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

[58limited]

Well, I started to pull this stove apart today. It is in much better shape than my Chambers Imperial therefore I can get it going soon. Plus, one of my college buds might want it - his wife is remodeling and I sent a pic of it, they went gaga over it. I have sent an inquiry for the chrome (10 burner knob trim rings, two oven knob rings, two oven knob trim pieces, six oven door handles, upper vent trim, three upper vent grates, backsplash trim for timer/clock, and the light reflector). There is not as much chrome on this as you would think - my 35 1/2" O'Keefe & Merritt has more.

The eight burner grates will be re-enameled. Only one burner has noticable chipped enamel - not worth redoing. All burner valves will be cleaned and regreased. I'll clean the oven and griddle burners and paint them with high temp automotive exhaust paint - they will look like new cast iron and the stove won't get hot enough to burn the paint off. I'll send the aluminum parts (griddle, broiler pans) off for professional polishing. I decided to have the oven T-stats rebuilt, even though I have not tested them. As old as they are, I think I should start from ground zero with them. Part of the reason is I fixed a Chambers B for a friend. It worked fine about 9 months and then the T-stat quit. Might as well rebuild them while the stove is apart and they can be accessed easily.

The side panels are bent and damaged pretty badly, but I have a donor 40" Roper with good side panels. I swapped them today and they fit perfectly - then I took them back off as I disassembled the stove. I probably would not be tearing into the stove this far if it weren't for the fact that the rear legs - stamped steel - are bent and I have to tip the stove on it's back to repair them - this is why the side panels were damaged. I have to remove the top, sides, and backsplash to do this to prevent damage. Since I'm doing that, I'll just clean everything and check door insulation, etc. All of the porcelain is in great shape - no panels need to be redone. There is a 1/8" chip on the left edge of the top and a 1/2" chip at the back center of the left side panel which can be fixed with a touch up kit - that is all.

 

[yogitunes]

words cannot describe.....that is one killer stove....definitely a one do-it-all stove.....WHY don't they build stuff like this anymore.....this makes my $4500.00 Dacor look like a hibachi....would have rather invested the money in something like this....

imagining the cooking one could do with something like that....Congrats!

 

[danemodsandy]

The Cooking One Did....

....With a range like this was the kind needed for a wealthy household with servants, still reasonably feasible in the early '50s, if not as commonplace as it had been before the war.

In the morning, bacon, eggs, hotcakes and hot cereal might well have been prepared on the stovetop; but other meals would already have been in progress. The lady of the house might well be hosting a bridge luncheon for which she needed a chicken fricassee or something similar, and that night's dinner might have necessitated starting a soup for the soup course in the morning.

In a well-off family with an experienced cook, meal preparation was not something just done starting in the afternoon; it went on all day, because the dishes being prepared were more ambitious than the tract-house housewife usually attempted. It took more cooking space than the usual tract-house range.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I wonder if that "coffee burner" was made to keep the flame from spreading out under a large percolater, but instead, keep it concentrated under the base of the pump to avoid boiling the coffee, but start the perking earlier. I can see where the flame pattern would have been advantageous under a glass vacuum pot also.

 

[58limited]

I have gotten several quotes for the chrome, the best quote is $650.00 from Performance Plating in Olathe, KS: http://www.performanceplating.com/

The chrome includes 6 oven door handles, ten burner knob trim rings, two oven knob rings and trim pieces, the backsplash, the top vent trim and the light bulb reflector.

Several of the plastic oven handle inserts are broken and I'm having a hard time finding replacements, so I looked into having them reproduced - there is a small market for them, I'm not the only one looking. Injection molding is out of the question - a mold costs $30,000.00 or more! RTV molding is doable: the mold costs $400.00 and each handle will cost $24.00 to cast. The mold is good for 50 castings so more can be ordered, or I can have the mold made and buy all 50 for $1600.00 (I'll order a few as needed if I decide to do this, $1600 is a lot to front). Most stove restoration shops sell handle reproductions for over $70.00 so there is room for profit if I go this route and sell some since this particular insert is not being reproduced.

The 8 burner grates will cost $24.00 each to re-enamel. Other than cleaning, regreasing the valves, rebuilding the t-stats, and repairing the rear legs, that is really all that this stove needs.

One question: I was mistaken in my post above about the broiler pans - two are not missing the top piece. Roper used three piece broiler pans: aluminum top, aluminum drip pan, and an enameled drip pan. Does anyone know how they were used? Were all three parts used in the broiler together, or was the food broiled using one of the drip pans and then transferred to the other drip pan to be set on the table? This would avoid burning the table or having to put up with the hot smoking drippings in the bottom of the hot drip pan while eating.

