I was able to recognize that there were no dents or dings, nor any real defects. In addition many of the drawers were sticky and did not slide open freely. It was extremely dirty, from 20+ years of use. I checked out the box and it was in very good condition. These older boxes are 50' or so in length, boxes are customarily much larger, now. The Snap On dealer really didn't want to take the lower box into his inventory, due to its age and size. The old one was a MAC 1700B, like the one pictured below. A local mechanic was purchasing a new bottom box, and trading in his old one. So a few years ago I was presented with an opportunity to purchase a vintage MAC tool box.
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