1951 hotpoint homebrew fridge

Started out 2 months ago with a 1951 hotpoint fridge

 

Started sandblasting about 2 weeks ago.



Saturday we finally got it primered, I am gonna try and sand it all tomorrow!!

 

Looking great, I assume it will be in mint condition after you finish it.
Is that tap on fridge door?

 

Yes that is one tap and I'm putting one on the other side of it, their will be two, I bought the other side yesterday and my wife is in Kalamazoo this week for kelloggs, just so happens that's where "Bells" is and she got me a Corney from there, cant wait!!

 

Nice work! Just turned my Grandfather's Hotpoint chest freezer into a keezer with a collar as I just couldn't bring myself to drill holes through the lid!

 

Seems that your cards tidied.
Good luck!

 

This is the funny thing. Looking on craigslist when I found it and went to pick it up for $25. Boy tells me that his grandfather used it as a Kegerator back in the day, gave it to his dad and they had it growing up as long as he can remember!! Cant see why someone would let something like that go that had been in the family?!

 

All i would have been thinking is, damn they dont make them like they used too.

Good luck finding any fridge or freezer now adays that will last 2-3+ generations.

If you get 10 years out of one your lucky.

 

UPDATE: got it painted today, still have to stripe the door and wetsand!! Turned out better than I expected!! Used Duplicilor "paint shop" burnt orange. Really easy to paint and used a harbor freight $15 paintgun! Lmao!!!











Stripe is gonna be 1956 chevrolet "adobe beige"

 

Damn that looks nice, I wish I would have taken the time to finish my vintage fridge like that.

 

Got the door stripe painted tonight, I own a vinyl graphics shop, Lol, masking stencil material comes in handy!!!

 

Awesome job!

 

can't wait to see the finished product!

subbed!!

 

I love clean work.
Looking great!

 

That is looking great.....got me Craigslist searching for old fridges now!

 

Lmao!! I actually bought another one on there about a month ago again. They wanted 250 but it stayed on there for 40 days and I text them and offered $50 and they took it. Its a 1948 ge with nothing wrong, that's my next project. Here's the one I started out with its really ideal for a keg fridge.



My wife and daughter standing next to it. The ge is about twice that size and painted **** brown for now, Lol!

 

Very cool, love the color..

 

Finished wet sanding yesterday and putting the finishing touches on it!! Overall I am very pleased with my first ever restore project!!

 

Damnit! I keep passing on old fridges since I slapped together a keezer. I think I will snap up the next one I see and get to work.

Great job. The burnt orange and white may be the perfect combo for these old ice boxes.

 

I think so I got the idea off if google, typed in vintage kegerators and there was a pic that popped up similar to what I did. I really liked it!

 

I'm picking up a 1950's GE this weekend. Did the mach up and looks like I should be able to fit three kegs with the tank outside. Going to hate drilling into this thing though...

 

I guy a buddy that works with gas and he told me u are by far better off to have the tank outside of the fridge. He said u actually get more out of your tank. Cutting a hole in one sucks but I bought a chrome pipe cover like u would get for your bathroom pedistal sink and that's what I'm mounting over the hole. I think it will look good

 

Did you add a coat of clear on top of the paint? I"m looking to use the same stuff on mine but heard it's not a super durable paint.

 

I did add a clear to it. That paint system is "base coat, clear coat" even though its a laquer paint. I didn't use the clear they have at the store cause I had some laying around but from what ive seen the "paint shop" clear looks as good as what I used.

 

That looks really sharp! I know from looking at photos online that a lot of the older Hotpoints had a "freezer" built into them like many college dorm fridges uses today. Any chance yours had that? If so, is it something that can be easily removed? I think a vintage fridge like this would look great to hold my conical fermenter but would would need more height than a carboy or a 5 gallon corny keg.

