For those of you who have viewed this four-legged Coleman 520 Civilian Defense stove, from when I first posted it on the ‘Post your flame shots here!’ thread (page 124), you will know this special stove was very generously gifted to me by my dear friend @Remus1956. ——————————————————————— Coleman produced the four-legged 520 in 1942 as part of the initial wartime production run of the M1941 pocket stove. Some of these early stoves were issued to U.S. Civilian Defence organisations for emergency feeding and rescue operations, before the design was simplified to the more common three-leg military version. Timeline: 1941: Stove designed after U.S. Army request for a compact field stove. Early 1942: Early production runs (some with four legs) supplied to military and Civilian Defense organisations. Late 1942 onward: Standardised three-leg M1941 stove issued widely to troops; over one million produced during the war. ——————————————————————— As would be expected of a stove which had not been used for many years, some fettling was required in order to get it up and running again. I completely stripped down the stove including the valve assembly so a complete and thorough cleaning could be undertaken. Initial disassembly: Note the flame spreader which is integrated with the nickel plated windshield. Having thoroughly flushed out the steel tank with acetone using the coffee filter method, it was time to pop the endoscope into the tank with fingers tightly crossed. Withdrawing the endoscope with a big smile, nope, there was no evidence of red (therefore ‘live’) corrosion being present. @Remus1956 had already checked and inspected the NRV on my behalf (since I did not have the Coleman special tool )…a wrong that has now been righted! One very brittle filler cap seal having been replaced with a Viton equivalent from our site sponsor, The Fettlebox. Initial cleaning of the valve body, filler cap, burner bell etc was undertaken in my ultrasonic cleaner. The fuel pick up pipe was found to be completely blocked - found on initial degreasant spray testing through the control valve spindle housing. The cleaning needle lever was also completely seized. No matter, as this valve body was going to be completely stripped down anyway in order to be thoroughly cleaned out. The generator and cleaning needle were in good condition and so the only part I actually ended up needing to replace was a graphite seal on the control valve spindle (2x of these being very thoughtfully included with the stove by @Remus1956 ) Having completed the restoration of the valve body, it was time to turn my attention to cleaning up of the cage. Filling an old ice cream container with an amount of spirit vinegar sufficient to soak only the top pot support section of the cage, 24 hours later, this was now in a much cleaner condition. Both the top section and the three supporting arms of the cage appear to have been sprayed in VHT silver paint by Coleman. However, the connecting bottom section of the cage does not appear to have been similarly painted sprayed - at least not on my 520 CD. @Remus1956 mentioned to me that he had used a ‘Magic Eraser’ as part of the cleaning process of his own 520 CD stove. Whilst I had never heard of a ‘Magic Eraser’ before, the next day courtesy of Amazon, I was using this to clean the inside support arms and bottom section of the cage (and later on, the tank). It is a really effective cleaning aid with a massive plus in that it only removed the grime and dirt when I applied it to the painted surfaces of the cage and tank. I would however apply my own caveat to this in that these painted surfaces I am applying it to, are using VHT paint - I have not tested the ‘Magic Eraser’ on any other type of paintwork surface, so one would need to apply an abundance of caution in this regard and read/follow the manufacturer’s instructions and guidance before using! A very important point to mention here is that the ‘Magic Eraser’ should not in any circumstance be used on any of the three labels which are fixed to the outer cage supports of this 520 CD stove, as this will lift the ink from the wording! The nickel-plated windshield was washed in detergent and then buffed up on my polisher. The next stage was the external cleaning of the tank, which included removing the surface corrosion on small areas of the tank and on all four of the legs. To remove these areas of surface corrosion, I applied ‘Bilt Hamber Deox-Gel Rust Remover’. Here, the gel has been applied to the legs. About an hour later, with a cloth, you simply wipe off the gel along with the corrosion. Following surface corrosion removal, the tank was given a light rubbing with the ‘Magic Eraser’, which was excellent in lifting off the grime and dirt without lifting away any of the paint or scratching it, with a final wash in detergent and soap. Once dry, the restoration of the tank was completed with an application of Autoglym’s ‘Super Resin Polish’ followed by a finish-coating of their ‘Extra Gloss Protection’. Prior to re-assembling the stove, I applied a coating of copper grease to all the threads on the valve body. The pump cup seal only required oiling to bring it back to life. Coleman did not fit a pre-heat cup to the 520 CD model, and so @Remus1956, ever mindful of me setting fire to my eyebrows, very kindly provided a quality brass pre-heat cup which neatly slides over the generator and sits on top of the generator’s securing nut. I fitted some carbon felt to the cup to aid the efficiency of the pre-heat. Works an absolute treat and to date, my eyebrows remain intact! I use a syringe to apply the pre-heat denatured alcohol (as I do with all my stoves). Completing the re-assembly of the stove, I then carried out pressure testing which the 520 CD passed with flying colours. First lighting is where the ‘rubber meets the road’ and therefore especially with a gasoline-fuelled stove, this should always be undertaken outdoors and in an appropriate environment, for obvious safety reasons. Absolutely no worries on this front, my 520 CD immediately sprung into life with a beautiful ice-blue flame encircled by a ring of red. I am guessing this success from the get-go, is due in no small part to the 25 or so flushes of the tank it took before no further detritus showed itself on the last coffee filter. Reckon I shook that tank so many times I could now easily win a maracas competition! LOL. Pictures of this restored 1942 Coleman 520 Civilian Defense stove. With the protective container located and ‘clipped’ on to the top section of the stove. Stove legs in the ‘parked’ position. Stove legs in their operating condition. Pot support fingers in their ‘parked’ position. More photo’s to follow…
Pot support fingers in their ‘flipped out’ operational position. Spare generator holder. Valve control knob. Sprung catch which locates (inside) the container. Correct sized funnel for the small tank filler. Steel funnel secured onto the cage with a neodymium magnet I have attached, when the stove is in use. Cleaning needle lever. In the ‘down’ position for stove lighting. In the ‘up’ position for cleaning the jet. More pictures to follow…
How the sprung catch is kept under tension. Securing chain for the fuel filler cap. Tank stamping just about legible. Pre-heating. Off she goes… Celebratory brew! Thanks for having a look through. Pharael.
@Pharael VERY nice job man...you did better than me on mine! Always learn about a few new products and have added looking for that gel here. I have used some similar gels but they never looked that good after. I have thoroughly enjoyed the stove you sent me! Really happy you enjoyed the stove, and that it got there! As you remember it was fully fueled with ripe gasoline from the 1960's hahahaha...right out of the fallout shelter probably...will never know hahahaha...again glad you enjoyed it my friend!
@Remus1956 Of all the stoves I have (and there are a few) my very first 520 and not just any 520, a rare early Civilian Defense model - and all thanks to your amazing generosity! It was a pleasure to fettle and is an absolute pleasure to own…especially as it was from you. Thank you!
