Mid 50s Marvel Mini Fridge - Removal of gasket and door

Yes, it's a wood frame box. I can probably get the door off from watching videos, but that would leave the hinge pins still sticking out. I will have to look at the hinge pin covers. I wonder if they were a snap cover of some sort that can come off or maybe it's a one time use and once it's on it's on forever.

I have to do some exact measurements, but I may be able to get the fridge through the door by rotating it around the door jam on one side.

The exact same model fridge was installed in the trailer and someone took it out. How they did it, for now, is a mystery unless they cut it up with a saws all or actually managed to rotate it around the door jam but going out the door instead.

I will post when I know more.

Cheers,

Rod

Hi,

I was able to remove the door once I got the snap clips removed. I gentle prying of a screw driver and a little finagling, and they were off. Once I got the door off, I could open it up by removing the 4 mounting screws. Pictures below show what I found. I do have some concern about the rust in one area of the door shell. I took a wire brush and got some of it. I am concerned about one area near the bottom of the interior of the shell. The rust had “bubbled”. Anyone have any ideas how I can arrest the rust without using caustic chemicals and a way to seal it if necessary?

I guess I could just leave it and by the time the rust came back and worked its way through the shell, I would be 6 feet under. The fridge will outlive me, LOL.


The mounting area for the hinges is raised about ¼”.
Door has been removed.


The removal of the old gasket required removing about 20 small screws. The old seal required a little gentle prying with a screw driver to unseal the original gasket. Once the seal was broken, it came up fairly easily.   

 

The screw holes were pre punched.


Insulation was in pretty good condition.


Rust spots below.  Click on the picture to magnify.  The wire brush got a lot of the rust bubbles. The steel still feels firm.



The lower and larger spot is the area I was concerned about treating that I mentioned previously. 

I am going to purchase the GRG1050 gasket material here for the door. After excavation, this seems like it would be the best choice. I measured the gap and it’s about 7/16” store.antiqueappliances.com/GRG1050-compression-gasket-per-foot_p_97.html Do you guys recommend buying a few feet extra to practice the mitering for the corners of the gasket? The holes for the gaskets looked to be pre punched. I think I can use a punch that is used for drip irrigation systems after marking the holes. My grommet maker kit might also have a punch. Recommendations?  Also, there was the rust question I posted earlier in the thread.

Cheers,

Rod