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

[58limited]

Thanks to Travis. He bought this Roper Town & Country range last January then contacted me and said that he decided to resell it. I bought it and had it shipped. This was originally posted by Oldskool on this forum in this thread:

[this post was last edited: 6/15/2012-19:13]

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?38193

 

[58limited]

The only chips I have found are on the side panels. I'm hoping that i can have them redone and the new white will be close enough to match the rest of the stove, but very little of the sides show so it doesn't have to be an exact match. The burner grates will need to be reporcelained, the burners themselves look great. The stove is clean under the burners, surprising since all of the other stoves I've worked on are greasy and filthy under the burners. Each set of four burners has a removable "tray" or large square drip pan. One of these has several chips too so I will reporcelain both along with the side panels.

 

The timer seems to work, the clock is missing two small adjustment knobs. I'll rewire the stove before plugging it in and testing the clock, which is made by Techron. All burner, broiler, and oven valves turn freely but I will clean and regrease them all. Howver, I might go ahead and hook the stove up this weekend, test for leaks, and fire it up to see if there are any problems; especially with the oven thermostats. The weather will dictate how much I do.

 

It is missing one oven door handle plastic insert - I have the chrome part. I have to double check the literature and pics from restoration sites to see if I have all of the broiler pan components.

 

[wayupnorth]

Town and Country

That stove looks GREAT. It doesnt look like it even needs alot of cleaning. Enjoy your new find. Wished I had the room for one. Antique Gas Stoves sold one recently for BIG bucks.

 

[58limited]

Basically, rechrome the chrome and polish the aluminum, plus redo the parts I already mentioned, and it is ready to go. This stove is in better shape than most of the others I've messed with. It is a fairly desirable model so I can resell it for a lot if I choose to.

 

[travis]

David,

 

I am glad you got it.  I am told by friends that I can only have one stove and one refrigerator in the kitchen, sad really.  Be nice to the Roper.  I wiped it down so the shippers might respect it more.

 

Travis

 

[rp2813]

Glad You Got It!

That man-sized stove is all business. 

 

The clock should be a fairly simple fix if you have any Telechron clocks or rotor assemblies lying around.  If you have another rotor, change that out first.  It's almost always the culprit with a stopped Telechron. 

 

 

 

[58limited]

Thanks for the advice, rp2813. Typo, I meant Telechron dang it. Tired, long day at work, and hot outside, and had a beer or two.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Could you please show us the burner configuration under the griddle? Thanks

 

[iheartmaytag]

OMG!!!! Do I love it, of course it's bigger than my kitchen.

 

[58limited]

Sure, Tom

The stove is shoehorned into the garage right now, but here is a pic of the burner under the griddle. The burner is football-shaped, the flame holes are mainly along the outer edge but there is a small area on the inside edge with flame holes, the side closest to the camera, that is about 3 inches long. The rectangular black "box" under the burner provides the mounting  for the burner and the drip pan slides into it - note the 1" round hole to the right on the black box. There is a tube attached to the griddle that funnels the drippings down into the pan. This is kinda awkward, the griddle doesn't sit flat on the counter when removed from the stove.

 

[arbilab]

That is a PATRIOT'S stove! Estate model. Awesome.

 

[goatfarmer]

Now that's a RANGE! Great piece.

 

[maytagbear]

Several

churches and community centers around here have or had this range. I am glad that it is in basically good condition, and that it's in good hands.

If I liked vintage gas ranges, which I do not, I would really like this one.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[tomturbomatic]

Thank you for the picture

Holy S**t, David, that is like an oven burner, and with a flash tube, too. Wow, that would have been a fairly even-heating griddle. Amazing how they could build them decades ago. You would definitely want a powerful exhaust hood over this fire breathing dragon.

 

[westie2]

David what a fantastic stove.  Are you going to put it in yur kitchen?  Looks like it will where you have your O&M and refrigerator but where would you put you fridge. 

 

[58limited]

Westie2

You nailed the problem. I also have a Chambers Imperial that is the same size, but twice as heavy, and I have thought about how to arrange everything if I use one of these big stoves. Not a simple ergonomic answer yet. I have another fridge across the room in the breakfast area, but that is really inconvenient to be used as an only fridge.

 

Tom,

 

The stove is supposed to be functional, if I can tap into the gas line to install a fitting in the garage I'll try it this weekend. I bet the griddle is awesome.

 

[gansky1]

Wow - what a cool burner, you can crank out the pancakes on that baby!

Is the center (oven) space under the griddle a warming oven or storage?

Congratulations on a great appliance, that wide lady will certainly make her presence known in any kitchen!

 

[58limited]

Ok, here are more pictures

Gansky1, The center is a big broiler. Under the big broiler is a small storage drawer. There is an oven on the right and left sides with a small drawer broiler under each. The big broiler has two pans, but both are missing the top part with the drain holes. These missing tops are the same as the ones found in the drawers and I can use those in the big broiler, but I'm going to try and find two more.

 

The writing above the big broiler says "Roper 'Glo' Broiler"

 

[58limited]

Here are the bottom drawers

Broilers to right and left, storage in the middle.

 

[58limited]

This emblem is in the right side next to the burner drip tray.

 

[58limited]

Right side burners

The four burners on the right side. The upper right one has a different grate and seems to be a high BTU burner.

 

[58limited]

Left side burners

These are all identical and are the same as the other three regular burners on the right side.

 

 

 

[58limited]

Griddle Burner

Another view.

 

[58limited]

Griddle

Note the drain tube coming out of the bottom.

 

[58limited]

Griddle in place

.

 

[58limited]

Backsplash

.

 

[tomturbomatic]

WOW! again. That right rear burner & the grate look almost like they could handle a wok. You could probably get enough fire out of that one to make cooking look like a rocket launch.

Didn't "CP" stand for Certified Performance?

 

[58limited]

Yes it did. I think it was the "UL listed" or possibly "Energy Star" of its day. Appliances rated CP had to meet 20 or 21 requirements. Apparently Chambers stoves, possibly the best built residential gas ranges ever, didn't qualify on two parameters but the company was not willing to sacrifice their quality to meet all the requirements.

 

[oldskool]

A Real Treasure

David - I'm so glad Mother came your way. That enormous stove exemplifies craftsmanship of a day when quality and durability were goals that manufacturers strived for. So glad that it is staying in the AW family. Congratulations.

If my memory is correct, after first seeing it on CL and speaking with the former owner, it came from a church in Oklahoma. Most likely, it did not get used frequently and was well taken care of. I'm sure many great years of use remain in Mother's future. So glad her fate was not a crusher.

John

 

[58limited]

Here is a 1948 model for sale in Dallas, just a tad bit pricier than mine

http://houston.craigslist.org/atq/3095934763.html