MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

MISSION: To prove my Boss wrong and to make something old "new" again in the process. We have an old (used to be) green metal cart kicking around my place of work that still gets used daily. Recently a co-worker member mentioned that she wished it worked better. I couldn't agree more. Customers are startled by the loud rattling sound. The surface is a sight for sore eyes - covered in rusty spots and sticker residue from years of use. Let’s just say it’s embarrassing ti be behind the wheels. I took her comment as a challenge ... the Repair Challenge! Even my boss wasn't sure if I had it in me to complete the transformation when I pitched the idea to him. He had given up on trying to bring it back to life. So I went to work at taking care of those squeaky wheels and planned to give it a facelift while I was at it. The challenge was on! First up was to clean off the flaking rust on the underside of the cart. Using a wire brush I was able to get a fair bit of the loose pieces of rust off pretty easily. Next up I had to tackle the gunk around the wheels. To do so I took an angled tool to get into the tough spots around the castor wheels. I feel like that was the dirtiest part of it all (well technically at that point my hands were getting to be as dirty as the wheels were at the start). There was a lot of greasy built up! I removed the stationary wheels, cleaned them out as well, made some adjustments to the center piece and somehow I managed to get them put back together properly. They were turning a lot smoother now so I must have done something right. Before turning the cart right side up I vacuumed out the mess and gave the moving parts on the wheels a blast of WD-40 to keep them working smoothly. They already sounded and looked much better than when I began! Once flipped back over I needed to remove some sticker residue in a few areas. I used a combination of the angled tool and the built in scraper tool on the end of the wire brush to get those stubborn spots off. After wiping the surfaces off and letting them dry, I covered the wheel areas and got to work spraying the cart with an all in one rust paint & primer. This was the best choice where this cart is used in many types of conditions, including the cold and wet. So far I was pretty happy with the transformation that was happening right before my eyes. The fun part came last. Once fully dry I added some extra special touches to the finished product. I applied some custom stickers that I made. I chose a phrase that would bring a smile to the staff members' faces when they used it - "you are AWESOME" (I added a little extra sticker too as you will see in the video) What was once old is now new again! When my co-workers came in the next day they didn't even realize it was the old green cart. They are fighting over who is going to use it lol. Mostly they are enjoying the fact that it looks MUCH better and is sooo much QUIETER. It’s no longer a embarsssment to push it around. They also love the quote, having had some customers commenting on it. It’s amazing how a little elbow grease and very little money for supplies can add years to this carts life. The best part... I even impressed my Boss! MISSION(S) ACCOMPLISHED!!! The cart (and myself lol) will be sticking around a while longer I guess :) But now I wonder what did I get myself into? Will there be more things to repair? Will WD-40 be part of those repairs? You betcha!