 

Actually no the freezer can't be removed but if u get one that's big, the freezer isn't in the way. Mine that I just restored is pretty small but there is still room on the inside for a fermenter but only one. I can get 2 Corney's in it that's all but that's perfect for me. The freezer in all the older ones like that actually has freon or "ammonia" that runs through the back into the compressor and the freezer.

 

Thought I could chime in and help a little....

Some have the smaller freezer on one side. That freezer box is the actual cooling unit (evaporator coil). So, yeah, it can't come out. Here is a pic of mine and how big it is inside (1950 International Harvester)

The freezer door actually hangs down below the freezer box a few inches. So you would have no problem fitting a carboy or bucket in here at all. Conical? Not so sure. It's about 30" from the floor to the bottom of the freezer box.

 

Sorry but I must disagree here, the amount of gas in the tank is the same irregardless of temperture, inside or outside the keezer the tank will last the same and carb the same amount of beer at the same carb level of course.

The colder the tank, the less the tank pressure will be, but the amount of gas doesn't change. Sorry again, but I wouldn't want anyone to think that there CO2 will last longer stored outside the fridge. Cheers!

 

If you look around you'll find a fair amount of old fridges that have different types of freezers in them. I have a Philco model that has a freezer that goes across the top.

I'm still in the process of refurbishing mine but here are the dimensions if they help you. This thing barely fits my conical.

 

This thing is beautiful! Can't wait to see it finished!

 

Not to rain on your parade but be careful with these old refrigerators. You might have a heart attack when you see your electric bill next month...

(Old refrigerators can run up to 3000 kWh. I barely use that in my whole house in the dead of winter.)

 

Citation required!

Ask anyone with an old (pre-60's) fridge and you'll find that it's exactly the opposite. Fridges from the 50's and earlier were very energy efficient and will not make much difference in your energy bill. I have no idea where people are getting this BS from, but it's just not true!

To quote myself from another thread earlier this week:

 

Huh, that goes against from what I thought would be drawn.

But out of curiosity, don't older fridges produce/use some pretty nasty chemicals.

I have been thinking about trying to get an older fridge, just cause they look petty cool, but was way because of power use and chemical concerns...

 

http://www.energy.ca.gov/appliances/database/historical_excel_files/Refrigeration/

Now you show me yours...

 

Cool, thanks

 

The closest to what we're talking about would be under "NonComm Refrigerators.zip", then Single Door, manual defrost. Those are showing anywhere from 300-550 kWh/year depending on the manufacturer. As is, most of the fridges shown on there are energy-hungry post-50's. They contain features like auto-defrost and anti-sweat heaters that suck up a ton of juice. Pre-60's fridges were way more efficient.

Going by the calculations on rapidtables and my mid-summer run times:

180 watts running
6 min/hr for 1 year = 876hr
W × hr / 1000 = kWh
180 X 876 / 1000 = 157.68 kWh/year
​

158 kWh/year comes out to around $15 per year or me to run it.

 

They do use ozone-depleting chemicals. By using an old fridge and keeping it out of a dump, you're actually helping to keep those chemicals out of the environment. If you do get a leak in your refrigeration system, you wouldn't be able to just refill it, so you're not really adding to any environmental issue. In that case, you'd probably want to retrofit with a new refrigeration system.

Most of these old fridges are just really well insulated coolers with a small, low-power compressor running on them. Take the time to re-insulate well and it will serve you well.

 

You are correct, you lose pressure not volume when the tank gets cold. However, when you lose that pressure you can no longer push the beer out. By leaving the bottle outside where it can remain at room temperature you'll be able to push more beer.

It all comes down to molecules. Warm/Hot molecules move faster (more pressure) than cold molecules. So in theory, by having a colder tank you are reducing how much beer you can push.

If you want proof, run your tank cold until the gauge says you're low on pressure. Then take it out and leave it to get to room temperature (assuming your temperature is above 50*F) you should see a significant increase in gas pressure next time you turn the tank on.

 

Oh Boyle's law, you are a cruel mistress...