SMC Discussion Areas

Gang,

Anyone know a fair price for an RC 81? I have a lead on one, but not sure seems high on the price. The guy wants $11K!!! Says it original.

Brian

That's what they'd go for restored & I'd darn well would demand to see the inside of the door liner for that kinda money...I'd say if it's a genuine VMC RC81, I'd say $6-8k tops for me.

my two-cents worth anyway.

Condition would play a small part as well...
Is it a nice original or just an 8 on the scale of  1 -10...?
As stated, definitely check thoroughly inside the door liner ! ! !

PS - Did you finally sell the Stoner Mechs...?

I still have the stoner mechs! Got to find time to get you better pics! I am waiting on pics of the RC 81. Guy says it is original from his grand dad's store. He has had it 25 years. We will see.

What will it tell you by looking at the liner? Mike

You look at the metal of the front door for signs of just welding a RC logo from a cooler.
X-ray would be the only way to tell for sure.
Creighton

XRAY or a die test will show any small signs of welding in a new embossment.

your first tell tale sign would be if it's painted yellow on the inside, they never spent the money or took the time to paint the inside like the outside of the machine. its usually over spray on the inside of the machine. i would definitely remove the liner to check the backside of the front door.

However when I restore a machine i still prime the inside of the door. I could easily grind off the welds and prep and prime the inside and you would never know it was welded in. But most people do not go to this trouble and if you want to be honest that it is a fake I would leave it obvious that it was welded in.

Brian, My RC 81 needed a full resto but was all original and pretty clean. With shipping, it cost me around $9k. If you remember, the Penn auction had 3 RC 81's that were original unrestored and they went from 11,500 to 19,000. No need to bother looking at the inside of the door unless you REALLY have to. You've been in this business long enough to tell what's original and what's not. If he's had it for over 25 yrs. and all original, I'd feel comfortable with it. If it was a fully restored machine, with no prior pictures...it would be necessary to document the inside door. Remember people, these machines were taken to the scrap yard and didn't hold much value until recent times. Do what makes you feel comfortable. It's a lot of money for a machine ,yes, but how often do they come up for sale? I know you've always wanted one so just do it already! :biggrin: You won't regret it!

JB

(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c283/bondovian/photo-3.jpg)

Not sure if I posted my pics when I purchased my RC 81 off a guy from this site.... but before I purchased it, I told him that I wanted to peel off the liner at the back and see what was behind there. 
Because it was a restored machine, there was infact overspray / rough first coat of yellow on the inside of the machine.  There were NO welding marks anywhere around the embossed lettering. 
I am in the metal fabrication business, and there is NO way of bonding off a thin layer of stamped metal without one being able to notice the welded stitch unless there is a few coats of paint on top.  Because of the weld, EVEN if grinded off, and EVEN if bonded off, there would ALWAYS be a raised ridge around where the welding took place.  There is no way that there can not be a noticable mark left behind, because if it were all grinded off, then there would be no more weld that is holding the "new" embossing, and if it were hidden with bonding, then there would be a raised lip around where the mark of the weld is.
In saying all of that, sure there are ways to pass off a fake, that would fool many.  Yet, peeling off the back liner, and feeling ALL the way around the machine, gives you an idea of what you have.
IF the person does not allow you to peel off the back.... I would stay far away from that machine.
I've attached a few pics of before I purchased the machine when I peeled the liner back.
As well, about 2 years ago now, I was almost ready to purchase a different Royal Crown machine, and that was before I knew about this site, or even the fact that there were fakes out there, and I wanted to peel the liner back to actually see if the restoration had been done properly, ie; safe wiring, insulation etc. and the guy had no worries about me opening the machine, as he said the guy he bought the machine from was a "good honest guy" etc... well, sure enough, when we peeled it back, there was a LARGE weld all around the embossed area, and again, being in the bus. and knowing people in the tool and die,  I knew that there was something wrong with all of this.... long story short, he was upset with himself (not me) for not looking back when he bought it, and I was not obligated to purchase that machine, as we made a deal before hand that I get to peel it back to see the quality of the resto... lucky me lol.

if i was paying 11k for a machine, i would take the liner off but thats just me. i bought a very nice near mint original vmc 81 7 up and i still took the liner off and checked it.

Not a thing wrong with pressing the seller to prove it is as described. If they get their panties in a wad go elsewhere.
Creighton

SO, Jeff, what's the story with the photos of hte crates you made up? just curious? are these machine stands? or your attempting to make Machines out of Wood now? ha ha :biggrin:

Well, if you must know..... my father has gotten me into beekeeping. Most beehives are white so I thought I would jazz things up a bit and combine my love for soda machines with woodworking and make some soda box beehives. Here's one that i made with a Bazooka Gum theme. These were all done with spray paint and really enjoy making them. Orange crush box is next!!

(http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c283/bondovian/bubblegum.jpg)

That's cool and unique.. so will the honey have a hint of Bazooka, Coke or RC Cola? :biggrin:
Cool idea!

So when little Billy wanders up & peeks under the lid hoping to find yummy bubble-gum ...  :tounge: