First up is the Model 395 that I scored on eBay back in July, just a week or two after I got my teardrop. Didn't receive it until October when a friend from Seattle brought it down to help me save a few bucks on shipping. Have not tried to fire this one up yet, but looks like everything is there and with a little clean up should be a burner! Unfortunately the housing is in sort of rough shape and will require a fair bit of bodywork repair. It's actually a little too large for the galley on our '46 Kit, but I found some really cool lock-in/lock-out drawer slides that will allow it to be tucked away for storage and transport, but be pulled out and mostly overhanging off the galley counter top for cooking. I'm really looking forward to getting this super-deluxe 3-burner stove with all cast iron innards restored back to pristine condition!
Then back in late October on eBay along came this 2-burner Model 391A hot plate. Since the 395 needs lots of work and some specialized hardware to be mounted in our camper figured I'd just throw a bid on it and see what happened. Much to my surprise (and a bit to my chagrin because funds are a little tight at the moment...) nobody tried to take it away from me and I got it for the opening bid! Seller said it was in working condition so I just removed the discs and put some high-pressure air through the manifold to make sure there were no cobwebs lurking and it fired right up, yippee! Looks like there was a fire on the main burner because the paint is all burned away on that side. The top was also pretty heavily warped because I suspect water was thrown on it to put out the fire and this had the side effect of shrinking the hot metal. Yesterday got out my body hammers and dollies and with some judicious tapping was able to stretch the metal and relax the warp in the top so now it lays flat, bully for me! Planning to camp out in the teardrop over Christmas, but after that I will send the top off to IPE for a coat of porcelain enamel, which is not the original finish, but I think it will look better and should be more durable.
BTW: the grates on the 391A are lengths of 1/4" steel rod welded together and at this point they are just bare steel. Anybody know definitively what type of finish Coleman originally used to keep them from rusting?
Regards-HW