 

[travis]

David,

I can't answer your question on how the broiler pans were used. It seems you have two of everything. The stove likely had three of everything when it was sold. I can't imagine bending down and using all three broilers at once.

About the plastic inserts, I would bet you could sell the extra inserts that you don't use on this.

 

[snoggle]

I know this thread is a few months old, but I'd like to know if the OP (or anyone else for that matter) has any updates about the Town and Country Range.

My husband and I found one on our local Craigslist that looks to be in amazing shape. Yep, it was in a convent! We're going to look at it today with a trailer to haul it home on. 99% sure we'll be bringing it home for our farmhouse kitchen!

Does anyone know what the BTU's of the different burners are? Especially that "coffee burner", is it higher?

Thanks for any help or info!

 

[snoggle]

Okay, so we picked it up today (actually 6 men struggled to "pick it up" and put it on our trailer!). It is in a little rougher shape than we expected - the picture they had posted on Craigslist was just a picture that they found online, not of the actual stove. We only paid $200, so that's fine. It was in a church building in Cleveland that used to be a convent. The church just wanted rid of it - "We have modern appliances, we don't need it."

Ours has the different back on it compared to yours, 58limited. The light sticks up above the rest of it. I'm thinking ours is a different year? Maybe a '48? It looks like all of the original parts are there, except for the salt and pepper shaker that came with it. There is a big chipped area on the right front corner which will be highly visible when it's in our kitchen - will have to get that fixed.

So, a friend of my sister's has redone vintage stoves in the past and is only 1/2 hour drive from us. I'm hoping to get in touch with her tomorrow and see if she is up to the task. If not, I might need ideas of where to get work done on it. We're in NE Ohio, spitting distance from western PA. I'm excited to get it cleaned up and usable since we actually have a big kitchen, with room for this thing!

And seriously, how did they moved these beasts back in the '40's and '50's???

 

[launderess]

Texas Crawfish Boil

At 58Limited's house next year! *LOL*

Since you've got all that fire power! *LOL*

 

[58limited]

Hi Snoggle

I have my stove sitting on a couple of furniture dollies right now. Be careful, one common issue is the feet - they are stamped steel and bend easily so don't try to slide the stove. $200.00? That's a steal! Even in rough shape it is probably worth over $1000.00.

 

These old gas stoves are not hard to work on, just disassemble a little to clean. If the ovens and broilers have no corrosion there really is no need to do a complete disassembly unless you find a lot of mouse nests. Basically remove the two sides, the backsplash, and the top to get access to the valves and the area under the burners for cleaning - that is generally where the mess is from years of food and grease spilling down. Really, the hardest thing is rewiring the light and clock. The rest is elbow grease and maybe some high temp paint.

 

The valves are easy to rebuild, just do them one at a time so that you don't mix up the parts. The oven T-stats may need rebuilding, this will generally run $175-$300 each depending on the manufacturer.

 

You can send the top to Independence Porcelain Enamel (IPE) to redo the porcelain but it will probably not be an exact match for the rest of the stove. The original porcelain will be duller and maybe slightly discolored from the years of cleaning, wiping, grease residue, etc. So you might wish to redo the back splash and burner drip panels well so that at least the top area will match. IPE has reasonable prices, the hard part is shipping since the top is 5' long. Use a trusted shipper for this and mark everything fragile. You might want to build a wood crate to ship. One member of the Chambers stove forum had shipping damage that rendered the panel completely unusable.

 

Does the light and clock on your stove sit on top of the backsplash and have a big chrome housing like the one in this picture? If so it is a 1948. Mine is a 1949.

Home | Independence Porcela

www.ipe-porcelain.com

 

[snoggle]

Yep, that's exactly what mine looks like! So I guess I was right on the year. Awesome!

I'm going to talk to my sister's friend about doing the work - we've got a lot of other projects right now (and we have a toddler to chase!), so I'd like to have someone else do it if it will be reasonable. But I'm glad to know we could do it if we can't get anyone else to. Though from a moving it point of view, it might be easier just to do it here, ourselves. I would just need to put it in place in the kitchen right away - I don't want to move it twice.

What are the chances that it isn't safe to use? I guess that's what really worries me and why I wanted someone more knowledgeable than me to go over it. Both hubby and I are really handy (hence the bazillion projects with the 110 year old farmhouse). If it would be safe to use, I would be more open to trying it ourselves. Especially if we could get one section of it cleaned up first and usable so we could put it in the kitchen and then work on the rest as time permits. I mean, I only need one oven and 4 burners working to use it, right? That's all I've got right now!

