My Grandfather, Joseph Scrufari, used to own an Aarco gas station way back when I was just barely old enough to remember.  Some years later when he passed away, all of his children and their husbands (he had five girls) divided up his many belongings as remembrances of him.  Among other things, my parents took the old Pepsi machine.

The Pepsi machine actually used to be a Coke machine, but apparently my Grandfather got in an argument with the Coca Cola company and converted it.  (Now I know where that personality trait comes from) :)  I'm debating whether to make it a Pepsi or Coke machine, though I definitely prefer the latter, I also want to keep it in line with the memory of my Grandfather, so a decision will have to be made there.

Anyway, after years of my parents trekking this monstrous thing all over the country, it has finally made its way back to its long-intended destination- my house.  Years ago I tried to restore it, but thanks to a lack of this wondrous info store we call "the net", I was completely unsuccessful in finding anything for the poor old beast.  Now, however, it's chock full-o-stuff, so here we go.

Pictures of the Machine

07-Jun-2001

The following is what I know about the machine:

I presently have an old Coke machine- I'm assuming from sometime in the late 60's.  It was my grandfather's back from when he used to run an Aarco gas station.

He apparently had an argument with the Coca-Cola company and because of this converted the machine to a Pepsi machine.  I would like to refurb it and return it to it's original Coca-Cola origins.

I know this:

1. The machine is a Cavalier.
2. I believe it is model CS-96E.
3. It is a bottle machine, door on the left, square illuminated sign on upper right of front.
4. The machine is roughly 25.5" wide, 68" tall and 22" deep.
5. The location for the decal (illuminated front) is roughly
   12 3/4" wide and 13 1/2" tall.
6. The compressor works QUITE well.
7. The lighting unit sort of works- flickers a lot- probably just a bad starter.
8. Last I checked about 15 years ago, the coin mechanism worked, but it's been shipped all over the country, so I'm presently unsure.

What I need to determine is:

1. Where can I get parts for it?
2. Where can I get decals for it?
3. Where could I find pictures of how it's supposed to look so I can be assured to bring it back to it's original state?

I've searched around on the web and found some good sites with some info, they are as follows:

I've sent mail to numerous people, so far have gotten one reply from Ken Durham at Game Room Antiques, who said he doesn't fix machines, he just sells them.  He, however, was very helpful and provided a link to a list of restoration information that might be valuable to me.  I wanted to mention his name in case your search found me, but you were really looking to buy.  I always like to recommend people who try to be helpful even if they won't get anything out of it directly from you.

---

I spoke with Steve Ebner at FunTronics (301-371-5246), he was extremely knowledgeable and helpful.  He knew all about my machine and had all the parts and decals.  They were actually pretty inexpensive, too.  I ordered all the decals- front and side, for about $40.00.  The front decal won't be exactly perfect because it's not silk-screened onto glass.   He doesn't make them for this machine yet, but he expects to sometime next year.  This will cost roughly the same as all the decals combined, and I can pop the "temp" one out and replace it with this.  I also got from him a factory manual reprint, and of course a catalog.  From what I understand, he is actually licensed by Coke to make all this stuff, and he claims they would recommend him if you called 800-GET-COKE and asked about it.  (I haven't checked.)  Just to give you an idea of pricing, he said the coin mech for my machine would be $125 (refurb, 1 year guarantee).  He also told me that the machine is either a 1962 or 63.  They only made about 8000 of these, where some of the more popular machines that you typically see were up in the 20,000-40,000 range.  Mine is not as valuable as those- (big shock there, that kind of stuff always happens with me- my dad once gave me a Triumph TR7)- but it is still considered vintage and valuable- $2000-2500, properly restored.

13-Jun-2001

Someone sent me an image of what the machine looks like (I'll put his name up here in a bit).  This isn't the -exact- machine, as you can tell by some minor details here and there, however, I know that it is definately close.  The guy also told me has the 2-3 of these machines in his shop fully restored that he is basically unable to get rid of.  No one wants them. :)

---

I have determined all the "how to paint" information, again by calling Steve Ebner at FunTronics.

The type of paint to use is: Dupont Centauri Acryllic Enamel
The paint code is: PC 60807-A

The recommendation is that you take it to an autobody shop as they are the ones that most commonly deal in that kind of paint and work.