How did I do?

[Zach]

Hey folks just picked this up today. It's a VMC 81 7 up in great shape. Missing only a few small pieces and the cooling unit. Have the original tag. Only problem is someone filled in the 7 up and painted coke over it. Id say this had been done 20 years ago. Thankfully appears they just filled it with bondo or some body filler so I should be able to get it out to prove it is a VMC 81 7 up. Got it for $350, I'd say I did well on it. What you guys think? Thanks

[Jim]

The machine may just have a raised sign concealing the embossed 7-Up logo...
That's what it appears to look like from the photo...
If this is the case, even better ! ! !
And a great price ! ! !
Congrats on a nice acquisition ! ! !

[vintage-air]

Wow, very nice! And a great price! Tell us the story on how you found it. Any history as to where it came from and how do you determine if it was all white or green/white?
Congrats again!

[MoonDawg]

       I don't think there is a sign on there, that is the embossed part. The letters are de-bossed. How are you going to clean out the bondo, sandblast?

      The machine looks to be in great condition. Killer deal!

      Jeff, all 7up 81's were originally white but many restorers change to green and white. Like the RC yellow, I would prefer the 7 up original solid white.

      I'm sure Coke modified it years ago but they should have been busted by the 7up police. 

[briandr1]

Thats awesome wish I could get a find like that. congrats on your new toy

[Zach]

Reading all these posts gave me goose bumps haha im really excited. So heres the story, did my normal craigslist search and typically i only look at adds that say vintage coke machine, you know something on the lines of vintage so Im not spending hours looking at junk. Saw an add that said Coke Machine, rarely do I look at these but what the hell I'll try it. Only had 1 pic of it and I knew what is was. Contacted the guy and he was like "yeah was once a 7 up and now its a coke thats all I know. I dont have a data plate or anything." I was pretty sure of what it is so I arranged to get it first thing the next day, 2 hour drive each way... totally worth it. Get there check it out, saw how someone filled in the 7 up embossed part, that sucks, but it does raise out by the way and im pretty sure they filled it with bondo. Anyways, saw on the coin insert said vmc. I was trying to keep my cool, the guy didnt know what he had. So it came from Vegas and he said Coke actually did the paint job themselves. So I got it home and gave it a good wash and saw at the bottom of the inside that the red paint on it was pealing and underneath was white. So I'm pretty sure its the real deal. Came with old coke bottles in it so another plus. And! There was the Vendorlator model 81 plate underneath all these. If the guy knew it was there and googled it he would of realized what he had. While doing this im having a hard time staying calm. So the plan is to sand blast down the bondo to reveal the 7 up. Anyways, I'm pretty sure its the real deal. Im not really sure where to go from here. I want to start restoring machines and I have a few more machines as well but I havent actually complete one yet so me restoring this machine would be like learning to drive on a Ferrari. I dont think this is a machine for a first time restorer. So i mite get it restored by a professional or sell as is. But then again I hate to let her go considering I'm in love with her. And this is a love at first site story haha. Anyways any ideas? Thanks guys and sorry about the bad grammar. Oh and if u want some more pics i can post some if u wana see. Sorry im not trying to brag or anything, just want some ideas from the pros.

[coke_and_stuff]

PM SENT

Joey

[Zach]

Joey,
Thanks for your offer but I'm going to hold off for now.

[coke_and_stuff]

Not a problem, If you change your mind let me know

Joey

[collecture]

Nice find!
Where are you Motoman - I am in Phoenix - 5 hours from LV.

Leonard told me this and I tried it on a Canteen that I had. Use a torch and heat up the Bondo - it will crack and bubble up so you can pop it off like cold gum. I guess just be careful not to warp the metal with the heat. I found that the embossing on the Canteen was ground down and bashed in, so I did not remove all of the bondo. Just enough to see what they did to it and then I sold the bare cabinet for scrap. If it had been on the Canteen, I'd still have it.

Take it from one who just finished restoring their first full machine, it is not that difficult. Just use SMC here as a field guide.

