vendo v39 coke machine

[deisel69]

vendo manufactured this machine from 1949-mid 50's...it needs the dispensing portion of it...i can make the refrigeration part work..any ideas...you guys have been a tremendous help

[railman44]

The old coke machines are very desirable.  Is this one a 5 cent or dime model?  Working with all the parts would be easy to sell.

[fancypants]

As I recall , these machines had a heavy aluminum (semi-paddle-shaped) lever on the face of the machine ; in order to dispense a bottle , you had to drop in a coin & manually press the lever down .
The whole mechanisim was consumer-powered & actuated .
I'm guessing that finding the entire mechanisim is going to be a real treasure hunt !

If you're going to keep & use the reefer unit , it might not be a bad time to convert it to something besides the R-12 original system (unless you've got your HVAC license , of course) .

What are your hopes/plans for this unit , deisel69 ?

[deisel69]

i am hvac certified and can convert it over to another freon...you seem to be somewhat freon educated yourself..my plan is to sell it as is or converted..just wanted help with value either way..thanx

[Keith]

I don't know if you watch the tv program,Pawn Stars,but there was one,the other night that looked very much like yours.Don't know if it was the same thing,but it was not in near as good of condition as yours.It was beat up,with holes shot in it,and a most of the parts were missing .The Pawn Shop purchased it,I think they gave him,about $2,000.They took it and had it completely restored.It cost him $2,800 to have it restored.When he went to pick it up the restorer told him,he could easily get $7,800 for it.It sure was worth a lot more than i would have expected.I'd say you have a nice item.

God bless,Keith

[fancypants]

Here's a pic of a Vendo 37 with the paddle handle .
It's up for bids (starting @ $600) on eBay .

A pic of a restored Vendo 39 also .

If you go to retroplanet.com , you'll find a PDF file of the service manual for the Vendo 39 , in the blog/vintage-vending-archives section .

[KC]

Great info Fancy,...nice to have you here!     

[fancypants]

Thanks , KC.
Happy to be here.