Is this a good find?

[The Pale Horse]

Ok, so I am at school and have been trying to build a kegerator out of an old dorm fridge, but as most of you know, money is tight when you are in college.......so I get this call from my dad saying he pick up a kegerator for free!!!! The people said it had been in their garage for 4 years and hasn't been touched.

He sent me some pics and says he plugged it in and it works, but I don't have a clue on what I need to do to get this ready to go, or if it will even be ready to go. So any help or advice will be appreciated. thanks everyone

hey, at least it runs

 

[The Pale Horse]

 

[HVBrewtality]

damn! I don't know if it would be worth it for you, but I would love to get a cool old fridge like that and rebuild it and fix it up. Those units have style out the wazoo

 

[The Pale Horse]

damn! I don't know if it would be worth it for you, but I would love to get a cool old fridge like that and rebuild it and fix it up. Those units have style out the wazoo

I completely agree, if anything it will end up being a beer fridge for my bottled brews

 

[DutchK9]

Looks like the guy who owned it stored his wifes body inside after slaughtering her.

 

[MrJohnson]

Cleaned up with some nice paint and clearcoat it would look awesome! Then, just never open it.

I love how they used to style fridges like cars back then.

 

[Kung_Pow_34]

Dude. That thing is awesome. If you say it runs, clean that bad boy up. With a little more work, you may be able to hook up multiple taps.

 

[The Pale Horse]

I mean, I am going to at least clean it up and make it nice looking, but how do I go about making it work for my kegging purposes? Replace the lines? Is that possible? what else?

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

It would look great cleaned up and running, but now the downside....How much does it cost to run a big old appliance like that?

 

[Homercidal]

Well, you might lose some money in operation, but you could def spend some time cleaning and painting, and yes, you can replace the lines. You can do what you want!

 

[Penguin]

thats too awesome......im thinking a cherry red high gloss with some chrome addition make that baby a hot rod of a kegerator!

 

[King of Cascade]

That faucet looks nasty and so does that co2 line, if you replace them along with new ball lock (or pin lock) connections you should be good to go; assuming you have a co2 tank and regulator. You could find all the parts you need at:
MicroMatic.com - Draft Keg Beer Equipment, Kegerator, Taps

 

[MrNate]

thats too awesome......im thinking a cherry red high gloss with some chrome addition make that baby a hot rod of a kegerator!

Nah, rattlecan that mother flat black and flame it. The Keg-o-RATor.

 

[springer]

I say take it and use it its free and some cleaning and some paint it would be nice resto frige. On a side note anyone know what type of tap is in the OP's picture I picked up a box of taps and there are 3 or 4 just like this.

 

[The Pale Horse]

Nah, rattlecan that mother flat black and flame it. The Keg-o-RATor.

how about the top quarter chalkboard, and the bottom 3/4 flat black with a Michigan State Spartan logo on there

 

[The Pale Horse]

I say take it and use it its free and some cleaning and some paint it would be nice resto frige. On a side note anyone know what type of tap is in the OP's picture I picked up a box of taps and there are 3 or 4 just like this.

Yeah I am kinda wondering the same thing

 

[Fett327]

I like the tap handle! But you will have to give the fridge some love if u want it to be presentable.

 

[HVBrewtality]

how about the top quarter chalkboard, and the bottom 3/4 flat black with a Michigan State Spartan logo on there

that would look sweet! The whole thing flat black, chrome handle and accents, chalkboard around the taps, with a nice simple Spartan logo (or any logo really). That would look really sick

 

[Moonshae]

I agree...it's free! Clean it up, run a new CO2 line, a new beer line and a quality faucet (keep the handle, though!) and you'll be in business! See how many kegs you can fit in there; you might be able to add a few more taps if the extra kegs fit.

 

[The Pale Horse]

I'm really excited to go home this weekend and check it out lol I'll start cleaning it and post some pictures after I get it cleaned up.

Is that all I need to do, new CO2 line, new beer line? what about anything else?

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

That's a Sanke tap for use with commercial kegs

 

[Slipgate]

Am I the only one that lost my lunch looking at that thing? I wouldn't use that for any reason, let alone beer. It belongs in the dump! Throw it away!

 

[HVBrewtality]

Am I the only one that lost my lunch looking at that thing? I wouldn't use that for any reason, let alone beer. It belongs in the dump! Throw it away!

you have no vision!

I'm really excited to go home this weekend and check it out lol I'll start cleaning it and post some pictures after I get it cleaned up.

Is that all I need to do, new CO2 line, new beer line? what about anything else?

I would try an take out all of the shelving and shelf hardware, that will clear up room. then, i would consider bending the cooling unit on top so that it took up less space. I would also replace the seal around the door, chances are it is cracked and won't seal the fridge very well. this is all on top of general clean up.

as for kegging equipment, you will want a new tap and shank (that one is probably far beyond repair), new gas and beer lines. Replace all the hardware where the gas enters the fridge on the left hand side.

you could also install some more taps, because just guessing from the pictures, if you took out all the extra hardware in there you should be able to fit ~3 cornies.

 

[springer]

That's a Sanke tap for use with commercial kegs

I have never seen a Sanke tap like that one and I have worked in bars with full kegs not 1/2 kegs. And they used the same tap I have or some variation of it but never with 2 spears on them.

 

[The Pale Horse]

Am I the only one that lost my lunch looking at that thing? I wouldn't use that for any reason, let alone beer. It belongs in the dump! Throw it away!

oooh cmon, way to hurt a newbie's feelings, as a college student I'll take what I can get

 

[chumpyis]

Thats an older style of tap - yuengling used to use them, the top was threaded and you screwed it on. haven't seen anyone use one if 5 -6 years at least though

 

[FreakinA]

I love the retro look of the kegerator. It reminds me of those big silver RVs with similar curves.

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

I love the retro look of the kegerator. It reminds me of those big silver RVs with similar curves.

+1! Bleach/some scrubbing... I'd take off the chrome and find some appliance paint (Lowes and them have spray paint appliance paint) and refurb that bad boy.

I can picture the shiny chrome, curves, and fresh paint now; classy.

 

[BlackNotch]

I'd run it for a while to see how much it'll cost you. My dad had a freezer similar to that one and once it died, his electric bill dropped $40 the next month. Those older rigs draw some juice. Other than that, with a lil TLC that'll be sweet!

 

[DD2000GT]

I think it is cool as hech - of course, I restore antique tractors for a hobby as well. I just appreciate taking something that is considered junk, and fixing it up to a usable item rather than scrapping it.

On the practical side - it is FREE, it is COOL looking, it can be a great CONVERSATION PIECE, and would take very little MONEY to get it to suit your needs (even without restoring it). It is a no-brainer to me - get it!

But - post pics back when you get it cleaned up.

Dan