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Got this off a local CL ad today.
Guy said it was rusty, but I have seen much worse. There is no rust in the tub and a rubber drain hose that cannot be shut - may have helped keep it rust free.
Gaskets are exactly like the Westy Junior.

 It appears (to me) that it used to have legs or a base of some sort and they were cut off.
Would like to see a pic of something similar with a base or something. If anybody has something, I am all ears (or eyes).

I like that. Great score Tom!!
Creighton
 

Nice find, Tom!!  I'll keep my eyes peeled for something like that down here!

Interesting for sure... you going to restore it?

          Are those separate compartments on each end, or just nifty drink holders?

That would be a killer piece restored. Like how the lid is recessed for gripping to open as well.

Very nice...

Thanks guys!
I definately want to restore it, but need to decide on what exactly to do.
First thoughts are to have some sort of base/stand fabricated. I have an idea in my head - I'll try to rough draw it up soon and submit it for everyone's review and input.
Pretty cool though for $75 - I think we all like the uncommon stuff.

What's the dimensions? Something like a coolerette stand would look great

The measurements given in the ad were 24" x 12.5" x 12", but I personally haven't measured it yet. They are pretty close to that I am sure.

Here is a rough sketch of the stand I have in my head. It would be an enclosed stand with sheet metal wrapped all the way around and an open back with two shelves underneath.
Thoughts anyone?

Yup. That's along the same line I was thinking.
 Are you going with the white body and red shelves? I myself would go the opposite. Red body with white shelves but then that's just me :biggrin:

I agree... extend the sides and put a front pannel on... Would be cool to find “ICE COLD”  embossing from a westinghouse along the front.. leave the back open and maybe casters...

I'm not sure about the 'ICE COLD' - that would have to be in Spanish for it to look authentic.

The correct wording would be "BIEN FRIA" per the Westinghouse coolers from Mexico I've seen.

Find me a very rusty one please - except for the BIEN FRIA part.

I was just out there looking at it a little closer now that the little ones are asleep.
It does have an ID plate on the back right below one hinge, which I did not notice before.
It has a model # CCM 56 and a serial # 406570 and the maker 'Tre Vendo Montiel' amd 'Mexico' in very small print at the bottom of the plate...as best I can make out!

guess you could paint the words along the bottom or leave off completly...  depending on the width the
embossing may be too wide anyway...

My thoughts too, but I'll see what shows up. A Westy Junior or Standard are 25" wide on the embossed side and this is about 24 across, so it may fit pretty good.

yeah but you don't want the wrong translation... it may not even of had that... are the Mexican versions embossed along the bottom?... the 23 spin tops aren't embossed along the bottom... well the delux versions are... but still... you may run across a image of one and it may look nothing like that... that was just my version... I would shy away from the leg look though... my 2 cents

I'll look through my Disney pictures.. one of the parks- Epcot I think, has a whole display setup with loads of foreign coolers and machines. I took a bunch of pictures.

That would be awesome if you had a pic of what this cooler looked like unmolested.

Here are some pictures I posted when we got back from the trip. http://soda-machines.com/discussions/index.php?topic=7271.10

Unfortunately, I don't see anything posted that looks like yours.. I'll look through the rest of the pics when I get home and see if I left any out.

I've been having second thoughts and thinking this piece might be better off left alone and in original shape. It has a cool factor that would be lost in restoration and it is still in good enough shape that it can be used. It is uncommon enough that you want to see the un-restored condition - like Orange Crush 81! :tounge:
It can always be restored, but can only be original once!
Thoughts on that?

Tom nice cooler

leave it original

Saw these tonight on ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/50s-MEXICAN-COCA-COLA-COKE-JR-COOLER-ICE-BOX-MEXICO_W0QQitemZ370307896964QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5638121684

Is that auction for all 3 pieces, or just the Junior?

Maybe do a wire stand. Did you see the one that Steve Ebner made for his Mission cooler. That way if you want to put it on the counter just pull it off the wire stand. My vote would be to restore it.

The auction is just for the Junior.  I saw that one the other day.  I would love to get one of the Mexican coolers but I am just across the border from Canada.  I guess I will have to settle for one that says - -"Have a Coke, eh!"  :biggrin: 8) :laugh:

 :drinking: Tim :drinking:

I just sent this seller a message through eBay to see if he could help ID the cooler I have further. Looks like he has a few Mexican coolers.

