philr
Well-known member
Last month, someone called me and offered me her 1970 Frigidaire Imperial range. They are certainly not the best-looking but they are the last that GM made in Canada. This model is still fairly common as it has been made for 4 years from 1967 to 1970.
It doesn't have many fancy features but it was still the second to TOL among the Canadian free-standing ranges. It does have a Pull-N-Clean oven liner but it's otherwise very basic. I got it from the original owners. They kept it in very good shape considering they used it daily for 45 years! The oven had just been used when I got it, it was still hot! The owner told me that the timer motor failed just a few months ago and two of the original white knobs were missing but I replaced the timer motor with a NOS one I got on eBay recently and I replaced the Cookmaster knobs with 4 black knobs until I can find replacements for the two missing white ones!
Unlike most older or US Frigidaire ranges, this model uses 4 Robertshaw infinite switches which from my experience are a bit better, cheaper to get if you ever need to replace one and they do not need to be matched to the size/wattage of the burner like the Proctor/King Seeley switches that are found in most Frigidaire ranges with infinite switches. So one model fits all! The Hi and Sim positions on the controls are reversed from the standard pattern Frigidaire used since 1960 (turning the knob clockwise from the "off" position increases the heat on most other Frigidaire ranges). Some models with a "Bake/Broil" selector switch have no top heat while baking but this one does.
The TOL Custom Imperial model added the Heat Minder burner, a different clock/timer and a different oven thermostat without the selector switch.
So far, I haven't seen any of these and I didn't know they existed until a few months ago when I found a part for someone who has the Custom Deluxe version.
I think the Custom Deluxe model lacked the Pull-N-Clean oven and there was a minor difference on the control panel where the fluorescent light is but both models do have a fluorescent light. There was also a Deluxe model with Chromalox burners. No self-cleaning ranges were ever made by GM Frigidaire in Canada. Just built-in ovens which were almost like the US models.
The first 7 pictures are from my new range, 8-9 are from my 1966 Custom Imperial (to show the reversed Hi and Sim positions on the infinite controls). The pictures 10-11 show the 1967-70 RA-38L Custom Deluxe and the pictures 12-13 show the 1967-70 RA-37L Deluxe (with the Chromalox burners and without the printed motif in the oven door window).
It doesn't have many fancy features but it was still the second to TOL among the Canadian free-standing ranges. It does have a Pull-N-Clean oven liner but it's otherwise very basic. I got it from the original owners. They kept it in very good shape considering they used it daily for 45 years! The oven had just been used when I got it, it was still hot! The owner told me that the timer motor failed just a few months ago and two of the original white knobs were missing but I replaced the timer motor with a NOS one I got on eBay recently and I replaced the Cookmaster knobs with 4 black knobs until I can find replacements for the two missing white ones!
Unlike most older or US Frigidaire ranges, this model uses 4 Robertshaw infinite switches which from my experience are a bit better, cheaper to get if you ever need to replace one and they do not need to be matched to the size/wattage of the burner like the Proctor/King Seeley switches that are found in most Frigidaire ranges with infinite switches. So one model fits all! The Hi and Sim positions on the controls are reversed from the standard pattern Frigidaire used since 1960 (turning the knob clockwise from the "off" position increases the heat on most other Frigidaire ranges). Some models with a "Bake/Broil" selector switch have no top heat while baking but this one does.
The TOL Custom Imperial model added the Heat Minder burner, a different clock/timer and a different oven thermostat without the selector switch.
So far, I haven't seen any of these and I didn't know they existed until a few months ago when I found a part for someone who has the Custom Deluxe version.
I think the Custom Deluxe model lacked the Pull-N-Clean oven and there was a minor difference on the control panel where the fluorescent light is but both models do have a fluorescent light. There was also a Deluxe model with Chromalox burners. No self-cleaning ranges were ever made by GM Frigidaire in Canada. Just built-in ovens which were almost like the US models.
The first 7 pictures are from my new range, 8-9 are from my 1966 Custom Imperial (to show the reversed Hi and Sim positions on the infinite controls). The pictures 10-11 show the 1967-70 RA-38L Custom Deluxe and the pictures 12-13 show the 1967-70 RA-37L Deluxe (with the Chromalox burners and without the printed motif in the oven door window).
