Just finished putting this back together today. I received it a few weeks ago and it had two different colors of paint on it, so I let the various pieces of the case soak in a electrolysis bath for several days and then primered it and painted it. The grate was treated with phosphoric acid, iron burner was heated with mapp gas torch and coated with mineral oil, new check valve and new nitrile gaskets and it runs very well. The iron burner is stamped "6337", so I assume it was made in 1937, which makes this a 6F. The 6B was made in I believe 1931, but appears to be almost the same as the 6F. I left the fuel tank in its original state because of the painted on coleman logo.
Beautiful job. I came to the same conclusion on my 417B tank, but changed my mind and am going to make a stencil myself. I like the mineral oil on the cast iron. Looks great! Turn off that aux burner and wind up the main. It's like a blast furnace. Your shop must be much bigger than mine if you have a backhoe in there. Super restoration, Mike
Beautiful job Dan! I've got a 417B that is almost identical and I have never been able to get the burners separated from the case. It's the one in this gallery. The screws are absolutely frozen in place. I really like the treatment you gave the iron, it looks perfect.
Hi Guys, Thanks for the compliments, but the stove was in pretty good shape when I received it. Just needed straightened and gone over a bit. Mike, I thought about getting a stencil from gaspressuredecalsandlabels.com , but the ones that he makes are not the same as what is original so I'll just leave it this way for now. Maybe someday i'll buy one and repaint it but for now I'm fine with it as it will be a real nice user stove for camping with the family. The mineral oil works real well. The idea came from a member of this forum and they really come out nice. Matt, I had a heck of a time getting the burner separated from the case too! I ended up using mapp gas to heat the cast iron where the threaded bolts were at. It took several heat cycles before they broke loose but they didn't break off . Randy, thanks and that Coors Light is also not my favorite, but it was "FREE", so I cannot complain too much . Have a good evening guys, Dan
Matt, hit those screws with a little kero auto trans fluid mix(best penetrating oil in the world imho) let it set for a day or 2 hitting it with the mix a couple times in there, get a flat tip drill driver bit that is a tight fit on the screws and give em a few taps with a hammer(easy does it). Once they break free they will probably back out with your fingers. The ones on my 417B were the same way. Think I'm gonna tear it down again and oil my burner too. Mike
Dan, you give me hope that it can actually be done! Thanks Mike, I'm going to give it a try! I do happen to have a Makita hammer drill, so if I'm REAL careful, I might give it a try. My greatest fear is that I'll break one off.
Matt!!!! NO!!!!! That's not what I meant. Don't put a hammer drill to it!!!! Just use a bit and tap with a hammer to loosen it a bit and break the rust bond that has formed allowing micro passages for the penetrant to sneak in. Get the bare bit fitting tight into the screw and tap like you would a punch. A hammer drill WILL break those off!!! Mike
Mike, don't worry, I don't think I could control it anyway. As soon as I pictured myself doing it, I could see the thing walking right off the screwhead. It's a pretty gentle tapping really, but it's just not worth the risk. I've heard the transmission fluid being the best thing on earth for loosening stuck parts. I'll give your kero/tranny fluid a try before anything else.
Very nice job! Interestingly,my Canadian 4H has the exact same number stamped into the burner.6337. I was able to date mine to 1937 with the help of the experts on this site. My fettling doesn't hold a candle to yours though.I would love to see your methods illustrated in detail.Well done!
Matt, Phew!! The thing about hammer drills is that they only hammer when they spin. With a stuck screw, no spinny, no hammery. Until it breaks or pops out and then start hammering little dot trails across the bottom of the stove. Glad you thought better of it. The kero it the tranny fluid(no jokes from the peanut gallery) thins it so it gets in deeper/faster. My father used to get old tools and soak them in kerosene alone. It worked well but not as good as this mix. Mike
Matt, I am sorry but I did forget that only one of the studs came loose with heat only. The other wouldn't budge with heat only, so I had the wife swing a heavy hammer into a impact driver like this one http://www.harborfreight.com/7-piece-reversible-impact-driver-set-93481.html . I heated the cast burner and held the impact driver while she swung the hammer. I think she was aiming for my fingers, but missed and hit the driver . I think two good wacks with the hammer and it budged enough to back it out. Hi rereid, If you have some pics of your 4H, we would love to see them added to the Stove Reference Gallery. I'd love to get a 4H too someday, especially after working on this 6F. All these old Colemans must be awesome . Take care, Dan
i have a stove very similar to that except the legs are a bit different they are triangle and make the stove sit up a bit higher bought it off eric webb (dec)oil lamp parts in bayswater wa perth told me it was 1937 came with instructions on yellow paper works well use it at least once a week
Your stove looks great, nice work! It is amazing to me to see how little Coleman has changed the design in 75 years, and to see how well one of those old stove still works all these years later.
What were the two colors that were originally on this one? Is it a winged filler cap or later 3 piece?
I just picked up a camp stove I believe to be a 6f 1937 the # on the burner 6337. It has no decal but can see were it was.
