Is this even possible to do without creating irreparable damage?

[dangerboy]

Hello everyone,

It's been quite a while since I last posted on any of these forums.

In my cabin, I have a 1956 GE Speedster 40" range. I have kept it in nearly perfect working order. The only thing that doesn't work on the appliance is the clock.

A while ago, I decided that the best way I could keep that old stove working long into the future was to buy another stove similar to it and use it as a "parts car". I actually managed to find a 40" 1955 GE Stratoliner which hadn't actually seen a lot of use in its life and is in pretty nice shape as well. This gave me the option of making either of the two stoves the "daily driver" and the other the parts car. The Speedster is 100% working right now but the Stratoliner could be made 100% working with an oven thermostat donated from the Speedster. That left me in a dilemma over which one to make the daily driver.

For a number of reasons which I won't go into here, I would prefer to keep the Speedster as the daily driver but there is one thing about the Stratoliner that I prefer over the Speedster. That one thing is the Stratoliner has two 8" burners and two 6" burners whereas the Speedster has just one 8" burner and three 6" burners. There are occasions when you're cooking several things at once when it would be nice to have two 8" burners instead of just the one.

This has left me wondering if there's a way I could stick with the Speedster as the daily driver but somehow modify it so it would have two 8" burners using one of the 8" burners donated from the Stratoliner.

My cabin is shut down for the winter and is 600 Km (400 miles) away and I probably won't be going out there to open it up until sometime in May so I can't physically take a look at it until then.

In looking at the photos of the two ranges, it looks as though the Speedster cooking surface and control panel is one piece and on the Stratoliner the cooking surface and control panels are two separate pieces that could potentially be separated. Because the Speedster looks to be one piece, it doesn't appear that I could just swap stove tops between the two ranges which I was hoping I could maybe do.

So if that option is out, it would appear that my only other option to get a second 8" burner on the Speedster would be to enlarge one of the 6" holes to make it fit an 8" burner using a jigsaw or something. The question is, if I were willing to even consider trying to do that (which I'm not saying I am yet), would it even be possible to do such a thing without irreparably damaging the enamel paint or whatever that range top is coated in around the enlarged hole? I wouldn't mind it if there was a little bit of chipping around the enlarged hole because that would get covered up by the chrome beauty ring but if the chipping went out beyond where the beauty ring can cover it up, that wouldn't look very good at all and I don't want to make a dog's breakfast out of the thing.

Does anybody think there's a way of cutting out a larger burner hole in the stove top with a jigsaw or something if you had just the right kind of blade or is any attempt you make to do that almost certain to end in disaster?

As I said earlier, I'm not seriously considering trying to do that right now but I am curious to know if it might be possible to do that without doing serious damage to the paint/coating around the burner hole and ruining the look of the stove.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[circlew]

No, you would not be able to do that successfully. The openings aren't just holes cut into the top. They have edges formed during stamping at the plant to help keep the top rigid. This is done before they are enamelled.

 

[rp2813]

It looks like you'll need to decide which of the stoves you want to use.  I like the simplicity of the Speedster, but the Stratoliner is a real beauty and I'm with you re: the preference for another 8" burner.

 

If the clock is all that's wrong with the Speedster, that's an easy fix, as it's likely the clock's rotor (drive mechanism) that simply needs lubrication.  All you need is an incandescent light bulb and some 3-in-1 oil (the blue label, not red) and it should be good as new.  I can dig up a thread with instructions if you want to keep things simple.

 

[dangerboy]

@rp2813, that would be great if you could point me towards a thread on how to get that clock going. I wouldn't be surprised if the one on the Stratoliner is not working either and also needs lubrication and cleaning so I'll likely have to do that repair no matter which stove I go with as the daily driver.

It would be cool to get that clock working again. I can't remember if it ever worked but maybe it did when we first took ownership of the stove back in 1974. I was just a kid back then so I didn't pay attention to those sorts of things. I'm sure it's been at least 2 or 3 decades since the clock has worked though.

 

[rp2813]

OK Roger, here are a couple of links for you.  The "Kit-Cat Klock Motor" thread contains my instructions in reply #7.  These instructions were sourced from the Telechron Clocks forum and I have used them to revive a number of H3 rotors.

 

This link directly below shows the rotor and coil assembly in reply #5.  Loosen the two screws and then you can pull the rotor out of the coil. 

 

Hotpoint Customline ID?

This oven was in our house when we moved in some 25 years ago. It works ok, but I'd like to find a knob and perhaps get the timer and clock working again. Can someone tell me what model or year it is, and the most likely place I might find parts? Thanks. (Can't figure out how to rotate the pic...

www.automaticwasher.org

kit cat klock motor

got a kit cat klock the other day-it is the light blue"jeweled"version-some of the plastic "jewels"have fallen off,so will likely remove the rest.Dated 5/79 on the motor mount,intermatic motor is locked up-might just be lube that has hardened-I also have one of those steel ball clocks,~1981,with...

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[combo52]

Which 40 inch GE 50s stove to use

They’re both nice looking stoves. I’d probably go with the more deluxe one as it looks like it’s a two oven model. It’s always nice to have that more economical smaller oven which is usually big enough for 90% of normal cooking.

The deluxe color key push buttons on the better range are also nice easier to see which burner is on and it also has the very nice automatic left front burner, which was a very good design. They didn’t have much trouble with it in that time period

The fancy range also has front service for the control panel. The whole thing just hinges forward and you can do everything from changing lightbulbs to changing switches without even moving the stove away from the wall.

John L

 

[dangerboy]

@rp2813,

Thank you very much for providing links to the threads on how to revive those clocks. I shall study them and try to get that clock working again for the first time in decades.

@combo52

Thank you for your insights and advice. The Stratoliner is actually just a single oven model just like the Speedster. It was the Liberator model that looks very similar to the Stratoliner that was the top-of-the-line dual oven model.

I didn't know about the front service for the control panel on the Stratoliner. That is useful information to have and is making me reconsider my decision on which one to make the daily driver.

What do you mean by "automatic front left burner"? I'm not at all familiar with that feature. Please enlighten me as to what it is/does.

 

[combo52]

Which GE range

Hi, yes I guess I didn’t look closely enough but since they both have just one oven, there’s not a great deal of difference.

The better one has the 6 inch automatic burner on the front left position. This was GE’s first automatic burner that they produced for home use it would maintain a nice boiling temperature for boiling foods. It also had a very good ability to maintain nice frying temperatures for a small skillet. It used to hydraulic control and dual heating elements to maintain proper temperatures.

GE went on to produce automatic elements on their better stoves into the mid 1980s, they all became 8 inch units. The early ones would do either six or 8 inches later once all 4, six or 8 inches to accommodate different pan sizes. These were wonderful to cook on because they maintained a temperature without constant fiddling and eliminated the possibility of fires or serious mistakes.

John L