Again - Congrats on the find!

[mznb1u]

Great score!

Tom makes a pretty good point.  Before you go to too much trouble on the restoration and removing the bondo, it would make sense to remove the inside door liner and insulation to see if you can determine the condition of the embossing.  If the embossing is still in good shape, then you can figure out the best way to get the body filler off the machine.  I suspect the guys at the local auto body shops would have some tips.

  Tim

[Funtronics]

Great find. The VMC 81 is a nice one to do for your first one. Just take lots of pictures before you start and take pictures as you take it apart. You also have all of us on here to help guide you thru it. And if you get to a really tough spot and not getting any answers you can give me a call and I would be glad to answer any of you questions. Take your time and when your done you will be looking for your next machine. The bug will have bitten you. 

[SIGNGUY]

Awesome find... and this is your FIRST Machine,, wow to be soo lucky!!
Like others have said, before putting heat or chemicals on it, take the liner off and see if they only filled inthe debossed lettering.. hopeing thats it. it will be easy to see from the back..
and like Rod said,, ask questions.. take your time and tons of pictures and label your parts as you take them off..
if you get stuck, ask..
and if you want to sell, I'm sure there are many us that would like to buy it.. 

[BrianB]

Awesome score!  Have a GREAT time restoring it. I'd say it's a keeper.

[rayg]

it's a really cool machine and good find.

[Zach]

Well the moment of truth we've been waiting for! Thankfully she's OK! Two small holes in her, those can be fixed and you can tell its bondo with the red coming out of the holes. Now just got to get the bondo out and get working on her.

[vintage-air]

Ta-Dah! Now you know! Looks good to me. Now comes the fun part. Keep us posted on your progress!

[flippa]

Great score on your first machine!

[mznb1u]

Congrats--you scored a nice machine and it will look great when the resto is complete!

  Tim

[collecture]

That is a beautiful sight!!    

Wish I could find one for $350!! 

[Zach]

Thanks guys I'm excited! Without cost being a concern, is it better to do a correct resto by plating everything the way it left the factory such as the shelves or should I powder coat them? Sorry this has been asked a lot but there's different answers depending on who you ask, I would like to do the best restoration as possible. And I'm assuming the 7 up is hand painted? Any idea on what the correct paint codes are? Who does the best coin mechs? Thanks

[Creighton]

Nice score! If cost doesn't matter soda blast the shelves/liner, find a top notch plater and glavinze back to the orginal finish. The bill from that will be scary. Powdercoating is all fine and well but it adds material and the heat involved in the process will cause problems with the slider shelves. Hammertone paint works with proper prep, but is just paint on top of a galvinized surface. Isn't correct.

7-Up was likely silk screened from the factory. A car pinstriper will be your best bet now. Mulitple threads on color codes. Without a doubt "Collecture" does the best coin mech work. Plan on $3k minimum for a drop dead perfect restoration. My thoughts, others will chime in.
Creighton
     

[coke_and_stuff]

Powdercoating is all fine and well but it adds material and the heat involved in the process will cause problems with the slider shelves.

Ive powdercoated prob 10 sets of shelves with this never happening. If you use a guy that knows what he is doing you will have a flawless job that wont warp the metal or come off in the future. Anybody can powdercoat, a monkey could do it. A trained and educated professional that actually takes pride in their work is who you need to seek out. The guy I use goes and takes refresher courses 2-3 weeks a year to learn the do's and dont's and the new technology and processes that are available. End result I have never once had a problem with his work.

Rule #1 ask questions

Joey

[mznb1u]

Anybody can powdercoat, a monkey could do it.

Joey

Hey--watch it there Joey!  I worked in a powder-coating factory for 2 summers when I was in college!     Probably took 10 years off of my life with all the crap I breathed in.

