Vintage Kegerator build

[CoalCracker]

I'm moving in with the fiance here in a few months. I figure what better time to upgrade the kegerator than now. So I started searching craigslist and found a vintage GE refrigerator.

It's in pretty good shape and runs cold. Has enough room for three kegs with the tank outside.

I immediately got to work stripping it down. It certainly didn't take long. A couple screws and the whole refrigeration and freezer pulls right out. I placed that a side in a safe place being careful not to kink any lines. I then took out the inner shell.

Going to work on getting the exterior sanded and any dents bondo'd this week. Hopefully prime next week or so.

 

[Pappers_]

Love vintage fridges - good luck with your build!

 

[user 83772]

Very cool. Can't wait to see more progess pics!

 

[CoalCracker]

I'm super pumped about this build. Going to be so cool and will be a cool conversation piece. I'm thinking about a dark blue metallic paint with an off white accent of some type. My dad owns a cabinet shop and has a very professional spray gun. He said I can use that to lay down the paint. Should lay a glass like finish. Then I'll do a few coats of clear. I want this to have the finish of a brand new car. Probably going to do a lot of the sanding by hand using a block.

 

[kerber]

Well, this certainly looks familiar! I'll be keeping an eye to see how it turns out!

 

[CoalCracker]

haha yea. I saw your build. I loved it! Picked this guy up for 40 bucks.. I couldn't pass it up. Going to do a three tap though. Just have to figure out a way to get the Co2 line in. I made little cut outs before going to pick it up just to make sure.

 

[kerber]

haha yea. I saw your build. I loved it! Picked this guy up for 40 bucks.. I couldn't pass it up. Going to do a three tap though. Just have to figure out a way to get the Co2 line in. I made little cut outs before going to pick it up just to make sure.

That's a great find! It looks like you lucked out and your freezer compartment isn't as tall as mine. A normal ball lock keg is too tall to fit under mine, so I've picked up low profile ball locks (pin lock kegs with ball lock conversion posts).

I've thought about moving my CO2 tank outside in the future to give room for another keg. Ideally, I'll make some sort of stylized end-table that can sit next to the kegerator and hide the CO2.

 

[CoalCracker]

Yea there is quiet a bit of room under it. I think I should be fine. I forgot to measure it. But it looks to be plenty of room. Mine will be out in the garage so the tank showing won't bother any one.
The freezer is 12" x 14" and the interior is 41". That leaves me 27" to play with. I believe a corny is only 26 with the connectors.

 

[jlb307]

this looks like another sweet vintage build! looking forward to the final result!

btw, dig your handle. my mother is from kulpmont, and she HATES it when i use that term! lol

 

[CoalCracker]

Started to sand the door tonight. Took me longer to get the emblem and handle off than it did to actually sand. I am going to bondo the one dent in it tomorrow and then prime and let that sit for a few days. Then I'll start working on the cabinet and get that sanded and primed. I'm hoping to have this done in two weeks or so.

Right now I'm struggling on what color I want to paint it and do I want a stripe up the middle or just keep it one color? Still mulling this over.

jlb307- I don't really think of it as a bad thing. It's my heritage! Granted, it's a bit of a tough area but I turned out ok lol.

 

[CoalCracker]

Got a ton more done on the fridge. Got it all painted and put back together. Bought all the shanks needed. So the only thing needed to do is drill the holes for the shanks and mount the faucets, reinsulate the door and then install the new gasket and we should be all set. Here are some more pictures.

Door with only clear on it. Not yet wet sanded.

Door after wetsanding and buffing.

Fridge all back together

I do have the freezer back in. I just didn't take any pictures after that. I plugged her in and she was cold in no time! I'll hopefully have more pictures soon. Hope to work a bit more on it this week or so.

 

[CoalCracker]

Received my replacement gasket. I found one that was original to the fridge. I placed that on the door Monday night. Came out great. Just had to make some adjustments on the closure as it was a bit too tight and would pop back open. I am just waiting on a few more parts and then I'll drill the holes for the shanks, re insulate the door, and start pouring some beers!! I can't wait.

 

[TheSultan]

Looks great, good job! I recently finished a restoration of a 1947 Philco. I kind of miss working on it, so I guess I need to find myself another project like that.

Cheers,
Mattias

 

[Pappers_]

Looks gorgeous! Way to go!

 

[CoalCracker]

I know what you mean! I kinda want to find another one and redo it. They are a lot of fun to do.I'm sure someone would buy it up. At some point I would like to get some finer grit rubbing compound and buff it to a high gloss. The medium did a good job taking the fine sanding scratches out but would like a bit more gloss.

 

[TheSultan]

I used vinyl foil to wrap mine, like you do with cars (you can read about it here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/1947-philco-restoration-conversion-350600/). But at some point I would like to paint it. I just don't have the space nor the equipment at the moment. But that is one more project to look forward to.

Cheers,
Mattias

 

[kerber]

Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[CoalCracker]

I've been thinking and I'm thinking that I might just serve two homebrews then get a sixtel of something commercial. I'll have to see if a sixtel will fit in there with two other kegs. I think if I remove some of the black pegs, I can squeeze another inch out of the usable space.

 

[Jon73]

Awesome! I'd love to do the same thing.

 

[CoalCracker]

Got the faucets mounted last night. I wanted to insulate the door and get it all back together but one of the shanks didn't come with a lock nut. I have to get a lock nut and then I can close it all up.

You can see the middle tap is sitting a bit lower, that's the one that needs the lock nut. When sitting tight, they are all completely level.

 

[kerber]

Looking great! Did you do anything to protect the paint from the metal flange on the shank? I was worried about it, so I got some black cupboard shelf liner and cut out some rings to act as a cushion behind them.

 

[CoalCracker]

No, If I ever remove them, which I don't plan to do. I can just wet sand the area and repaint.

 

[CoalCracker]

Did some more work on the fridge this weekend and got it running and pouring beers. I found however that the thermostat isn't working. I can turn it to off and the fridge still keeps running. So.. I will order a temp controller and use that to switch the power on and off. Not to mention, I can then change the temp to what I want and not really have to guess. Might increase the efficiency as well.

Final resting place.

 

[kf4ocj]

Great job! I just added something new to my wish list.

 

[kerber]

That looks great! Thankfully, swapping out a thermostat on these is pretty straight forward.

 

[CoalCracker]

Kerber, do you have a source for them?

 

[kerber]

Kerber, do you have a source for them?

Not for original replacements, but if you're just going for a digital swap-out, this is a good option. I rolled my own solution for my kegerator so that I could play with different control algorithms.

 

[TheSultan]

Kerber, do you have a source for them?

I used a Danfoss service thermostat for my 1947 Philco. You can get one of those from any appliances repair store. Just make sure you get one meant for fridges without automatic defrost (no. 1 for Danfoss, other brands have other denominations).

Cheers,
Mattias

 

[CoalCracker]

This weekend I installed my digital thermostat on it and it has barely turned on. Of course it is in a cold garage. Once summer comes around we will see how much it cycles.

 

[fosaisu]

This is a beautiful build! What did you use to replace the insulation? I'm just gearing up for one of these projects and it looks like some folks have used R30 unfaced roll insulation like this, but I'd be interested to hear what you decided to do.