Vintage Kelvinator Kegerator Build

Hi folks

This is my first post here. I'm not a homebrewer myself but I've always wanted to build a nice kegerator and finally took the plunge since I got my hands on a vintage Kelvinator fridge. The other kegerator builds here have been a huge help so I'll try to contribute. Also it looks like it's been quite a while since the last vintage kegerator build post.

Here's a pic of the fridge as I got it. It was in a guy's garage and was (unfortunately) painted over, and lots of oil spilled all over. I can't find a date on it but I believe it is from the 1950s just from looking at pictures of other Kelvinator fridges from that time.

My plan is to do a complete restoration. It does run so thankfully I'll leave the compressor and coils all alone, just clean them up a bit and set it aside while I restore the rest of the fridge. The insulation on the wires were cracked and just falling off so I can't run it again until I redo the wiring. Here's what I'm thinking:

- three taps. For such a big fridge is pretty small on the inside but I made some measurements and I should be able to get 2 1/4 kegs plus a 1/6th in there. This would mean the CO2 tank is on the outside which brings me to my next point

- CO2 tank will be fitted in the space underneath the refrigerated compartment. There's about 15 inches of open space directly under the refrigerated compartment where the compressor sits, but the compressor only takes up a small section in the back. The front of that space would be perfect for a CO2 tank laying on it's side. This has its own complications though where I'll need an anti-siphon tube in the tank so I can lay it on its side. Anyone have any experience getting an a 20# CO2 tank with an anti-siphon tube installed? I'd like to build a pull-out drawer where that lower panel is covering the bottom space for easy access to the tank. With the tank on the outside I'll run a single CO2 line from the tank's regulator to inside the refrigerator where I'll have a manifold to split it to the 3 kegs.

I want to do a nice paint job but haven't decided on a color or design yet. Any suggestions here? I really like the vintage 1950s look so I definitely want to keep that. Maybe a nice glossy black, or the fire engine red would be classic. I'll re-chrome all the metal pieces that were once nice and shiny before the entire thing was painted over (grrrr - how could they do that??). There are a few dings and dents that I'll do some body work on too. One thing though, that back panel has all the original tags and stickers on it and is still in really good shape. I'm going to leave that alone and not touch the back panel at all. I think it'd be cool to keep that entire panel all original. And luckily this panel wasn't painted over like the rest of the fridge.

I've already got the entire thing taken apart and working on sanding it down for primer. I'm glad I decided on a full restoration. As I took out the inner shell I noticed all the insulation was wet and the entire bottom panel was rusted pretty good. Seems to be a common issue with these older fridges I've from some other vintage kegerator build posts here. I'll coat the entire inner surfaces with rustoleum rust proofing before putting some new insulation in. The interior of the fridge is in decent shape but there's some good scratches on the bottom so I'll repaint it with white appliance paint.

I'm excited for this project. Wish me luck!

Oops, forgot to include some of the other photos. Here there are.

I love seeing these old restoration projects. Keep the pictures coming.

Good news! The ice box gets nice and cold Last night I finally tested out the functional part of the fridge for the first time. I wouldn't plug it in earlier because all wire's insulation was cracked and falling apart. I hooked up a power cord to the compressor's starter relay and plugged it in and it got quite frosty!

I wanted to redo all of the wiring but I've never dealt with a starter relay before. Part of me is saying well, it ain't broke so don't fix it! But also I'm a little concerned about relying on a starter relay from 1949. Any suggestions here on how to replace it, or if I even should?

And other good news - I finally found a date on this this fridge. The starter relay has a date stamp of 1949. So I'm thinking the fridge has gotta be early 1950s, or 1949 haha.


I'm making progress sanding all the components down but I'm having trouble with the nooks and crannies so I've ordered a sandblaster to help out. I'll have to do the sandblasting outside but the weather is holding me back right now. I'm eager to get the sanding done so I can start building it back up.

It's been a while since I've posted but I've mad a lot of progress on this since last time. I stripped down the entire interior of the frame, sandblasted away the years of rust, and cut out the rusty bottom panel. The interior was primed and given a couple layers of undercoating. Just the exterior remains unfinished which will be one of the last things I do. Also same with the door and the lower cover in front of the compressor on the bottom, those were stripped down and given undercoating. I only have pics of the main frame right now but I'll get some more.

Also making progress on the pull-out drawer for the CO2 cylinder. A friend of mine did some CAD work to mock it up and then we started to build it in his wood shop. I cant wait to get it installed, it's going to look great.

Next is ... oh man i dont know. There's so much to do still haha. Maybe determine where on the door I want to put the taps?

I'll get better about taking pictures as i go and posting more on the progress

Looking good! Can you put the CO2 bottle on it's side though?. Seems there was a discussion on this forum somewhere, but I can not remember what the outcome was.

Yeah that's definitely a concern and I've looked into it a bit. After some research I found this thread on a Jeep forum though that shows how to add an anti-siphon tube in the CO2 cylinder so you can use it on it side or standing up. I'll try that out and let you know how it goes.
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/how-use-your-co2-tank-laying-down-standing-up-840504/

I use my C02 bottle upright in the kegerator, but as someone who had not heard of this issue, I'm just curious as to why using a C02 bottle on its side isn't kosher?

Because usually liquid CO2 will get in your gas line with it lying on its side, but I think DaveDave has come up with a solution so one is just getting gas CO2.