dangerboy
Well-known member
I have a beautiful 1956 GE Speedster range in my cabin that's been in my family for 43 years. I love it. It works perfectly except this year the oven thermostat failed on it. I am still trying to find a good used or NOS replacement for it so I can keep using the original oven controls working in the way it was originally set up. It has dual oven control knobs; one side to select Bake, Broil, etc. and the other for temperature selection. Using a new generic thermostat would force me to bypass the Bake/Broil selector and not use the original temp selector knob.)
I've been looking for another range to buy in order to use it as a parts donor. I just came across what looks to be a 56/57 Stratoliner unit. From the limited amount of research I've done, the Stratoliner looks to be a way more high-end unit than the Speedster. The link at the bottom will take you to a brochure showing all the cool features of the Stratoliner.
I haven't been over to see the Stratoliner yet but I've been told it's been stored in a basement for decades. They say none of the burners work. Because all four are not working I suspect the problem is not the burners and is something else like maybe fuses or wiring. Would you agree?
What I like about the Stratoliner more than my Speedster is that it has 3 different sized burners; the Speedster just has two; one 8 inch and thee 6 six inch. It really could use one of those 6 inch burners to be larger. The thing I like about the Speedster over the Stratoliner is that the Speedster has the burners at both sides of the cooktop and a large working area in the middle whereas the Stratoliner has all four burners to the left and a large cooking area on the right. I guess it's just an aesthetics thing. Visually, I like the symmetry of the Speedster over the asymmetry of the Stratoliner. Maybe that's a dumb reason to prefer one over the other.
Keep in mind too that the Speedster has some sentimental value for me because my late mother used to love that stove and it's been in my cabin for 43 years. On the other hand I know it's just a stove and my mother would've loved the stratoliner just as much if she had found that unit in the first cabin we bought and not the Speedster.
In any event, let's assume I buy the Stratoliner and find that I have a choice between making the Stratoliner fully functional using parts from my Speedster or vice versa. In that situation, what would you do? Which one would you choose to keep alive and why?
I've been looking for another range to buy in order to use it as a parts donor. I just came across what looks to be a 56/57 Stratoliner unit. From the limited amount of research I've done, the Stratoliner looks to be a way more high-end unit than the Speedster. The link at the bottom will take you to a brochure showing all the cool features of the Stratoliner.
I haven't been over to see the Stratoliner yet but I've been told it's been stored in a basement for decades. They say none of the burners work. Because all four are not working I suspect the problem is not the burners and is something else like maybe fuses or wiring. Would you agree?
What I like about the Stratoliner more than my Speedster is that it has 3 different sized burners; the Speedster just has two; one 8 inch and thee 6 six inch. It really could use one of those 6 inch burners to be larger. The thing I like about the Speedster over the Stratoliner is that the Speedster has the burners at both sides of the cooktop and a large working area in the middle whereas the Stratoliner has all four burners to the left and a large cooking area on the right. I guess it's just an aesthetics thing. Visually, I like the symmetry of the Speedster over the asymmetry of the Stratoliner. Maybe that's a dumb reason to prefer one over the other.
Keep in mind too that the Speedster has some sentimental value for me because my late mother used to love that stove and it's been in my cabin for 43 years. On the other hand I know it's just a stove and my mother would've loved the stratoliner just as much if she had found that unit in the first cabin we bought and not the Speedster.
In any event, let's assume I buy the Stratoliner and find that I have a choice between making the Stratoliner fully functional using parts from my Speedster or vice versa. In that situation, what would you do? Which one would you choose to keep alive and why?
