Glacier Bay MCC

Some Glacier Bay stoves were more coal then wood burners. Yours looks to be in decent shape, but set up for coal. Is there any upper air supply or is the front bottom supply all there is?

I have heated with a MCC Gibraltar and still have it with paperwork. The secondary air to ignite coal gas above the fire is supplied through holes directly behind the stove front. There is a small shelf at the bottom of door opening where the coal banking plate rests. The plate sits in a groove, and the holes should be just forward of the plate allowing an air wash to go up the glass , over the banking plate and ignite gasses.

The grate system used is one of the best, most heavy duty grate systems made.
Blowers are available at Woodman's.
You do not have to use a blower, and the top will not get hot enough to cook on with a blower running. The top surface gets hot enough to evaporate water in a kettle for humidification, but that's about it. It is a great space heater from the air coming out the vent holes, where you get the most heat from.

You "can" burn wood in any coal stove, but the design is primarily for coal. Wood will burn fast on a grate that allows too much air up through it.

If you Goggle search "Gibraltar coal stove" you will find info on nepacrossroads, primarily a coal burning forum and parts suppliers. As with any coal stove, emptying the ash daily keeps the level below the grates. The incoming air coming up through the grates keeps them cool, and when the ash is allowed to build up to them, they overheat, warp and sag. This can happen to any coal stove, even locomotives and ships. Use Chestnut hard coal, and only shake until red coals start to fall. You should have a barometric damper in connector pipe to control draft. Mine heated 2000 sf nicely, but this is a "stoked" stove, meaning you open front door to load it once a day, shake at least twice. It will stay going all season until you let it go out. The only reason I changed stoves was due to going to a Hitzer with gravity hopper and thermostat. now that coal has doubled in price since I burned it, and I have plenty of acreage for wood, I burn wood only that is also cooking and hot water.

Does your manual mention Old Erie Stoves LTD ?
From 1981 to 1987 that was the mfg.;
http://www.trademarkia.com/glacier-bay-73225179.html

From 1983 to 1991 it was mfg. by; (my newer manual)
Gibraltar Energy Products
c/o JAB Heating Co., LTD. 2000 Erie Blvd. East, Syracuse NY. 13224
http://www.trademarkia.com/gibraltar-73444221.html

Perhaps the same address in East Syracuse since the new co. is on Erie Blvd ? There could have been a zip code change or addition.
My manual covers MCC, SCC, CFS, CFI All stoves are double wall with air chamber for blower except CFS.

Steel plate stoves when overheated can warp the plate which is probably what happened.
Leaving the air intake wide open, with no fan could do this, but if a barometric damper is installed, it should help slow the fire down when the stack is too hot. Leaving the ash door open to kick up an almost dead fire will definately cause it. That is bad practice, and if you have to open it to get it going, it should not be left unattended. You will get to learn on warmer days to use finer small pieces of coal. Normally called "fines" around the edges of coal bin and on the bottom. The BTU available per pound is the same, the larger the coal, the more airspace between pieces and the faster it will burn. Smaller pieces get less air and burn slower. Same amount of heat, just longer duration. Overnight use the big stuff, days use the finer scraps. My stack temp only ran 150* with a normal fire. No where near the temps required for wood.

I lift the grates out and remove the banking plate and doors for moving it.

My blower is a Fasco fan mounted on what I call a "snail shell" over a square hole in the back outer wall. About 5 inches square. It also has a steel electric box mounted on the rear right back corner with a fan switch to control blower. I plugged it into a variable speed controller since most fans are noisey running full speed. 1/2 speed was about right for normal output. I used it as my main heat source in NE PA with a Fisher Goldilocks in the kitchen for fall and spring overnight wood fires. All winter, that was the only heat source needed.
The only reason I haven't sold it, is because it has a solid brass upper and lower door with etched glass resembling a wreath of wheat. The stove is like new.

As long as the rheostat (dimmer) is for motors and not incandescant lamp only.

Here's the stove with solid brass doors; Never had a need to get pics of it until today since a neighbor is interested in it. Sharp stove with the brass.

