Looking at 1977 Vigilante

[sr73087]

I am looking at a 1977 Vigilante 8" outlet it has been repainted with black enamel and has new gaskets installed.

What is typically a good price for something like this?
Anything I should be looking for on this stove in particular?
Can I run this stove as an insert in a brick chimney without running a chimney linear?

 

[defiant3]

One piece fireback or 2? What, no legs?

 

[sr73087]

Supposedly the legs come off and it should fit.

Regarding the fireback, im not really sure. Are you referring to a standalone fireback in a normal fireplace?

 

[vasten]

First thing that jumped right out at me is these stoves are cast iron and are not meant to be painted. They are meant to have a black stove polish on them vs paint. I am not sure if it will affect much but I know they should never be painted.

Second thing to look at is the fireback, It is the back of the stove when you open the doors, you should see a metal piece that has several holes cast into it across the bottom and a 3" square opening, in the lower right hand side as you look at the stove.

The original ones were all one piece, and were prone to cracking over the years, the replacements came in a two piece kit with a horizontal seam.

When you say with out a chimney liner I am assuming that you have some form of liner in the chimney, clay liner etc already right.

The legs do come right off they are just bolted on.

The collar that the stove pipe connects to is meant to be reversible so you can take the two bolts off that hold it on, rotate the collar 180 deg and it will be a rear vent stove, this was designed intentionally for people that wanted it to go into an existing fireplace

Another thing to look at would be the thermostatic spring for the "auto damper" is it there, When you look at the stove it is in the back of the stove on the left hand side. It is a bimetal coil that as the stove heats up it will close the damper for you depending on where you have it set, and will open back up to allow more in as the stove cools. As these stoves aged that spring would stop working in some cases the people would remove them and connect the chain to the lever directly. It will work hooked up that way, but it is not how it was designed.

As far as I know (I could be wrong on this) they were meant to be free standing, not inserts. If you install it as an insert you have to 1 make sure that you can operate all of the air controls that are on the back left hand side of the stove. Two the bimetal coil may get too warm from having no air circulating behind the stove and cause the auto damper to close sooner than you want. Plus you loose the ability to top load the stove and from my experience that was the best way to load these stoves.

Another thing to inquire about was did he just paint it and put a gasket on it? These stove are built in pieces and each pieces has furnace cement in it, to seal the seams from the inside, to make them air tight. As the stoves age that cement deteriorates and needs to be redone.

As far a price I dont think 4-500 is out of line and on ebay I have seen them listed for as much as 1,200.00 but comes down to what you think it is worth to you and if the seller agrees. there is no real guide to go by on these older stoves.

With all of that in mind, If you like the stove and the price I would consider it, they put out a large amount of heat and can be a primary heat source. Personally I would not install it as an insert but infront of the fireplace on the hearth pad even if you have to extend the pad into the room to accommodate the stove.

 

[Bad LP]

4-500 is the going rate from when I was looking for one last year to replace a non airtight steel stove that inhaled 30" logs. It wasn't the inhaling part that made me do it but more of a case on needing two different sized woods for 2 stoves.

If they really painted it they screwed it up IMO.

Personally I would not use it as an insert stove but I wouldn't have a second thought about changing the flue pipe to horizontal and running it up into the flue but I'm not sure how you're going to get a 8" pipe in there without removing some brick.

 

[sr73087]

Thanks guys. You have been a big help.