Official Fridge Transformation Thread

[strnge]

Thanks. It is that red, but it was foggy when I took the photo.

Mike

 

[tcianci]

I don't have any "before" pictures but it was just your average 24" under counter fridge. It had a trim system on it that allowed you to install decorative panels. I made the "tool box" out of MDF. The drawer pulls are made from composite trim and covered in aluminum HVAC tape and then hit with a little scotch brite. I stole the Craftsman logo off one of my tool boxes. I wish I had gone to Sears with this idea years ago since you can now buy stuff like this. Who knows, maybe it coulda been the next quick release rachet!

 

[R6rider]

fridges look great guys... i'm in the process of trying to find one. as soon as i get one and finish it, i'll be posting pics.

 

[customcab]

I have these posted in another thread but saw this fridge thread and thought I'd move it over.
I just got this finished, it's been down in the garage for about 8 years and the old brown paint was buggin me. It's a 78 model Kenmore that we bought when we got married. It was transferred to BEER and leftovers detail. I took all the handles and trim off and polished it. Covered the walnut woodgrain with Prism tape to spruce it up a bit. Washed it down, sanded it lightly and primed it with Zinser 1-2-3. I shot the jambs with a rattle can because it seemed easier and I figured it would dry faster. (remember I have beer in there!) After that was done, I painted the outside with "Saftey Red" oil based enamel. Both the paint and primer were put on with a small foam roller.

 

[johnny]

My old basement refrig. I removed the motor & freezer comp. and now use it as my recycling holder and the anti freeze and washer fluids are stored in the lower section where the motor was.

 

[bazzateer]

'Cool' guys! I have a small glass fronted fridge for beer etc which will go in my garage when it's built, now I'm thinking of ways to make it something different like the ones here!

 

[HAMAR]

Just bought this original 50's Kelvinator Refrigerator in perfect running order for my garage yesterday.
The plan is to have it professionally painted, probably red.

Hopefully it will look something like this soon:

 

[Blue440Duster]

Ummm no before pic. just a black scratch & dent model.... a box of stickers and about an hour.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Hopefully it will look something like this soon:

That will look sharp. My Grandmother used to have a refrigerator that looked like this that ran on natural gas.

Chris

 

[caper]

I can remember back in the early seventies,as a kid my grandfather had an old 1950's fridge out behind the house.It was his tool box.Open the door and all his hand tool boxes were stored in there.I used to have hours of fun playing with the tools in that old fridge.He never had a garage,he did all his repairs in the driveway.I think the fun I had back then was one of the reasons I got addicted to tools later in life.

 

[1jjpop]

I can't put a fridge [ with beer in it ] in my garage, my friends wouldn't go home, till it was empty.

 

[idunnosh#t]

My old basement refrig. I removed the motor & freezer comp. and now use it as my recycling holder and the anti freeze and washer fluids are stored in the lower section where the motor was.

Cool! How about more info and pics? Thanks

 

[johnny]

I had a request for addl. pics of the transformed refrigerator / recycling storage / anti freeze/windshield washer fluid storage. This is no longer a refig.

 

[crewchief888]

Ummm no before pic. just a black scratch & dent model....

kinda looks like the one i had in my shop. scrapped it when i moved out of my rented shop ( it didnt work very good), and i dont have room in my 2 car garage for it anyway. ive got a little mini fridge, sitting in the basement not being used, maybe i can find a spot for it when i get everything moved into the garage.

great ideas guys
maybe i'll do one in snapon cranberry to match my HD editions.

 

[Kevin54]

I don't have any "before" pictures but it was just your average 24" under counter fridge. It had a trim system on it that allowed you to install decorative panels. I made the "tool box" out of MDF. The drawer pulls are made from composite trim and covered in aluminum HVAC tape and then hit with a little scotch brite. I stole the Craftsman logo off one of my tool boxes. I wish I had gone to Sears with this idea years ago since you can now buy stuff like this. Who knows, maybe it coulda been the next quick release rachet!

Could you open the door up and snap a pic so some (me) can get a better idea as to what it looks like? To me, it looks exactly like a toolbox. How thick of MDF did you use? And is the outer square frame also MDF? Does it wrap around the sides any.

 

[jimmy p]

Could you open the door up and snap a pic so some (me) can get a better idea as to what it looks like? To me, it looks exactly like a toolbox. How thick of MDF did you use? And is the outer square frame also MDF? Does it wrap around the sides any.

This is the best job ive seen on one of these setups yet! Id like more info/pics as well

 

[HAMAR]

Just bought this original 50's Kelvinator Refrigerator in perfect running order for my garage yesterday.
The plan is to have it professionally painted, probably red.

Well I finally finished restoring my fridge, it didn't turn out red like I had planed, but ''turquoise'' blue.

I forgot the ''during'' pic's

 

[ghettoluxury]

that blue is awsome

 

[stricht8]

Nice job. The blue is pretty.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

That looks really good. Awesome job.

