Owner: John Wyatt
Location: Fairview, Pennsylvania
Shop Name: Performance Over Style Motorsports
When John Wyatt retired from the Army, he became the lead installer and sole technician at a performance-focused shop in North Carolina called Hypermotive Performance. At the time he had a full set of tools, with enough extras to fill a whole toolbox and then some.
That's when he accepted a contract to work in the United States Special Operations Command in Afghanistan for two one-year deployments. Not wanting to leave his friend and Hypermotive owner with no tools, Wyatt left his entire tool setup as a parting gift for leaving the job suddenly.
While in Afghanistan, knowing he had to replace everything once back in the States in order to start his own shop, Wyatt used his down time over the last six months to research tools, tool organizers and (most importantly for you Big-Time Box readers) toolboxes.
Replacing everything was no small task, either. Wyatt was on the search for quality and affordability. That’s when he came across an online video review of Homak’s 72” H2Pro from ‘Do It Yourself Bri’ on YouTube.
Wyatt loved the box, but needed different drawer configurations. He ended up choosing the Homak 72” RS Pro Combo, which has deeper drawers and a wider center drawer. He says he couldn’t be more impressed.
“I had six months; I'm doing all the reviews, doing all the research I can,” Wyatt explains. “And I just committed and I bought it. And when I went to pick it up, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is absolutely the greatest toolbox I have ever bought.’”
Wyatt’s setup includes an RS Pro Combo, which is looks like a roller cabinet with a top chest, and another 54” RS Pro Roller Cabinet in matching orange. The top chest has a flip top with three outlets where Wyatt stores battery chargers for electric tools, clamps and some lubricants.
He says his Homak rivals even the “big tool truck brands.”
“On some other boxes, the drawer slides, even if they’re double or single; they’re just not really smooth when you’re pulling them out,” Wyatt explains. “These are absolutely incredible. You pull them out, it’s nice and smooth, even with the tools in it. And they’re full-pull drawers, meaning when you pull them out the back of the drawer is even with the front of the box. There are some toolboxes when you pull them out, an inch or so is still recessed into the box … So that’s the other thing that’s great about the Homak box. When you pull the drawer open, it’s all the way open.”
All together, his new tool setup has 37 drawers and a flip-top. He says he is happy with the purchase.
“Even though it’s not American-made, where else are you going to get a quality box like this for the price?” Wyatt says.
American-made is a big factor in purchasing for Wyatt. This led him to purchasing SK Professional Tools, which he says he couldn’t be happier with. He uses SK’s wrench rails to organize, and he also organizes his chrome and impact sockets with U.S.-made Westling Machine socket organizers. These are made using billet aluminum and aren’t magnetic, which in turn keeps debris from sticking to the organizers.
This is just the start for Wyatt, as he continues to build his tool inventory back up and get his performance-based shop, Performance Over Style Motorsports in Fairview, Pennsylvania, up and running.
