Soda Fountain

[mznb1u]

I am going to look at an old ice cream soda fountain tomorrow--or I guess later today.  My question is whether or not anyone in the group has ever restored one of these?  It is in good shape but the refrigeration needs to be restored.  I was thinking that it might be possible to retrofit a soda machine compressor and evaporator to do the trick?  Any comments on whether that would work?

Tim

[Eric]

Randy In Ozark, MO at Nostalgic Restorations has restored a few of these the last one I saw him
was very nice.....
I passed on one a few months ago for $500... but it was missing the
stainless steel front panel and the compressor and other parts...
Would LOVE to have one and have it up and running... How cool would that be.... also Paul at drjazzsodafountain.com owns a few fountains/restuarants and had the originals restored..... they are very cool.... Hope you get it and hope you get a deal! Keep us posted!

[GreginNM]

Tim, I have one, but haven't restored it yet.  I bought the original soda fountain from Milton, Florida where I lived previously.  I gave $125 for it, nearly complete but not working.  It seems they are pretty simple to work on, and likely compatible with the same stuff in the soda machines.  I understand it isn't too hard or expensive to replace the carbonator units, either.  They are certainly neat!

[mznb1u]

Thanks for the replies guys!  I went to see it today and lets just say that the picture makes it look a lot better than it was.  This one was definitely a parter-outer.  The main cabinet was in pretty bad shape and the front door was practically falling off.  Also, the sides and back were wood (in bad shape) because this had been installed in the middle of a counter set-up somewhere.  I doubt that it would have stayed in one piece while being moved.  The pumps, soda pulls, topping scoops, wells and lids were all in good shape but the rest neeeded more work than I wanted to do.

I am passing but the guy wants $200 if anyone else is interested.  It is located in Bad Axe, MI (up near the tip of the thumb for you non-Michiganders)--I just happened to be up there on business.

Here is the CL listing:

http://saginaw.craigslist.org/for/716787860.html

I guess I need to keep hunting!  We had a soda fountain at my Dad's old drug store in Detroit and even though I never got to see it in operation, I have always wanted one for my basement rec-room!

Tim

[sodaworks]

I have a couple that are about 3' long that need to go.