Actually, you are 100% correct as far as making sure the powder coater knows what they are doing.  Because I showed up for work everyday, I ended up operating a spray gun in a powder booth for most of one summer after about 5 minutes of instruction.  Of course, we were mainly coating suspension springs for the automotive industry so they did not have to look pretty.  We did any color you wanted as long as it was black!  Powder coating is a fairly simple process but it is real easy to screw it up.

I included a picture of me that was taken from inside the booth.

  Tim

[Funtronics]

I agree with Joey. Find a good powder coater. I have done many machines and never had a problem with powder coating shelves. Just be sure to remove the wheels. If you are painting the machine back to original white it should be easy to match that. If you do it two tone I have the code for the green. If your like me I have nobody close that is good at hand painting my letters. So I use decals to do a reverse paint trick. When I restored my 7-up 110 I have the exact decal that goes right over the embossed area. The 7-UP recessed part of the decal is cut away so that your white paint shows thru. See the attached picture of the 110 that I did. If you have any other questions just ask.

[Funtronics]

Tim:
Where's the pink hair in the picture??? 

[SIGNGUY]

Awesome score.. I"m restoring a 7up 81 right now as well. This one belongs to a customer and he wants it two toned Green and white , which I like too..
I have powdercoated shelves and zinc plated shelves.. I like both processes and haven't had trouble with either one..
if you zinc, make sure you then clear over it afterwards... so far so good on that..
Powder , just remove the wheels before getting it done, as theywill melt in the oven.. and like others have said, use someone who knows what they are dooing..
Tom is your best bet for Coin mech restoration,, he does amazing work!
Good luck!

[Cokemachinesandmore]

thats why I use Brian B for my future powder coating needs.

[BrianB]

I'm a HIGHLY trained military monkey, even better!!

[collecture]

Brian - you amaze me!

[Cokemachinesandmore]

now that was good Tom

[BrianB]

I have mad skillz......

Seriously though.

Powdercoating is like anything other "trade".

The longer you work at it and pay attention to detail the better you will get. Unless you don't have a natural aptitude for it. Sometimes all of the training in the world doesn't help.

The parts that I have powdercoated in my small set-up turned out just as good as anything I have ever gotten professionally done.

Like I said before, pay attention to detail, do prep-work properly and make sure you follow the powder manufacturer's directions or special considerationa and it doesn't really matter what your heat source is as long as your heating is indirect. People have used toater ovens with great results!

Don't hate, appreciate! 

[Zach]

When I send my coin mech out, do I want to send all the other pieces that go inside the door as well? What about the cabinet handle, zinc or chrome? I'm thinking of doing the inside cabinet powdercoat with the racks zinc plated? What you guys think?

[collecture]

On the WB-60 I am just finishing up - I PC'd the liner and bottle stack, but zinc plated all the parts to the Vend Mechanism which has a lot of moving parts.
Pay close attention to parts that might have limited tolerances and be careful how thick of a coating you (or someone else) apply to them. Specifically the coin mech parts and bottle stack parts in your case. Otherwise, you'll be spending a lot of time drilling out holes so the part fits on the post.

[Zach]

I ordered a compressor fan a while ago for my Vendo 39, por thing must hate me now it doesn't get the attention it used to, anyways I realized the part number on it was a Granger part number. That got me wondering, seems like simple fan parts and such are bought from Granger then marked up and said to be made for certain machines? Hmm, interesting. Could the new cooling units just be assembled parts from companies like Granger and such? I kind of have a feeling they are. Anyone got their two cents for this one?

[SIGNGUY]

I prefer to buy my parts from the parts suppliers like Funtronics , that way I know the part is tested, fitted and going to be correct in my machine I'm restoring.. I have no problem paying a few bucks more for this knowledge and expertise and the peace of mind knowing the part will fit, and function properly in the machine.

[davethebirdman]

I fully agree with John... If it wasnt for the likes of Funtroincs and SodaJerkworks
we would all be struggling. If they stick a "few bob" ontop for taking the time to source
the parts and road test them .. Good Luck to them.....

 

[Zach]

Anyone know where I can get the 7 up decals for the vmc 81?