I might need some help re-building "The Beast"....Hearthstone H-I

I am currently building a log home, 1080 sq ft on a full basement. I owned a Heritage back in the 80's for 4 years and lved it. It sold with the house & I always knew I would own another HS. I have been checking CL for a good deal on a Hearthstone & found what I thought was a Mansfield, but HS confirmed it is a H-I.
Some neanderthal overfired it or had a hellatious flue fue that actually melted the 1/2" baffle leaving a grapefruit sized hole in it. Remarkably the rest of the stove is in good shape. A couple of cracked tiles(minor) on the right side & missing some misc parts. I am checking with Woodheatstoves for parts and am going to re-build it. I have a parts diagram & list, but no disassembly instructions. Can anyone tell me if the entire top comes off including the grate holding the tiles?
Any tips or help is appreciated.

Here's the pic's

That would be a nifty old stove if you can get it back in working order. If I remember correctly, dont those use an 8" flue? If so, you may want to compare
old stove+parts to fix+8" chimney with
epa stove+6" chimney minus tax credit and see how they compare.

more pic's......:

more......

More damage:

I just can't imagine how you would burn through a half inch plate of steel without an acetylene torch.

Amazing isin't it? I am thinking a flue fire where the flaming gunk fell down on top of the baffle & burned thru.

RD

Wow that is amazing that some one managed to burn a hole in the top plate. i'm currently using a stove just like that to heat my whole house and love it!! Sorry i'm not much help on disassembly down that far but that particular smoke baffle that your hole is in on my stove bolts together down the center so unless the actual top to the stove is damaged too i'm not sure why you would need to remove the complete stove top.

I don't have to, I just thought it might make things easier. I have to take the damper out and straighten the bow out of it.

RD

What, no tips or advise on the re-build? I guess y'all like more specific questions, so I'll post 'em as they occur.

If I pull the whole top off do I need cement to re-seal? Woodheatstove is working on my parts order, should I get a tub of cement and a tube of Rutland? I asked Hearthstone for disassembly instructions, but only got the diagram....prob some liability thing.

RD

Joat, I was thinking it would just be easier to get to things if the top was off. Would it be better to leave it alone?

RD

I just rebuilt a Hearthstone II. i removed the top soapstones which exposed the heads of the baffle bolts. I would assume that you will need to do the same. Don't be scared to do this, my dealer acted like this was rocket science. Once i replaced the baffle and bolts, i chipped off all of the remaining old cement. I then spread a layer of new cement and replaced the stones.

Franks, yes 8" flue. Parts are enroute & total about $600. That will put my cost total at $850. You are right, the cost difference between 6 & 8" flue is going to be substantial. While I build the house, I am going to plug the H-I in my shop, it's an uninsulated Quonset hut. I currently have an old 80's Buck stove copy that I had to reduce from 8 to 6", so I will just hook the H-I up to the 6". I did a search here and I understand that it is not optimium, but I am going to try it and see how it performs. The house will get 8" flue.

Graf, thanks. Hearthstone no longer makes the oblong flue collar, so they are getting me a round one. This will require removal of the tiles on top, taking one out permantly, and resetting them. This is because the round flue collar is bigger. I should receive the parts this week & will post the re-build pic's soon.

RD

Someone else on here totally rebuilt a hearthstone II, and had pics and all. You probably have to do a search for it but it might be helpful!

Well, shoot, I just looked for it http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/8572/
but all the pics are deleted! There may be other similar threads, or possibly you could PM the person who originally posted all that?

Most of the parts came in so I started on the re-build. Y'all were right, I didn't need to pull the top off to get the parts in. I did inspect all the tiles and they are are tight. I had to remove the damper, straighten it and re weld the rod. The new baffle, secondary air tube, primary air control are all in. I removed the entire primary air plumbing which ran around the two sides and font of the firebox....it was almost full of ashes.
I'm waiting for the flue collar and primary air intake. I have to fine a 1/16" rod to connect the primary air control to the to the primary air flap. And for the flap, it's no longer available, so I have to fab that part.
There were some cracked tiles, so the HS cement was used to fill them in. The tiles will get sanded with 100, then 220, then 400 sandpaper. Seafoam gree paint is enroute for the frame. Updates to follow.......

Sorry you Yanks(Canucks included), it's only in the high 20's here tonight with some nice fluffy snow!

RD

Well, I got it done and plugged in. I have to do several small fires in it before I can crank it up. This gets the moisture out of the stones & since the folks I got it from had it sitting out in their yard I want to be carefull. I kinda wanted a darker brown color, but this will do until it's gets moved to the yet to be built house.
I had to hand sand all the stone(again) after painting because the tape left a film. I've got about $850 in it so if it performs like it's supposed to it will be well worth it. We have a week of 20's weather here now, so I will be learning the "burn curve" with the Beast.
I had to slip steel tubing under the feet to get the flue to fit. There was about an inch & a half difference between ths stove & my other one.

Nice job on the rebuild. I like the contrasting colors and how well you were able to clean up the stones. The stove looks fantastic.