Repairing a 'Huffman' Machine

[tkaz]

I got a call from Pat back in December about a guy here in NC that needed help getting a Cavalier 72 vending again.  Turns out the guy bought it from Alan Huffman in Granite Falls and he refused to help him after sending a new coin mech that didn't help the problem.  The guy bought the machine from Alan unrestored and had him restore it, this was my first time seeing a 'restored' machine from them and I feel real bad for the guy. 

The repair ended up being a broken wire going from the j-box to the solenoid, so it was an easy fix.

The paint was chipping all around the machine, you could see the rust underneath so it was clearly not prepped properly before primer.  The doors and seals were all out of adjustment, causing more paint to chip.  The bottom bottle door hinge and handle were rusted out, all the shelves had most of the paint chipping off. 

The machine was installed and not leveled, so that didn't help the condition, water was draining out the left side near the door and not the drain.  I had a hell of a time getting the half-ass leg levelers back into adjustment as well.

I don't know what he paid and I didn't want to ask, but you have to feel bad for the people that think they are getting a top-notch machine just to end up with something that falls apart after a year or two.  My hats off to all you good restorers out there, keep doing what you are doing.

[Slider-Bob]

That sounds like one of Alan's better restorations. Only 8 things gone wrong.  Glad you fixed it right Tom. Nice job!

[SodaShopNick]

What a nice thing to do to help him out.  In regards to Alan I just don't understand how he stays in business.  He has an amazing collection and he is nice enough when you visit him and show you around, but appears to be a nightmare to do business with.  Being about 2.5 hours away from him and sometimes needing some assistance that he advertises has tempted me, but then stories like this help remind me not to go to him.

[tkaz]

More pics

[mygoose101]

Sounds like a Rick Dale resto.

[brasskey]

What a nice thing to do to help him out.  In regards to Alan I just don't understand how he stays in business.  He has an amazing collection and he is nice enough when you visit him and show you around, but appears to be a nightmare to do business with.  Being about 2.5 hours away from him and sometimes needing some assistance that he advertises has tempted me, but then stories like this help remind me not to go to him.

I agree, very nice of you to help out tkaz. I think he's able to stay in business because he's been around so long. Google various things about these old soda machines and chances are you'll end up on his site for something. I often do when I'm searching for images of machines.

[sodahunter]

The 72's are one of my favorites and a straight-forward machine to restore, but its all in the prep.  I wonder what's going on in the places you can't see...the lower breaker strips look to have gotten wet at some point, if the insulation is wet, bigger problems could be ahead. 

[Lincoln22]

Sad story, that a restorer would do business lIke that.  Glad you helped guy out!