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All,

I just finished up restoring my Cavalier 51 (1953 model).  Funtronics was great with all parts, and Eric at Global Compressors/Kustom Krome did a great job with the chrome work.

Here are some "before" photos.

Here are the after photos.

One more...

Congrats.  Machine look great.  The C-51 was my very first machine I bought and restored and it sits proudly in the entrance to my malt shop.

WOW !!! You did a great job on it. Now that your past your 1st one whats next???  :biggrin:

Looks Great indeed... I just took one in from a customer to restored.. unfortunately can't get to it till next year but he wanted it out of his garage.

question.. what did you do on the belt to clean it up? each one by hand? polish the aluminum? paint it or what? just curiuos as I want to redo them , but not necessary take the whole belt apart?

Thanks
John

Rod, my next one is a Westinghouse Standard.  Actually, my 1st one was a Vendo 110 (large door).  I cussed A LOT with that restoration!!!  As always, you and Janet provided top notch service.


John, I just cleaned the belt with an SOS pad.  I didn't take it apart.  I was very fortunate to have a clean machine on the inside to start with.

Thanks guys for the kind words!

Looks great Wayne!
What a funky compressor assembly! I thought your picture was upside-down. I've owned two C-51's and between yours and my two, there have been 3 different compressor assemblies.

Thanks, Tom!!  Yeah, I haven't seen matching cooling assemblies on 51's yet!  This one has the little condensor in front of the compressor and then a big condensor on the back of the machine.  Strange indeed.

Also, if you guys notice white PVC spacers in the back of the ammo belt, they are for Yoo-Hoo bottles.  The spacers push them forward enough to activate the sold-out mechanism.

Nice job!!
Creighton

Great job... really turned out nice... what did you do to the liner... paint, plate or elbo grease?
Great looking machine.

I'm not a fan of the C51, but you did great, it's a looker!

Thanks!  I used Hammertone on the liner (after cleaning it).  I am guessing this machine spent its life indoors.  Other than the main and coin doors, which had lots of scratches and fading, the rest of the machine was reasonably clean.

Nicely done Wayne ! ! !

Well done mate... GREAT JOB.

Looks great! Who did the embossing?

Sweet ! looks great, a job well done and a good eye to detail!

looks great, excellent work

Nice job!!!
I too own a Cav.51, and it was my 2nd machine.... and I tell ya, I LOVE the look of it! And I tell most people that I think it's my fav. machine!!!!  I just love the full redness of it, the large embossing, the classic look, and how mine has the step by step lettering of how to buy a coke!!

I think i posted this pic up before somewhere here, but if not, here it is again, along with my Pep81 and in the back my 44.
IF, and thats a big, IF, I were to ever restore a machine, this one is at the top of my list, yet it's a GREAT machine, as it's been an indoor machine it's entire life (Im only the 3rd owner, as it was originally at a ad agency office, then when they shut down, the guy I bought it from loved it so the boss gave it to him for all the hard work over the years, (and the fact that the boss sat on his guitar at the closing party and broke it lol) and then when that guy retired, he sold it to me!
Cheers!!! :happydrinkers:

Very nice job!  I've never seen the inside of one that looked so good. 

Looks great, I've got one I have had for a long time need to get it done sometime soon .
keep up the great work.

Does the belt come apart?  I've never had a chance to study one.

According to the manual it does - download the manual Section 10-Cavalier Coolers

Dan,

Actually, the embossing is the vinyl letters sold by Funtronics.  I can laugh at it now, but I got down to the "C" in Coca and I tore the letter.  So, I had to get another decal.  That actually worked out for the best, as I removed a few more letters that I didn't have exactly lined up correctly.

Looks like you did an outstanding job on the restoration!!  Machine looks outstanding!

Question about the compressor assembly though.  I've been wondering how to do it, but how in the world do you restore a compressor assembly without discharging the system and taking it all apart?  Is it safe to sandblast the assembly and just repaint it like it is??  Just curious as I think I'm about to do something like this soon.  Thanks.  Great job!!

Ken,

When I remove the cooling system, I stick it on a homemade rack.  The Cavalier 51 is a little different, since it isn't the standard setup like in other machines.  Regardless, I remove all the electrical wiring, fans, stat, and tape up the connector pins on the compressor.  I then clean the entire assembly.  I will remove rust (where I can) with a small steel wool brush (gently).  You have to use that carefully, due to the chance of damaging something.  To clean all the dirt, I usually use an orange cleaner and a low-pressure hose.  Once everything is dry, I'm ready to paint.  I mask off the evap coil and then paint the compressor and condensor.  I use Rustoleum.  Then, I make sure I mask off that and spray the evap coil (again, with Rustoleum, but sliver color).

Ok, cool.  Doesn't sound difficult, just very tedious and time consuming.  You did such a great job on the compressor I would have sworn you had blasted it, primed and painted with a spray gun as you would a car.  Was thinking that would put too much paint on it though since that is usually a pretty thick layer of paint.  So a small wire brush, cleaner, and some Rustoleum paint?  Guess that's what I'll do with mine!!  Thanks.

Yep, just be careful when using the brush around those lines.

I have a brass wire brush, perhaps better to use that one...???

That's what I used.  I just got as much of the surface stuff off as I could.  I also used a Rust Encapsulator product from Eastwood Automotive.  Then, you can spray over it.

Something that is a rust inhibitor, right?  Primer will cover it, but not stop it.  Ever hear of a product called "asfo"?  Have been told about it buy those that work on cars, many years ago though.  I guess so long as original paint is not stripped, then primer is not necessarily needed, only on those parts that bare metal is exposed...??  I really appreciate the information and will be using it quite soon!!  Thanks.

Very very nice! I PM'd you about some specifics on the cooling system cleaning and painting. Please respond if you get a chance. Thanks! Again, great job!

Hey nice job on that c-51 ! Just picked up my first machine and it's a c51 needs a ammo belt and every thing that goes with it. Do you have any Idea where I might come across one ?

                              Thanks, Dan

Hello Dan

Welcome to the site.. The ammo belts do appear occasionally on eBay along with the rollers etc.. They fall into the hard but not impossible to find category.
Hopefully one of the members here will have one they can part with.

Dave   

Hi Dan
Welcome aboard!!

With the 51, Ive noticed that from time to time a 51 in desperate need of restoration comes up for sale with all parts intact, at a price that would be cheaper than just buying the belt and parts with it.

Patience is the key, as it might pop up today, or it might take several months.

Either way, you have now slipped into the world of machine addiction lol

ENJOY
And keep us posted!!

Thanks for the compliment, Dan, and welcome aboard.  Like Dave said, they do appear on eBay from time to time.

That is a great looking job.

Great job on the c-51. I just finished one myself. I had to really work on the ammo belt on mine to get it looking good.
A lot of polishing. Yours looks fantastic.