1963 Frigidaire Custom Imperial on SS thread #64730

funktionalart · Mar 22, 2016

In the event there are any Frigidaire preservationists lurking tonight, member agitatorboodie posted that there is a white '63 Frigidaire Custom imperial Refrigerator/bottom Freezer on Shopper's Square posted today, 3/22. I have the same model in turquoise--the white one is being sold on craigslist in Louisville.

**IF** and only if anyone is planning on getting it and is willing to part it (just easily shippable things, not the box/compressor itself) please let me know. Although mine works and is very nice, I want to keep it running forever and would love to have ANYTHING I can get without being so extreme as having to ship the whole thing to AZ. I LOVE my fridge--it took me 20 years to find the one I have…so this is sort of important to me. Thanks, guys!

frogkid11 · Mar 23, 2016

How did your fridge work out?

Hey Allen,
I saw your post from 2014 where you bought the turqouise fridge and were trying to get it to temperature and in working order. Did you ever find and fix the issues you were having?

funktionalart · Mar 24, 2016

Working! Yes.

It didn't take much. It hadn't been run in around 20 years…the freezer door gasket had to be redone to ensure proper operation--it had several tears and wouldn't seal. Mechanically, no problems.

brucelucenta · Mar 24, 2016

I actually had a huge side by side Frigidaire refrigerator that was from the later 50's. It had the big chrome handles on each half of the sides that were equal in width. It was pretty massive for the time and the freezer was still at the top on both sides with it's own aluminum doors to close on the inside. I don't recall the year of it, but ALL the Frigidaire refrigerators that year had the same chrome handles and had a similar look to them, kind of rounded looking. It was pretty impressive for the time. It went with most of my other stuff some years back. It still worked, but my ex had started stripping the paint and sanding it to refinish it, so the doors were off to it. If I had hung on to it, I'm sure someone would have loved to have it.

philr · Mar 25, 2016

It must have been a 1954-55 model.

This is the 1954 CTI-150

philr · Mar 25, 2016

The 1955 CIV-150 was similar. I don't have pictures of this model.

I'd like to find the two door bottom freezer from that year.

frogkid11 · Apr 2, 2016

I bought it....

Well, I just got back from Louisville and purchased the FPI-16B-63 and it's in perfect working order. Only missing a few items (two wire racks for the fridge, pair of clips for a rail on the door shelf, and a small bar in the freezer section to help hold the frozen items in the door) which I hope to find and make the fridge completely whole again.

If anyone is parting out a similar Frigidaire refrigerator, please reach out to me so we can work out a price and shipping.

Sorry Allen, this unit is too good to part out but hopefully we will find the parts we want/need.

funktionalart · Apr 3, 2016

Chris….Happy for ya!

It's more important that one got saved and is working than for me to have the odd part. These, I think, are the most aesthetically pleasing of all the 60s fridges. Just beautiful. And so, so, SO incredibly scarce anymore. So glad you got a functional one! Load us up with PLENTY OF PICS!!!

frogkid11 · Apr 3, 2016

Don't worry....they're coming

I can't agree with you more, Allen. These Frigidaires are so sexy and glamorous. I currently own an FPI-16B-61 and since this one works perfectly, my best friend will be using this 1963 in her vintage kitchen. We spent hours tonight taking her apart and cleaning the inside and outside and we still have to work on the freezer section. The fridge was almost a yellow/almond color from age but the outer cabinet is gleaming white thanks to our persistence and cleaning products. We need two bulbs for the fridge compartment (one behind the Flowing Cold shield and one of the "test tube" bulbs behind the side markers and then the bulb for the freezer and at that point we will snap some photos and post them. Stay tuned.....

frogkid11 · Apr 4, 2016

Hey Allen, do you have ....

Hey Allen, do you happen to have scanned copies of your Tech Talk that came with your turquoise fridge?

funktionalart · Apr 4, 2016

TechTalk...

Chris,
I was actually going to offer to send you some last night….my scanner is dead…BUT: I *can* Photograph each page you need. It works quite well.

frogkid11 · Apr 4, 2016

that would be great!

Thanks so much for the offer Allen. How do I get you my email address so you can send them directly?

funktionalart · Apr 4, 2016

email contact--

should be visible when you click on my username here (anywhere on the thread). If not, it is [email protected]

frogkid11 · Apr 7, 2016

Here are the pictures...

Here are photos of this glamour gal that I picked up thanks to Allen's mention of the fridge on the SS section. It was listed on Craigslist by a young home flipper and I got it for a song. My best friend and I set out to bring her back to life by starting with a thorough cleaning, replacing some burnt out bulbs, and having the Frigidaire Turquoise color reproduced by PPG Paints to touch up the trim on the shelves, she is back to showroom new!! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we do looking at her!

frogkid11 · Apr 7, 2016

And staged with some vintage pyrex...

My best friend and I decided to put some original pyrex pieces inside to evoke the 1960's feeling. The close ups of the full size shelves show the results of our work to freshen up the turquoise trim. Only the trim on the parfait shelf was still in excellent original condition.

funktionalart · Apr 7, 2016

What a stunnah!

Looks incredible. Good on you! One small (not so small) task left….colour matching the turquoise and green on the door bin edges and getting it applied to the vertical chrome strips on the fridge and freezer doors. That will be T-E-D-I-O-U-S….

frogkid11 · Apr 8, 2016

Thanks!!

We both think she, and the 1961 one model, are some of the most beautiful pieces of functional art (hahaha) ever made.

I'm not convinced that the colored trim band on the door was ever present on this white model. We've looked all over it and there are no signs of any previous color on the entire length of that trim piece. It would seem that if there was color on it at some point that you would see residue of the original color somewhere. We've also looked at an old ad that shows the white model and it doesn't appear that the colored blocks were on the one in the advertisement. I wonder if the colored trim was put on models other than the white. I've seen that trim on your turquoise model and the brushed chrome one owned by Phil but I don't believe it was on this specific white model.

funktionalart · Apr 8, 2016

Chrome and colour bands...

Chris~quite possibly you are right. On lower models, it was not there. Every '63 Imperial I have ever seen did have it. Years ago, I had the 16B in sunny yellow--it had the band trim, as did the last white one I looked over. The odd thing with that paint is that it seems to be applied thin plastic or vinyl based material. Like stick-on inserts almost.

I know that on my current one, there are dirty areas from decades of fingers touching it. I *started* to do a good clean on it and found that those colors were either going to rub off or disappear so am leaving it alone. My suspicion is that this may have happened on yours at some point and rather than the owner having to look at the odd missing segments of colour, they just got removed entirely. If I'm wrong, surely someone here will tell me, but honestly I think yours originally came with the blue and green.

philr · Apr 8, 2016

I have a 1963 white Imperial top freezer model and it does have the color bands on the door trim. However, the million dollar fridge on eBay didn't have them!

The small picture shows mine. I should take a larger picture of it...