Ideal 55 slider - need some help

[ZMonet]

I am VERY new to this hobby, but have been taking the crash course in soda vending machines over the last couple of weeks.  I have always thought about getting an old soda machine for my father, but never pulled the trigger.  With father's day/ his birthday approaching in July my brother and I are now putting together a game room for him.  He already has three classic games (Frogger, a pinball, Pole Position II) in the basment, but he really doesn't have any setup.  Anyway, on to my point.

One of the things my brother and I want to give him is an Ideal 55 Slider Coke machine.  We were able to find a supposedly fully working one (pics below) not too far from my parent's place and I plan on driving from where I currently am (350 miles away) picking the Slider up and trying to do a quick and dirty restoration on the thing.  I may have paid a little too much ($350), but it is close by and the seller agreed to store it.  I am not looking for perfection since this is going to sit in an unfinished basement, but I would like it to at least have the feal of a 55 Slider Coke machine.  In that regard, I was hoping that someone might help me with my bullet list.  ANY guidance is appreciated:

REMOVING PAINT -- it looks like this thing has at least two levels of paint on it.  I don't have access to a sand blaster and was planning on using a chemical remover and sanders.  Any suggestions on specific chemcial removers?

REMOVING PARTS - In removing paint/repainting I think it would be smart to remove the coin mechanism and bottle cap catcher.  How difficult are these to remove?  I plan on buying the original manual from Funtronics, so maybe that will provide guidance.

NEW PAINT - I plan on can spray painting Krylon Tough Coat Acrylic Alkyd Enamels Cherry Red.  I know it won't go on as nice as an air sprayer, but I am somewhat limited to what tools I'll have access to and I think the spray paint will meet my needs.  ANy suggestions on technique?  Also, does anyone know if the original Ideal slider had the coin mechanism painted balck or red?

LOCKS - there are no keys for the existing locks.  How difficicult is it to drill out the old locks?  I plan on bringing it to a locksmith if this isn't something that can be done easily.  I plan on getting new locks and/or latch from Funtronics.

DECALS - I plan on getting the fishtail decal from Funcoland.  Were there any other decals on the original?

LID-  Any tips for polishing/buffing the chrome trim/lid?

Any other advice you can provide would be appreciated.  I have read the old messages and gotten some guidance, but not everything I'll need.  Thanks in advance!

Pictures, as promised:

[ZMonet]

pic#2

[ZMonet]

Pic #3

[ZMonet]

Pic #4

[davethebirdman]

I can't help you with your questions. But I think for $350.00 you did well.

[collecture]

Welcome ZMonet,
I do not own a slider yet, but I think I can at least answer some of your questions. The cap catcher should just slide up of the mounting studs - they were never secured to machines as you needed to empty them frequently. I think the sliders used a crank type opener on the access door and key locks on the coin mech - a 1/4" Titanium bit should do the trick on the key lock. I am not sure about the crank lock. Once you get the coin mech open, I think it should just pull out after the mounting screws are removed.

There are lots of helpful people here and many are much more knowledgable about the restoration of sliders than me, so you will get answers soon. I think you did well for $350.

[MoonDawg]

You got an excellent deal. The slider rack, coin mech. and cap catcher are worth $500.00 for parts.
        The side door opens with a 3/8" allen wrench.
        The lid can be polished but will show the dents even worse then.
        You state that you are 350 miles away from this machine and are going to do a  "quick restoration" to it when you get there.  I guess we all would like to a satisfactory job quick and cheap, but it doesn't work that way.
        Why go to all the work of stripping the paint off, only to use a spray can to paint it. Would you paint your car with a spray can?
         The existing white paint will clean up nice. With red decals it will fit real nice in the unfinished basement. If you really want to use the fishtail logo, you could just paint the front red, leaving the rest white.  Here is a pic. of Ideal's version of reverse colors

[ZMonet]

Thanks for everyone's reply and input.  I certainly appreciate it and am glad to see that I did not overpay for the machine.  MoonDawg -- I think I'll see how the spray can paint goes on and if I'm not liking it, I'll stop, remove what I put on and plan on taking another trip to my parent's place in the future to spray on something like Dupont Centari.  While I understand your comparison to spraying a car, I have to factor in my audience for this machine, my father.  He is in to nostalgia, but not necessarily into having a finished showpiece.  In fact, he might even like it better if I kept it in its current state.

Can anyone venture a guess whether any of the existing paint is original, or do you think this was repainted at some time?  It appears to me that on the side view that I can see some red bleeding through the white.

Also, does anyone know what is in the upper left corner of the picture of the rack?  It appears like some other locking mechanism, but I've never heard of there being more than two locks on these machines.

Finally, will these machines take the new 20 oz plastic bottles too, or will they only take the old style glass bottles?

Thanks again everyone.

[MoonDawg]

The inside of the compressor area seems to originally be painted white.  That is what would lead me to believe you have an original paint job.  I say clean the heck out of it and give it to him original, with a red Coke logo.

[collecture]

You can buy a reproduction rack that holds the 20 oz. from Fun-Tronics for $285 plus S&H.