Need kegerator ideas

Hey all,

Just bought a 50s era GE fridge off Craigslist ($130 delivered) that I plan on refinishing to make a three faucet kegerator. As you can see in the picture I'm hoping is attached it needs sanded/stripped, patched, and repainted.

My main point today is to get color suggestions. My first idea was to do it in the matte black chalkboard paint so I could label each tap with the name of whatever it's pouring. Then I concluded that I don't want my kegerator to be the dull grey of a used chalkboard.

My next idea was that teal'ish/aquamarine that I associate with some cars from the 50s.

Now I'm just undecided!

Anyone seen anything that looked particularly awesome or have an idea they wish they would have done? Let me know bc I'm clearly working with a blank canvas!

Thanks in advance and feel free to drop any other hints that may come to mind.

Thanks!!!

Andy

FYI, you can do custom color chalkboard paint. Here's the process:

Start with flat-finish latex paint in any shade. For small areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time.

1. Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

2. Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.

3. Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.

4. To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge.

But for those vintage fridges, two-tone classic car inspired colors are the best. Teal and white would rock.

This thread - in case you haven't already seen it

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/show-us-your-kegerator-29053/

Glossy blue or red with some vintage pinstriping would be the bees knees.

chrome would look bad arse

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/vintage-kegerator-282345/#post3502612
this one looks really good imo.

basementbrewbrad said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/vintage-kegerator-282345/#post3502612
this one looks really good imo.

Click to expand...

Awesome. Thanks for all the great ideas. I especially like that orange one above. I like how all the "guts" are on the outside giving it an "industrial" look.

Here's where I am after an hour with the belt sander:

Awesome! Thanks guys! I really like that orange one in the last post. Cool to have all the "guts" on the outside too to make it look extra "industrial".

Keep the ideas coming!

Here's where I am after an hour with the belt sander:

Keep it rusty throw a pbr or blatz tap on it and call it done!
ratrodorator that mofo!

AndyShank said:

Awesome! Thanks guys! I really like that orange one in the last post. Cool to have all the "guts" on the outside too to make it look extra "industrial".

Keep the ideas coming!

Here's where I am after an hour with the belt sander:

Click to expand...

I figured that style would fit the classic one you have to work with. I just wish I would have been the one who made it...I have an uggly mini kegorator and hope to graduate to something nicer someday when I have money.

Good luck with the build.

if you were going to go with the 50's car theme,

you could pick up some old shift knobs for tap handles.

It might be possible to get some old rear view mirrors, pull the glass out, and install some custom cut white boards into the mirror housing then mount them above the taps to label them.

Mount a vintage radio to the top of the kegerator..... would be bad ass if you found one that still worked

Trip Tray that resembles a grill for a 1950 pick up

Horribly dorky I know, but here's a time lapse video of a small portion of the transformation.

I'm about to restore a 1947 Philco, and got really inspired by the Philco on this page: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/show-us-your-kegerator-29053/index211.html. Probably the coolest kegerator I've seen.

Instead of painting mine, I'm thinking of wrapping it with the same kind of vinyl foil that are used to wrap cars.

Cheers,
Mattias

Holy crap. That is now my gold standard and my new goal. Now to see if home depot/lowed can mix from the PPG color codes for those colors that I found online.

Well here she is. Totally stripped, primed with a self etching primer, at least three coats of an orange engine enamel from advance auto parts, and two coats of clear coat (with lots of wet sanding in between steps).

I definitely gained a ton of respect for guys who can do quality paint and body work. No matter how smoothly it was sanded or how carefully I painted, it just doesn't look perfect everywhere. Oh well, if I wanted perfect I would have had to pay several hundred bucks.

Overall, I'm very happy with it. Something I'll keep for years. Thanks for all your help and ideas!!

Wow! Looks SweeEEEeeett to me :rockin:

Nice work!

Here is my $20 Craigslist fridge conversion.

chrismacleodw said:

Here is my $20 Craigslist fridge conversion.

Click to expand...

That's awesome. You definitely have better paint skills than me! Crazy part is, you could probably sell that for a grand now.

Thank you. I just used some blue metallic spray paint and white spray paint. It took me 4 days to sand it down and fill in all the rust and holes. The Frigidaire logo use to be in a little lower in the recessed part and there was more metal work on the side I took it all off shined the logo filled all the holes and made new holes to re mount it. I did make a mistake on the left side when I over sprayed plus by then all the beer and paint fumes had started taking their toll.. I think the next step will be to mount the CO2 tank on the back so I can fit another keg inside and throw on another tap. Oh and most importantly a drip tray. How did you fit three kegs in yours?

So far I've only stuck in two. Third is not happening with my 20lb. CO2 tank. Probably should have measured that first!

I may just run a line out to keep the co2 on the outside. I've read that makes your gas last longer anyways since it's not down at beer temp.

I don't plan to move it frequently so as long as the tank is more or less out of sight, I see no issues.

Very nice! I like the color you picked. How's the inside of that thing look?

It's not to bad I had to do some minor rust repair the inside is still a work in process but then again who care what the inside looks like it's shut 99% of the time. I can fit 2 kegs comfy. I have only one keg on tap right now. I just moved from Washington to Alaska so haven't really had time to do much brewing. The only big things I did on the fridge was replaced all the insulation, replaced the gasket, took off all the shelves and trays ( and all I can say is damn they don't build them like they use to), after I took out the trays I had to find a way to block the holes on the door. I tried auto filler didn't work as I would have liked it so I found aluminum tape and ran it over the holes and it works great.