This was a fun one! The customer inherited a 1940s Vendo 83. It was dirty, but yet very cool.
He said they were going to leave by the road when he stepped in to rescue it for his office.
Step one, get in the machine.
He did not have a key to it, and the old key was busted off in the lock! We drilled it out and got inside. When we did we found many parts were missing.
He loved the old vintage patina, old decals. But this machine was missing a lot of parts inside. We could have found the parts, but he was aware that would limit choices for drinks since it took 1940s size bottles.
So we decided to get creative. We put a new cooling system in it, changed out the screw stands and gaskets, cleaned it inside and out, removed the worst rust and loose rust and then we made a cooler out of it. The best part is this machine has a little access door that was for pulling a bottle out, and so he can slide that up and grab a Coke!
After many hours of work, this one is done. It’s getting super cold, it’s all cleaned up and he picked it up today.
I loved the creativity in this project, and kinda want to have one myself like this one day for my collection!