And insulation. Do most of them need to be reinsulated so they don't use a ton of gas and heat the house up too much? Is it hard to insulate them?

Actually, it isn't the top that needs the porcelain. It would be the side panel. The damage is around knee height. I think that piece would be pretty easy to ship.

If there are any resources to get me started on doing it myself, let me know. That way I won't have to ask you so many questions.

Thanks for your help!
Sarah

 

[snoggle]

One more thing, how would we go about getting the thermostats rebuilt? Is there a company we would ship them to?

 

[58limited]

Unless mice have had a field day in the insulation, or spilt grease has saturated it over the years, there is no need to replace or add insulation.

 

These stoves are safe to use, but as with any type of plumbing, you need to check all of the connections for leaks. Soapy water and a brush is good for that, the soap will bubble if gas is leaking. Then check all burners with the valves turned off to see if a valve is leaking - usually smell will work but you can hire an appliance man or plumber to come and check with their natural gas sniffer machine. Oh, and don't let an appliance repairman tell you that old stoves are inherently unsafe. Many younger repairmen know nothing about the stoves and assume old = bad and dangerous. Some just don't want to bother with them and will tell you that old stoves are dangerous as well. A properly checked over and installed vintage stove is safe.

 

A safety system can be installed for the ovens if you wish - this would cut off the gas flow should the oven burner and pilot go out for some reason.

 

The burner valves are basically a tapered cone of metal in a matched housing with little holes for the gas to flow through. They come apart easily (unless stuck) and can be soaked in solvent to remove the old grease. You can buy the special stove valve grease online (a small can is $25 but will last your lifetime - a little goes a long way and I could rebuild 100 stoves and have plenty left). You might talk an appliance repairmen out of a little or find it locally through an appliance repair shop. Do not use abrasives or steel wool on the burner valves:  scratches = leaks.

 

The side panel is an easy fix, the last time I checked IPE charged about $60-70 for a side panel.  If it doesn't exactly match it won't be very noticeable.

 

For t-stat rebuilding I would call Repco - they do the t-stat rebuilding for many of the vintage stove restoration outfits. They normally don't deal directly with the public but might if you can't get your plumber or appliance man to send the parts - the plumber/repairman would probably charge a small service charge to send the t-stat for you but it would probably be cheaper than what the vintage stove repair shops mark up the valves.

 

 

Here is a picture of a typical stove valve. Some have a knurled knob to hold the tapered valve body inside the housing instead of the two screws this one has.

 

[this post was last edited: 3/2/2014-19:44]

Repco Replacment Parts

Thermostats, Safety Valves, Robertshaw replacement parts for the cooking appliance industry remanufacturers

www.erepco.com

 

[snoggle]

It looks like you've convinced us to restore it ourselves (We really are the King and Queen of "biting off more than we can chew".). Thank you for all of your help so far. I'm sure I'll need it! First order of business is getting the thing hauled in here from off of the trailer. Going to have to hire some strong, young men for the task! And then I'm sure I'll be back with more questions....

 

[58limited]

You can lighten the stove somewhat by removing the burners, grates, and other loose heavy stuff before moving. You can also remove the side panels to prevent further damage.

 

[cornutt]

My great-aunt had the smaller six-burner-top version of this stove. It had one oven and the "glo" broiler. I think it was an older model, because I don't recall it having a clock or anything electric. It had a big wind-up timer that sat on top of the backsplash. The oven did not have a standing pilot; there was a flash tube that went to one of those holes in the oven bottom at the front edge. You turned the oven on and touched a match to the flash tube to light the burner.

 

[snoggle]

Here she is!

We finally got our T&C hauled into the house today and can't wait to get started.

It's in better shape than we first thought.

 

[ovrphil]

That's some serious square footage for cooking, baking or canning.

For us it's beyond overkill, but ....it's a wonderful stove, and congrats ...will check in later to see where you place it and what a little elbow grease yields in looks.

Phil

 

[snoggle]

This is the only really significant damage.

 

[snoggle]

Phil - Many might say it is overkill for us too. Currently we just have our 15 month old son, but we both like to cook and can. We have a 1904 farmhouse and there is actually plenty of room in the kitchen for this beast without having to move cabinets or anything. I know that most days we won't use it to its full capacity, but we host most holidays for my family. It will be super handy for that!