Only burned coal in it for years. The last time it was burned I dumped the fire by shaking all the way until empty. Didn't touch them or do anything to clean them. That's how they should look when burned out and dumped at end of season.

I'll try to explain shaking, with practice everyone acquires their own touch that works best for them. Normal shaking is a rapid approx.1/8 to 1/4 throw motion with shaker handle to 'rootch' it. (That might be a PA dutch word) You learn when the coal burns down to a large ash pile with a little glowing on top, it's very light, and it rocks back and forth very easy. With a lot of ash to dump, you want to rock the handle slowly, with longer strokes and the ash falls through larger holes quickly, but you don't want to "go too far", like moving the handle over half way, so as the coals on top drop through the grates. Unburned coal can get stuck between them if moved too far too. Moving the handle over half stroke is more dumping the fire than shaking it. When a piece gets stuck, you can't shake it clean until it burns what's stuck out between grates. This pretty much is the same with any coal shaker grate. Moving the handle too much (over shaking) allows too many hot coals through, not moving it enough takes quite a while to get it clean. When you get good at it, you use the play in the linkage or teeth between grates as the place to rock the handle back and forth "where it makes noise", so the wasted motion gives the grates a bump in each direction. It's easier to think of it as moving large grates in a locomotive that are like heavy flat plates. Slowly moving the handle doesn't move them much at all, then suddenly they tilt and dump fire through. Slow motion won't knock the ash off them. You have to violently move the handle where the play is to use the weight of handle and linkage to give them a jolt, not really moving them enough to dump fire through. Just like a locomotive that opens the grates wide open to dump the fire, you can move the handle so far you can dump the fire right through. Try to keep the fire out of the ash pan. That heats grates and warps pan.
Before dumping ash, I always make sure there is room in the pan and shake a little to get good air flow up through grates. With a normal fire, open the ash door and pull the pan. This way any very fine fly ash is pulled into the stove. This is the #1 cause of people thinking coal is dirty. They remove the pan cold before the stove is going in the morning and allow dust to settle in the house! The only thing with shaking just before pulling pan is if there are many hot coals, you're removing a lot of heat from the building by taking it outside into a metal can. I set the ash pan on hearth next to stove until I feel very little heat radiating off the ash. That can be a half hour or more. It's amazing how much heat you waste taking it outside too soon. May not be able to do this with kids or animals around. My kids and grandkids grew up around stoves, boilers, and steam. So they know what to touch and what to stay away from.

Little late now, but here's a few tricks; You may have to drill and tap no matter how careful.......

When I know I'm taking something apart, I keep it wet with PB Blaster for days, spraying them a few times a day. Time corrodes things together, so it takes time to soak in and get them apart. The longer the better. Before trying to turn them, smack each one a few times with hammer, driving it in. This usually loosens them right up. If they don't move easily, use heat on the door keeping fastener cool. If you get the fastener and part hot, a cold wet socket on extension will cool and shrink the fastener and normally comes right out. Putting the socket in cold water a few times cooling the head makes a huge difference. Even sitting the door on a hot stove and chilling the hardware like that works. If you need to expand the hardware such as a nut on a stud, put the correct size socket for nut in hot water on an extension. Let it heat in almost boiling water, and put the hot socket on the nut. As you turn towards loosen, the contact between hot socket and nut heats the nut just right without torch or flame, allowing the threads to stay cool. It's amazing that the heat from a socket out of hot water expands the nut as much as it does. Secret is that the heat is only in contact with nut, and not heating threads like a torch. It's all about temperature differential. On stoves with nuts and studs around door glass retainers, I use brass nuts. End of problem.
I ALWAYS put everything together with silver anti-seize. You may be the next one taking it apart. If you have to use zinc plated hardware, it prevents galvanic corrosion in the hole.
Probably not going to find anything special in a self tapper, black hardened ones would be nice. (dashboard screws from old trucks are perfect) Nuts and bolts, I try to use grade 5 instead of mild steel that twists right off.

Be sure you use a flat-bottomed tap and not a tapered one.