Project - VMC-56 Pepsi

[scriptx]

I purchased this VMC-56 machine from my best friends estate after he passed away a few weeks ago. He was a collector but didn't restore any of the machines. I am embarking on a project to restore this thing. I really enjoy the posts detailing the restoration process and have found them informative. I figured I would start another thread to do the same in hopes that it helps others out as well.

Minus the 5lbs of dog hair I blew out of the compressor area, it is in pretty good shape. It gets cold, has two keys and there isn't a lot of visible rust inside or out (that I can see). It never had the coin changer plugged in and would freely vend. I figured it was freely vending because of that. However, after plugging the changer in and giving it go, I found that wasn't the case - future to-do item.

I am not sure the correct way to dismantle this thing, so I started with what appeared to the easiest thing that had the least amount of screws, the glass door. The seal around the door was stained black and the interior foam was dingy so I dismantled it into all its pieces. I ordered new ones as well as a new gasket for the door and light.

I started this last week so I'll have a few posts catching up to where I am at now....

[scriptx]

I took the stack out and realized somebody tied speaker wire around some of the pieces in the bottom box. Which, after playing with the mechanism for a bit, was the method they used to jury rig it for free vending. The only mechanical issue with the vendor that I could determine was the bottom spring latch (for lack of a better term) that taps the mechanism to relock the vending mechanism doesn't tap hard enough. A new spring may fix that or maybe a thorough cleaning and oiling. I have no clue if it actually works in conjunction with the coin changer. There are a lot of little parts on the stack and it is pretty intimidating for the uninitiated.

After reading another post on this forum offering advice to get the door off, I figured I had better do that since mine almost fell over prior to reading the post. You'd think I would have figured that out on my own after it almost tipped but I didn't think about it until I read that post........ It came off pretty easy, but I found that the door needed to be fully opened as far as it would open to easily pull it off the main hinges.

I got the door fully stripped and the cabinet. I was surprised, and worried, at the sheer amount of rust. I got the all the doors off to the painter (friend of mine) and he is going to sand them down and do the body work. Luckily it is free to me since he is in arrears for work that I have done for him.

He looked at the cabinet and suggested we sand blast the whole bottom portion to see what is left of the metal. I'll drop that piece of next week.

[scriptx]

My overall plans at this point are as follows:

• Trade the bottle stack for a can stack - in progress
• After sandblasting, fix the rusted shelf and spray rhino-liner on the bottom shelf and part way up the interior walls. This will help prevent a future rust belt...
• I am going to use foam panel insulation, it is a lot more efficient than fiberglass.
• Paint the body - in progress
• Order a new compressor, the existing one works, but it is pretty ugly and the price difference between refurbishing and a new one are marginal - been talking with Eric at global compressors, he has been a lot of help
• Chrome and powder coat everything that I can. Need the can stack before I embark on that phase.

Questions:

The galvanized interior shell has a pretty rusty bottom as well with a couple of holes that are to big for the default evaporator hold down screws. It just lifted out with the screws attached! What would your recommendations be on replacing/fixing?

[bubba]

That appears typical rust for a 56.. The few I had were pretty much the same.Unless you are planning on keeping this machine for a long time, I would be careful to spend a huge amount of money powder coating and chroming this machine. It will look great when its done, but its still a VW, not a Porsche.. You are getting a good deal on the body work and paint... I would treat the rust on the liner and hammertone it. If the holes for the evap are that bad then seal them and move it over a bit and make new holes, or get bigger screws. I used ruberized undercoating on the entire cabinet and back side of the tub.

[scriptx]

I'll definitely want the world until I find out how much the world will cost, at that point I may just paint!

This weekend we got all the galvanized parts (except the stack and shelves) cleaned. The grill in the front of the machine fooled me, just figured out it was painted on the front.

What would you recommend to fill the holes, JB Weld?

Answered my own question, I did some research, I'll use an epoxy putty to fill in the holes then paint with a self etching primer followed by the hammered paint. 

I am going to wire in a simple modification so I can turn the lights on with my home automation system while keeping the compressor assembly running. I will likely put in a circuit that will turn the door light on if opened as well.

The only thing holding everything up at this point is enough time to drive 30 miles to drop off the main body for sandblasting......

[scriptx]

Finished parts are starting to come back allowing some reconstruction. I changed the original design a little bit by painting the door white. I have the bottle door back together, however, I am unhappy with the inner foam seal I ordered from soda jerks. It isn't an exact replica and leaves air gaps between the glass. I may replace it with something else at a later date. We kept the original Vendorlater decal on the coin door since it was in pretty good condition.

I was going to paint the interior tub, I decided to have it powder coated, it cost $170 bucks. I chose a hammer finish powder to hide some of the pitting from rust. If I had it to do over again, I would have paid the extra for a silver finish and filled the pits with epoxy and sanded it smooth. I may decide to do this anyway before I am finished....

I'll do the stack and shelves with a silver powder coating, which, if anybody knows where to get a can stack, I'll buy or trade my bottle stack for one!

I am going to use a a Polyurethane sealant for sealing everything in case I need to repaint anything. Dealing with the tar and linseed oil clay sealants from yesteryear has not been fun!

Lastly, the entire back has been sandblasted. The middle self was rusted with lots of holes. I was thinking of building a new shelf, but will work with the existing one and coat both sides

Next steps will be to finish the front door and everything with that, e.g. send the coin slot to be chromed. Then it will be installing the new compressor, foam insulation and putting everything back together.

I figure by the time I am done, I will have dumped way more than it will ever be worth, but due to the sentimental value and how much fun I am having I just can't find the energy to care :-)!

[Creighton]

That will be very nice machine. Thanks for the photos.
Creighton

[pepsi-perk]

Looking good - did you do your own paint on the main door?   Just wondering what color you used.  I have the same machine that I am kicking around the idea of refinishing - or maybe turn it into a theme machine.

[scriptx]

Looking good - did you do your own paint on the main door?   Just wondering what color you used.  I have the same machine that I am kicking around the idea of refinishing - or maybe turn it into a theme machine.

I have a friend who owns a body shop that did it. He matched the paint, which, I don't know if that means that they blended it or found a very close match. Looks identical from the blue in the coin door's logo.

I'll check with him and see...

[scriptx]

Talked with the shop, the paint code is:

Dupont stock code BS152