Old Coleman cooler parts

[CliffinGA]

A god friend of ours was helping his dad with some stuff and ran across their old coleman cooler, not sure how old but is the steel belted one with the plastic bottom and insert inside. Knowing I was looking for one he told his dad and now I own it for free. Its not in bad shape but the hinges, latch and handles are all rusted and need to be replaced. I think what I am going to do is actually make this into the box for the battery and stuff on the tongue after I sand it down and repaint it and sand the plastic and repaint it back to white (Rustoleum Plastic paint). I an looking for the new handles and stuff because I want it to look new on outside. Any help is appreciated!

Cliff

[wagondude]

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/colema ... 61377.html

http://www.oldcolemanparts.com/home.php?cat=25

If I remember right, The latch is just a standard double hung window draw latch that you can pick up at any hardware store.

Bill

[Lazybones]

How about a picture. I have some new old stock cooler stuff that may help you.
Lee

[DragonFire]

Flip it over and check the date. I bet it's like mine. I have a brown early 80's one. It's awesome, but I don't have the tray. They make very good ice chests..so if you don't have a better one, you might want to keep it as an ice chest instead of a tongue box.

That being said, I'm thinking about having a tongue box added to my trailer...but I'm not using an ice chest! And it's not for the battery, either!

Good luck..hope to see pictures soon!

[CliffinGA]

Ok here is one pic and I checked the sites and no handles but may get the latch assembly and handle for the stainless version as its black and will contrast nicely with the red that the cooler will be painted.



'''''''''''''it is 6 of 77 so it was new when I was 6 yrs old but you can see the lid has some rust and the handle sticking from the left side you can see is rusted, front lid handle is too, latch itself not bad but the piece the lid handle protects is worthless and flimsy now. Thanks for the info Bill, anything infor lee is appreciated and thanks Barbara but I may use this as a color afterall depends on how it looks when I'm done.

Thanks,

Cliff

[Lazybones]

I dug through my stuff and don't have any parts for this cooler. Sorry. It looks like it will clean up nice!

[wagondude]

You can clean up those parts and send them to a small parts plating shop. You would be surprised how inexpensive it is. Search around for custom motorcycle shops to find out who does their chrome. Here are a few options: http://www.google.com/search?q=chrome+p ... 40&bih=780

[CliffinGA]

Thanks guys for checking on the parts Lee and the info Bill, Right now I'm going to get it sanded and painted and go from there as I also will be doing my 426 3 burner also around same time.

Cliff

[campmaster-k]

I told myself I was not going to get into Coleman Ice chests, but I did. The steel ones do make very good coolers. I find I dont like the lids because they get so hot you cannot touch them in the sun. I paint the the lids white with auto paint and it fixes the problem. Just sayin.

[CliffinGA]

Well this one will be a cooler again someday but after the tear is campable and my Coleman 3 burner is fixed up. Its all goinf to be a Red/Black color scheme since none of it is old it makes perfect candidates to change colors on.
Cliff

[riverfront]

I have the same cooler in green and red. Make a paste out of oxycleen and scrub the bottom and inside. It will be bright white again. Sand the metal and paint with appliance paint. The advice above on replating chrome. I have found no newer cooler that will hold ice like this one. Great find.

[CliffinGA]

Thanks Bruce for the advice!

[DragonFire]

I have the same cooler in brown. We made an insulated cover for it which helps a lot. Also put a damp towel under the insulated cover. I came home with plenty of ice after several days out, and my water bottles were still frozen.

I'm thinking of picking up a 'space blanket'...a suggestion from Nevadatear...if you can't keep the coolers in shade well enough, throw a space blanket over them. I guess I'll have to wait until next year for trying that trick, as my camping is almost over for this year.

[Toytaco2]

I've been trying to get started on restoring my early 70's Coleman cooler. Parts are not that easy to find. Mine is starting to crack on the inside. I have a new drain valve and some epoxy will fix the cracks in the bottom. I'd love to find a new top insert, but have not been able to find one yet. It will still hold ice better than any other cooler I have. The only problem I've ever had with it is that the raccoons in Beaver's Bend in 1974 knew how to open the latch and swipe its contents. That cooler has hauled a lot of fish, game and great camp food and it will live again.



Good Luck,

Mike

[CliffinGA]

Mike from going thru the links Bill provided, one you can buy a whole new lid w/insert in it. Yu just have to keep opening each one of the parts to find the correct one. If I remember right, its towards the bottom on the second one. My cooler is on hold as I am grinding on my tear to get it campable for Sept. 14-16th gathering in GA. It will wait along with my 426 coleman stove .

Cliff