Look What I Got Today - Or, Mother of All Stoves Part II

[snoggle]

Yes, I removed the valves completely. I'll get some brake cleaner today.

The burners and grates came in from IPE yesterday and they look amazing!!!

The thermostats should be here any day. I need to finish the insulation and then I can start trying to get this beast put back together.

Getting excited!

 

[snoggle]

Gaskets

58Limited

So, somehow I didn't realize that there were gaskets for each burner and for each thermostat. Apparently we threw them out. My husband just mentioned it today as I'm trying to put this back together.

So, I need to order gaskets. On TOAC and on antiquegasstoves they sell new ones that are listed for O'Keefe & Merritt and Wedgewood stoves. Would these be the right ones for the Roper as well? Is there somewhere else I should be looking for Roper replacement parts?

Thanks!

 

[Klong]

Any updates? I'm Interested in seeing your progress so far. Are the clock and timer original? Do they work? Mine are missing so I'd be very interested in seeing close up pictures, especially if they are original.

 

[58limited]

Sorry, I haven't done anything in quite awhile. Yes, the clock and timer are original. I'll try to locate them for pictures.

 

Snoggle - Sorry, I missed your post last October. I don't know of a gasket source but maybe an auto parts store has gasket material that you can cut a gasket from - it needs to be a high temperature material.

 

[58limited]

Hi everyone. Life got really busy and I'm just now getting back to this project. I have not had time to work on anything else except two old trucks in the past 4-5 years.

Since my last post I've taken the top off the stove, removed the gas manifolds - there are two - and I've send four of the eight burner grates to be re-enameled at Independence Porcelain Enamel. I'm going to take the oven doors and broilers out and tip the stove forward to fix the rear legs: there is a bracket sticking out the back of the stove at the bottom that may be damaged if I tip the stove backwards.

I do need some advice: I haven't figured out how to remove the broiler drawers. They slide out and tip up but do not come off the track. The stove is in somewhat tight quarters so I can't get down to look for a release. Can anyone help? I'm sure it is simple but I have not applied any force for fear of damaging something.

 

[appnut]

David, I've been thinking about you and wondering how you were doing.  Glad to see you about and getting back to this project.  Email me at the email addy in my profile if you wish.  Bob

 

[sarahperdue]

Wow!

David,

That's a spectacular range!

I once bought a Roper gas range just for the broiler pan. I paid $10 for the range and sold it for $15.

Sarah

 

[58limited]

I sent half of the grates and one of the pilot covers to Independence Porcelain Enamel to be redone. They look great! I'll send the other half next month.

Unfortunately, I knocked one off the work bench and it cracked. It is the coffee burner grate - the one that is different from the others. I have to decide if I want to send it back and pay for a repair and re-enamel or just wait and see if the crack causes a problem once the grate is in place.

 

[58limited]

BTW - Bob, I did e-mail you in November but I haven't heard back. Hope all is well with you, Merry Christmas.

 

[ovrphil]

It's good to see you're still "with it" on this incredible stove. I wonder how many Degrees Fahrenheit the room temperature rises when all ovens and burners are working? LOL. I'd send the cracked grate back when it's possible.

 

[58limited]

Hi again! This past year has been busy at work. The veterinary business was killing it during Covid which was a bit surprising. We were getting ready to scale everything back as the lockdowns were initiated but we ended up having one of the busiest years ever.

I had the other four burner grates re-enameled and had the one I broke repaired. This past week I sent the backsplash chrome off to Salt Lake Chrome. I have some of the cast iron at a local shop getting bead blasted; I'll paint them with automotive exhaust paint - they will look like natural cast iron.

I sent the two burner valves to Repco for rebuilding. They don't generally deal directly with the public, only businesses with a Federal tax number. It can be any business. I told them I was a veterinarian, not really a stove shop. They laughed and said it doesn't matter.

I figured out how to remove the broilers: a little light (being able to see is rather nice) and some clearing of the work area around the stove for better access revealed two brass screws at the front of each broiler drawer. These are what held them onto the slide tracks.

All I need to remove now are the oven burners (which will also be bead blasted and painted) and the oven doors. At that point a good bit of the weight will be off of the stove and I can address the bent feet. I'm considering fabricating a platform with casters to mount to the bottom in lieu of the original stove feet.

 

[appnut]

David, congratulations on the progress. I'm thrilled to hear business with pets and critters was going beond expectations. I wish my partner could come from Alabama to you to take care of the pets. It's been stressful with pets and lock downs and "cool" reception due to keeping distances. Ugh!!! And we had to put down one of the kids and he couldn't be with him. Tore us both apart knowing he couldn't be there with Boomer.

 

[58limited]

Hi Bob. Sorry to hear about Boomer. I lost one a couple of months ago myself.

 

[appnut]

David, thank you. That means so much!!!

 

[58limited]

Got a call this morning, my machine shop finished bead blasting the parts I dropped off yesterday. So I went and dropped off the broiler burner and the two oven burners that I removed this morning to be blasted and picked up the finished parts. I painted them with high temperature Factory Gray (cast iron color) automotive exhaust paint from Eastwood - rated to 1200 degrees.

Pilot lights, flash tube assemblies, and griddle burner.

 

[appnut]

David, I'm starting to get a little bit excited about the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[sudsmaster]

That's quite a cooker.

I grew up in San Francisco and a lot of the rental flats we lived in had old classic Wedgewood gas ranges. None that big, but some were almost equally impressive. And usually they all needed work, so usually I was recruited to fix the pilot lights and figure out how to get the various burners to work. I love those old gas ranges.

Today I have a big 1,000+ sq ft workshop at home, with a glass bead blaster cabinet. Sadly, this place has two kitchens (main, and on the enclosed patio), but neither will fit a full range. It's all for built-in stuff. I suppose I could squeeze a big free-standing gas range into the workshop, though. Just for the heck of it. It's a thought.

 

[58limited]

Broiler and two oven burners

 

[appnut]

David!!!!!

 

[jamiel]

That broiler element looks wild. Clearly the pins (?) are to improve the infrared propagation--are they stainless? soft iron? copper? Are they cast in or just drilled and fitted?