Restoring old 1950 Coca Cola cooler

[Garthbrady12]

Don’t know if this is the right place to post this but I was just gifted this ice chest.. decided to start trying to restore this thing! Stuck between restoring the whole thing, keeping the outside rustic but completely restoring the inside or making it into a table with a wood top! Ideas and techniques are more than welcome. I’ve started to strip the inside and started fabricating parts! I’m no professional so be easy!



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[Steve_mc0]

Outside is so nice I'd be tempted to clear coat it.
Keep it as a cooler.

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[bonneyman]

Build a steel framed table that this thing could drop right in, nice and snug. Install the wood top so it hinges up, allowing you to retrieve the cold beverages. I'm sure you could get some thin high-tech insulation so that if you put the bottles in cold some cold packs could keep things frosty for awhile.
Great conversation piece.

 

[PugetDude]

Send it to Rivennhewn and prepare to be gobstruck...

Seriously, I'd preserve the patina as-is whatever you decise to do with it.
Nice find!

 

[Garthbrady12]

Build a steel framed table that this thing could drop right in, nice and snug. Install the wood top so it hinges up, allowing you to retrieve the cold beverages. I'm sure you could get some thin high-tech insulation so that if you put the bottles in cold some cold packs could keep things frosty for awhile.
Great conversation piece.

Awesome idea!


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[BUGTHUG]

I think I would just keep it as a dry storage unit. Its basically missing all the guts, but the body is in nice shape. I would make a table top or find a old dinner table top from the 50's that has the chrome around the edge and hook it to a rear car hatch type pressurized cylinder so you could lift the top. I would use the inside just for storing stuff or put a sound system and store the CD's.
If its going in the garage or porch area, be nice to put a couple bar stools and sit around and yap. Just my.03centigo's worth

 

[Garthbrady12]

Started to fab up the inner box for the cooler, building it out of .050 sheet metal. Should be plenty strong enough


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[larry4406]

Garthbrady12 - is that a Pullmax in the background in Post 7?

 

[Garthbrady12]

Garthbrady12 - is that a Pullmax in the background in Post 7?

Yes! good eye


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[larry4406]

Yes! good eye


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You lucky dog!