The last mexican jr cooler I saw sold for 1200 bucks.

Good... I hope he has your cooler in another corner and will be able to help id yours and/or
knows what your cooler needs.

good luck!

He responded to me with eBay contact information for another guy who I had inquired about in my message to him. According to Steve Ebner, this other guy is in El Paso too and has the largest collection of import coolers in the USA. I just messaged him through eBay and hopefully will solve this mystery soon. According to Steve, this guy would be my best shot so I am excited to have tracked him down.

I had even written a letter to Alan Petretti before I went on my recent trip, but it came back "Return to Sender". I used the address in his 11th edition price guide, which corresponded with addresses I retrieved off the web also. Oh well, maybe this latest development will pan out.

 Tom
         I 'v sent Allen a couple of Diffirent things in the Last 5-6 years and they All came back Like Yours !!

Well I heard from the guy in El Paso today and sent him pictures of the cooler. When I talked to him earlier today he said he used to own a few hundred coolers, but sold off his USA stuff because it was just too common. Now he said he has about 50-60 import coolers only.
So hopefully he has (or has a picture of) one like mine unmolested and I can solve the mystery of what this cooler looked like. I'll be sure to post his response to me in the coming days. :biggrin:

Thats awesome Tom.. hopefully he'll come up with some more info and a photo..

I think he is my best bet unless a complete one pops up!  :upside:

Well he responded with nothing new really other than I have the 4th one he has ever seen and he had 2 of them (sold them off though). He says it was a counter cooler and that only about and inch or so is missing from the bottom of mine. I really have a hard time believing that since the drain tube is on the bottom with no way to close it off. Water would slowly leak out all over the counter top if that was true, but it is Mexico so maybe that is the way it was?? And why would someone cut off an inch? I wrote back asking if he had any pictures of the cooler unmolested, so we'll see.

He sent me a link to his PhotoBucket with a ton of cool cooler pics - I really like the tall Tome Mission cooler on pg. 2 of the 'coolers' folder and the embossed Tome Coca Cola upright seen in the 'Recent Uploads' folder (it looks similar to a Vendo 80). Also pictured is a Mexican Tome Coca Cola policeman school crossing sign, which I can't say I've ever seen one before. I asked if any of his stuff was for sale like the V-81D in the 'Recent Uploads' folder. He is not too far away in El Paso (6 hr. drive one-way).

http://s35.photobucket.com/home/julian59

That's some very cool stuff.

I guess he does a lot of picking in Mexico.

I remember passing up anything and everything that came from outside the U.S. because I considered myself a collector of Classic Americana. Oooooh how I have learned. I should have bought that stuff up when I had the chance.

The WE-6 bandstage mounted on at least a 1 ton truck is a hoot (page 2). Thanks for the pics!!
Creighton

a lot of the stuff out of Mexico is beat since they use it to the  bitter end and when broken it will be fixed anyway possible. Which from what I have seen  means it is a hack job that may not be easy to reverse.

OK - Here is the scoop. I spoke with Julian yesterday for a long time - funny how you can speak with someone you've never met for a long time about soda machines - maybe that is why this site is so good?

Anyway, in Mexico you have a group of guys called pickers and they will go into the farms and small towns and find these coolers, machines, pedal cars etc and bring them to the border towns where guys like Julian will buy the machines. Their school of thought is that they will get more money for it if it is not all rusty and so they cut out the rusty areas and rough patch it. Julian said you can tell them until you are blue in the face to NOT cut it up, but they still do. A couple of dollars more is a lot to them.
Unfortunately, this is what has happened to my cooler. According to him, it originally had a pot metal drain bent at 90 degrees and coming out the side with a cap on it. The pot metal easily rusted out over time and then the water would leak out into the bottom of the cooler rusting it out eventually.
The sides of this cooler had a 90 degree lip on the bottom. Two flat pieces of sheetmetal went over the lip and insulation kind of like the overlapping pieces on the bottom of a bow out chest. Three cross bars were screwed in over the metal and into the lip with the middle crossbar covering the overlap of the sheet metal pieces. I am not sure if there were other screws around the perimeter or just in the crossbar supports, but I imagine there was.

So it is a start. Julian knows where one still is and is going to get me some pictures of it at some point.