Rainy Day and Rust

The so called hurricane, for my neck of the woods, has proven to be a wuss. Thank the Good Lord. Most of the day we've had a nice steady rain with a periods of gusty wind. Nice day to spend my time with the garage door open at work on one of my current projects.

I recently purchased a sad and rusty Coleman 413G stove and two lanterns off Craigslist, cheap. I've always wanted to try and restore a Coleman stove. But, I'm not a mechanical minded kinda guy. It was the mechanical part of the stove rebuild that held me back.  

Then I remembered one of my best friends is a marine mechanic and has the ability to rebuild any carburetor in his sleep but failed miserably when he tried to can beans and peaches. With him in mind I thought how hard could it be to try my hand at restoration. After all, I can at least can a green bean.

 She's a mess, isn't she...notice the top where the latch is located....awful rust. I begin with disassembly.

Top, my two lanterns. The blue one is a Coleman model sold by Sears. I believe she's dated 1963. The green one is a 1968. They'll be restored after the stove is finished.

Above, I've taken out the burner assemblies. Notice the drip plate. It should be silver but is covered in grease, rust, and baked on carbon. About thirty years worth.

Drip plate and gas assembly removed. I was having my doubts.

I began with the lid. I removed every trace of rust. If you decide to use your Dermal tool make sure you purchase several of those little wire wheels. I wore out two. They work well for the latch and handle and tiny hard to reach areas of the stove body.

The lid finished, I next tackled the drip pan. First, all grease must be removed. I used an old litter box filled with hot water and Dawn liquid. Not sure if you can see the difference between the left side and the right of the pan but it worked like a charm. I then took the dry degreased part over to my bench grinder and used my wire wheel to remove the stubborn carbon deposits and surface rust.

Above, nice. A clean grease and rust free drip pan. Make sure to pay special attention to the folds, edges and underside. Then again I'm kinda anal...

Above, now it's time to begin the hard part...the body of the stove. I first applied a good dose of Simply (or Simple, can't remember) Green. As a matter of fact I sprayed it two hours prior. Let it soak. The grease and any oils must be removed before you use sand paper otherwise it'll just gum the pours of the paper. I used my palm sander and 80 grit black zirconium paper. If you think you'll only need two packs, buy four.

Above, notice the date stamp. 2 - 73, or as you well know, February 1973. If the date isn't stamped on the body look under the gas tank tabs. The tabs are those little ears you slide into the slots on the front of the stove case. The date will always be stamped on both ears.

Progress.

An hour later and she looks much better. The latch and handle required special attention from my Dremil. Please, wear eye protection. I lost count of the number of little wires that struck me on my face.

Almost.

Next I tackled the gas assembly. When I first removed it from the case it was covered in rust.

I next cleaned the gas tank after I first disassembled the gas generator and cleaned the needle and tube. Next I degreased the body with an application of Simply Green. Be gentle. The paint will come off easily and if you do not plan to replant you will remove most of the paint. Notice its pink instead of red. I will paint the tank. Take note of the tube. It was black with carbon before I took it over to my wire wheel.

I love the 'made in the U. S. A.' stamp. I failed to mention these stoves are no longer manufactured. Coleman has been sold. Any item you see with the Coleman logo is now made in China. The man that sold me this stove said, "You know, they use kerosene." I smiled. They actually burn white gas or Coleman fuel. 

With the exception of the grill, which I have soaking in my mixture of Simple Green and Dawn, the stove is ready for paint. You've just experienced about five hours of labor....and fun.

Stephen

Busy Day

We've had a busy day and I just haven't had time to post. Sorry, because this will be quick. I'll try to write  something of worth tomorrow...no promises as I've two projects in mind.

Our hurricane supplies are in place, stocked deep. Went to Costco and dropped a pretty penny or two.

Hey, check out Survivorman this evening. Yes, he's a wimp but he's funny, and after all its a survivor show.

By the way the chicken fajitas were a big hit.

Stephen

Thanks and Welcome

To my new friend and follower, Deb. C. I promise to always answer your comments. Like I've said many times it might take me a few hours (really, I do have a life) or days in rare cases but bet on it I'll shall respond.

Please take a note of my sidebar as there are some wonderful blogs listed and they are all my close friends. You will find many hours of great reads at the click of a mouse.

Again, thank you and welcome to my humble little blog. You are now among friends.

Stephen

Snippets

It's very quiet here at home. My lovely wife is off to her hair lady and since I don't watch much television I hear every little sound. So very soothing.

My doctor requested I take today off. When I mentioned this to Sweet Wife she reinforced his request. I did as ordered. Let me tell 'ya, prescription sleep medication works. The doctor, a nice younger man, gave me a bag full of sleep medication. Has little butterflies on the package. Nice stuff.

My head hit the pillow and the next thing I knew it was 0900. I felt true guilt. I bet when my shop next opens I'll never hear the end of it.

*****

I recently bid and won a neat little Coleman Peak 1 backpack stove. It arrived yesterday. My lovely friend DFW had just dropped by for a visit. I unpacked the little booger as we chatted. The little one burner stove should come in very handy. My friend and I spoke of many things. Estate sales (she's a junky for them) books, and her big weakness, primitive kitchen and decorative items. She's a nice and lovely lady. Her husband owns a business just down the street from my shop. He's cool too, he's a gun freak like me.

*****

As soon as Sweet Wife gets back from the hair butcher we'll head out for a little per-hurricane shopping. I need to restock batteries and a few other staples. Even though I have hundreds of gallons of water set aside in blue barrels I like to have a few cases of bottled water on hand. This next week should prove to be very interesting. I worry about all the trees we have around our home, and pray to the good Lord the trees remain in place and upright.

I shall also top off our vehicles gasoline tanks. There again, I have a barrel of gasoline stored and treated but why tap into it when it isn't necessary. I keep the stored gas on reserve for my generator. Which leads me to another chore...filling my five gallon fuel containers, a task made easier when rain isn't pouring down my collar.

*****

Chicken fajitas are on the menu tonight.

If you can make it over for dinner give me a yell.

Stephen

 

I Want

Just because. The older Kaiser owned Jeep Wagoneer had class.

If by chance I stumble across a nice one I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

Stephen  

Respite

I slept last night. Took a while but rest finally came to me. For those of you with concerns of my coffee consumption please try and understand the caffeine isn't the problem. I do though thank you for the kind comments, and please beg your pardon for my lack of swift reply to the same. I shall make an effort this afternoon to answer. At present I'm just too busy and kind of shell shocked on this cloudy day.

A sawbones will examine and probe my weaknesses tomorrow.

Not much news to pass along. Did just take a call from 'the pimp.' He wanted to know if I knew of an underground market for a big flat screen television. Told him no. He then said he has a couple of handguns he wants to show me. I really need to find a better class of customer.

I took this picture of my coffee station for my sweet friend kymber. Kymber, please note my coffee cup and its placement. It stands empty and forlorn. I've taken your advice.

Later.

Stephen

Think About It

Are you ready?

More than 600 banking executives have resigned from their positions over the past 12 months, and I have been personally told that a substantial number of Wall Street bankers have been shopping for "prepper properties" this summer. But now even more evidence has emerged that quiet preparations are being made for an imminent financial collapse, says Michael Snyder in this article, Startling Evidence That Central Banks And Wall Street Insiders Are Rapidly Preparing For Something BIG, at The Economic Collapse.

Big hat tip to, Ol Remus. 

Stephen