Box Alarm Restoration - The inner White Box of a Master Box

[Spencer541]

Hi guys,
Looking for help with the inner white box that holds the guts to a master box, I'm sorry I don't know the official name of it.
I acquired another Master Box the other week and the inner white box has all kinds of blistering paint and corrosion.  I've been using steel wool to clean it up and get it down to bare aluminum but where do I go from there? 
Should I put a layer of primer and paint on it to help protect it?
Or can I just leave it as bare aluminum?  But if left as bare aluminum will it continue to corrode?
Also I need parts too for the shell.

Thanks,
Spencer

[VFPost]

Hi guys,
Looking for help with the inner white box that holds the guts to a master box, I'm sorry I don't know the official name of it.
I acquired another Master Box the other week and the inner white box has all kinds of blistering paint and corrosion.  I've been using steel wool to clean it up and get it down to bare aluminum but where do I go from there? 
Should I put a layer of primer and paint on it to help protect it?
Or can I just leave it as bare aluminum?  But if left as bare aluminum will it continue to corrode?
Also I need parts too for the shell.

Thanks,
Spencer

It's called "the box that holds the guts" actually it's just an inner box.
You don't really want to use steel wool, you will leave all kinds of steel fragments and particles and they will start to rust. You can use paint remover and a brass brush or a wire brush. If you are repainting it like it was, you can lightly sand with 220 or finer sand paper to remove corrosion.
Aluminum is strange stuff, it doesn't exactly corrode like steel does, and it's not going to corrode if it's bare as long as it's kept DRY.
All kinds of bare aluminum is out in the weather, it develops a thin oxidation layer and that protects it, but the oxidation layer is rough, dull, collects dirt, is hard to clean and is ugly.
You would want to prime and paint it as none of these I've ever seen were left bare.

As far as parts go, its WAY easier to just buy a complete one than it is to try and find bits and pieces to fit a shell like this, these newer models go cheap on Ebay. I don't even collect these newer models at all because I don't like how they went cheap inside with plastics, aluminum and steel replacing the quality glass, solid brass and cast iron.

[gls24]

I routinely use ZAR Paint Remover on Gamewell equipment.  Occasionally, I'll use some steel wool along with the ZAR to assist in paint removal.  I always rinse the box to finish the removal and get a clean result with no steel wool residue on those occasions where I've used it.  No two people use exactly the same techniques for restoring these pieces; there are a number of methods for successful restorations.  As far as repainting, I normally use Rustoleum Automotive Primer (light gray) as it dries very quickly.  Then, for the  top coat I use Rustoleum Antique White....seems to match the original pretty well.  One source for parts is Tom Donathan (almdoc41@comcast.net).

[paulbalentine]

I also have parts for these. I have tons of them laying around.

[VFPost]

I saw 2 complete examples of these for $159 and $169, might be cheaper to just get a complete one than buying odd parts and paying postage and hope they all fit, says "make offer" offer him $120 for it and there you go:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Gamewell-Pull-the-Hook-Down-Fire-Alarm-Call-Box-Heavy-White-Metal-Box-/131832865089?hash=item1eb1d9e141:g:HX4AAOSwQjNW-c22

Here's another one that was going for $49 and it didn't even sell.

[paulbalentine]

I can do way better on pricing than that. Email me at Paulbalentine@comcast.net
I have TONS of these, streets and Local Energy masters.