As of last night, I have "officially" started restoring my Pepsi 81! I really enjoyed tuning in to Pat's V-90 thread and thought it would be fun to document my process/progress.
Last night I had about an hour to work on it and here's what I got accomplished:
#1 - Removed the kickplate and tossed it, it was beyond recoverable in my book. I had to use my trust rotary tool to cut off a few screw heads but I got it!
#2 - Removed the refrigeration system and set it aside. I did test it before I removed it and cooled down just fine. Appears to be the original set-up.I will crate it up and send it out tomorrow.
#3 - Removed the Coin Mech Heater wire. Kinda funny, the guy I bought it off of said the one time he did plug it in he accidentally touched the frayed and exposed heater wires and got the shock of his life!
#4 - Removed the Bottle Stack and shelves
#5 - Removed the Breaker Strips and tossed 'em!
#6 - Removed the Refrigeration Compartment Liner
#7 - Removed insulation. I inspected the beltline and it look like there was just some moderate to heavy surface rust with no rust-through in any spot. I'm pretty happy about that!
I will update when I have something new.
Here's some pictures of the first day (hour!) of festivities!