New to old refrigerators and I need help--lots of it! :)

I already sent an email to him with several ads listed. I can honestly say that while several of them were good candidates that none of them appeal to me due to my already large collection. God, now I sound like a snob! There were several ads for terrible fridges that I didn't include. I can honestly say that Florida, the whole state, is a barren place when it comes to old cold steel. No offense meant there, it just is! I saw a poor DR cabinet with an FEA on top with no legs underneath. It was more rusty than anything I've ever seen. It looked like cast iron left out for a century.

Sorry about that. I don't know why it didn't send. The address is the same. I sent it again.

Well, I tried to insert a picture but it doesn't look like it worked. It was a picture of my refrigerator completely iced over after running for 4 months. I'll try the picture thing again later.

Just what cablehack said. The cks are just as efficient as your flat top. They are actually quite good.

I am on the hunt for a monitor top! Slim pickins down here in Florida. I want something that's not a complete piece of junk. I have a vacuum pump, a set of gauges and enough knowledge to be really, really, dangerous I am willing to get into refrigeration repairs, but I'm very cautious because I really am not that experienced. I replaced an A/C compressor on my car a few years ago. I pulled a vacuum and recharged the system myself with really good results, considering that I am in Florida and only about 3 blocks from the surface of the sun...hahah! Refrigerators are a whole different ball of wax, though. There's different refrigerants to deal with, some of them extremely toxic. There's more finite charges of said refrigerants. Not to mention, I'd probably have to buy some new tools. I'm willing to get into a refrigeration repair project with a monitor top, but I'm afraid I'll be in over my head from the get-go. I think I got lucky with the flat top I have. I re-wired it,  and it works perfectly, what more can you ask for?
All that being said, I still want a monitor top.

I knew virtually nothing about refrigeration before I got involved with monitor tops. No idea what a vacuum pump was for. In fact, the only fridge repair I'd ever done was to replace the Klixon overload in my modern fridge.
As the only way I'd ever get a working monitor top was to learn how to repair it, that was my incentive to embark on the learning curve.
As it turned out, monitor tops were an excellent fridge to learn on because they follow text book principles and all the parts are accessible. Having done the first one and learned the hard way, the next one was a piece of cake. They're actually quite simple compared to a modern fridge in many ways. In fact, with all the knowledge and experience that has come to this forum in the last five years, it has never been easier to repair one.