Restoring a 1968 GE Hotpoint Range/Oven - HELP?

[claytibug]

Hi new here!

I bought a 1968 GE Hotpoint stove (green) from Facebook marketplace a couple of years ago with the intention of restoring it and putting it in my first house. When I bought the stove the seller said that everything except for the oven light worked, I have not tested to see if that is correct, but since it is a 56 year old appliance I figured it was better to air on the side of caution and replace/rework some of the major parts. The only problem is that I have no owners manual or service manual and I have searched what feels like the entirety of the internet looking for one and somehow feel like I know less than what I started knowing? This stove is very important to me, and I have promised my fiance (God Bless his soul for agreeing to let me put it in the house because it is not his cup of tea lol) that this stove will 1) work and 2) wont burn the house down, and that if it doesn't work I'll find a replacement that will fit in the space (40 inches) that we've left in the custom cabinets for this one to go. If anyone has any suggestions for parts, manuals they could send pictures of, or advice I'd greatly appreciate it! I'll attach some photos before and after I've cleaned it up a little, it still needs another round of scrubbing.

 

[combo52]

1968 GE built, 40 inch electric range

This is a very good basic range and should be easy to fix and keep working for a long time, I assume you’re doing it because you like Avocado color and the vintage look.

It looks like it’s cleaning up well are you finding any concerns or problems, most important thing I can think to look at look at the terminals on the plug out surface burners, especially the 8 inch large burners if the little terminals are burned up, replace the burners and the receptacles that they plug into, these are still easy to find.

Picture number seven the right rear element. The chimney is in backwards. Chimney is to direct heat from the oven through the center of the burner. Very simple. Just turn it around.

Older stoves like this are very safe. There is no possibility that the stove will cause a home fire, etc.. good luck with it keep us posted. If you need any parts you can’t find I may be able to help you find them

John.

 

[claytibug]

1968 GE built, 40 inch electric range REPLY

John, thank you for the words of encouragement, I can't tell you what a relief it is to read what you've posted. You're right about the love of the Avocado color and vintage look, I grew up with my great grandmother cooking everything on an avocado green Frigidaire Flair, so me having a green stove of my own was a must! Thank you for the heads up about the chimney, I didn't know what it was for, and when I was cleaning I took it out must have put it back in backwards. Do you have any suggestions on where I should look for parts? And are they for the most part universal or should be looking for specific parts numbers? I just want to make sure I'm giving this range the best life possible going forward.

Clayton-Michelle

 

[tomturbomatic]

Try searching on eBay for "vintage Hotpoint" and page through the many pages this will bring up for an applicable range manual. Since you have the model number, you can do a Google search with that, too. Sorry if this is repetitive.

 

[claytibug]

Thank you for the suggestion Tomturbomatic, unfortunately, we had the same idea and my search so far has come up empty. I have found a manual for a range that is two numbers off from mine that is close, but not exactly right. But that manual did have some useful information in it!