 

[HOTFR8]

I had a request for addl. pics of the transformed refrigerator / recycling storage / anti freeze/windshield washer fluid storage. This is no longer a refig.

Well done, I would like to have seen that done and left as fridge. You could have the fuel hose with one of those bar type dispensers.

 

[knucklebusted]

My little mini fridge in the garage is starting to look like it needs a few GS and Stage 1 emblems.

Now, I'm no tree hugger. Who can be with a '70 big block, right? I suspect the disparity in energy costs between energy star and older models has a lot to do with the insulation and seals that are used to keep the cold in (or the hot out if you are a physics type).

Has anyone taken their fridge apart enough to see how well it is insulated? Perhaps a small investment in newer insulation technology would shift the energy difference closer to equal.

I read once that most fridges are replaced because of a bad door seal. Scrapping a fridge without recycling the refrigerant is also not very environmentally friendly.

 

[tcianci]

As requested, a couple more shots of the "Craftsman" garage fridge. The panel is about 1-1/2 inches thick overall, I needed the depth to make the front look convincing and not too "flat". It is all MDF except for the drawer pulls wich are PVC composite, overlayed with aluminum HVAC tape and then brushed with scotchbrite. I put saw kerfs down each side so that it would slide down into the aluminum frame of the door and the top strip of aluminum caps it off and retains the panel. It's such a hoot in the garage when I tell guys to open up the 2nd drawer and grab me a wrench! I got the great finish by loading the thing up with rattle-can automotive primer, wet sanding it and then shooting it with rattle can red, which I selected by grabbing a bunch of different reds at HD, walking them over to the tool corral and matchng them up against the Husky boxes. I got a pretty good match and since my real tool box is a 4 story stack from Craftsman, Husky and K mart (of all places) I had my choice of reds to choose from.

With respect to the energy efficiency of the new and older fridges, some of the gains have come from improved insulation but you can only go so far with that while trying to maintian standard exterior dimensions and adequate cubic foot capacities. The big gains have been in compressor design. The newer compressors are much more efficient. My kitchen fridge is a new LG and it draws only 3.2 amps!

 

[green.bubbly]

European model? 230V 50hz

 

[JC23]

Here's mine. That is if I posted the pic correctly...

It's a dorm fridge I got at a garage sale for $20.

It replaced a really neat old one with rounded corners that died AFTER I cleaned it up and got it ready for some wild paint includiing scallops.

Oh well, I guess that's better than AFTER I painted it.

 

[ietech]

Just a little word of advice on those thinking of using older refrigerators.

The energy consumption of a 20 year old refrigerator is going to be at least TRIPLE that of a new one.

The average operating cost of a typical new 18 cu ft top freezer refrigerator is something on the order of $45.00 per year based on the 2007 national average price of electricty.

Triple that would be just shy of $150.00 per year and if your old beater was a larger refrigerator the cost of operation only goes up.

A better plan is to buy a new Energy Star refrigerator.

Let's see for $1500 for the fridge you mention vs an old guy for $20--I an operate the old guy for ten years and not have to take out a loan -- Is that right??? And it'll do the same job cheaper tha $40. a month to pay off the loan.

Great jobs on the Old guys everyone.

 

[tcianci]

While new fridges will use less power than the old ones. The old ones just look sooo cool. I guess everything has it's price.

 

[TheGrooveking]

European model? 230V 50hz

He is in Iceland.

TheGrooveking

 

[milou]

The Porsche fridge:

 

[HAMAR]

Very cool fridge

 

[57tbirdkid]

Some pics of the 1954 GE I restored.

 

[ironheadtom]

My old basement refrig. I removed the motor & freezer comp. and now use it as my recycling holder and the anti freeze and washer fluids are stored in the lower section where the motor was.

The fridges on here are cool, but this one is inspiring. I now want an old fridge fixed up like a gas pump but still functional. Great...another project.

 

[sirsloop]

Here's my Sanyo 4910 mini-keggerator build up!

 

[Spaggs]

Keg in the fridge. Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spaggs

 

[customcab]

"Some pics of the 1954 GE I restored."
So...did you paint that to match your Bird? Looks great!!

 

[57tbirdkid]

Haha Yea same color as the 57 bird. The fridge has a lazy suzan inside also. Re-did all the chrome to. Compressor is original. With all materials and chrome Im into it for about $800. Hefty price to pay but it looks great. I have a collection of about 10 of these fridges.

 

[customcab]

Wow, well it looks great. You're a sick, sick, man.

 

[StriderTB]

I know this isn't the classifieds, but if any of you Blue Oval fans are interested, this Ford/Philco fridge was left in my garage by the old owner. Runs like a top, but needs a good cleaning.

It's free to whomever drags it away.

 

[HAMAR]

Very cool fridge

 

[HAMAR]

I love this color very nice fridge.