I was cleaning out my old 1975 Superior Heatform Fireplace today and noticed inside above the doors and lintel where the metal firebox meets the brick face was all rusted out and crumbling. I made a big hole about 1' long after banging out the rust. After further inspection I couldn't find any other deteriorating areas. This really sucks! We don't burn it often, but it's nice on those extra cold days and with the huge 6-7cu ft fire box it's nice to burn those oversized splits. I wonder if I could get away with patching it some how or just bite the bullet and look at either an insert or hearth stove? I did want to replace it eventually but not this soon, but I also don't want to do a half ash patch job and find out there is more deterioration somewhere else and end up burning the house down. I'm tempted to just rip the whole thing out and build a new hearth for a new Woodstock Keystone, but I think the wife likes the fireplace look. A Blaze King or Jotul Rockland would also look nice. Here's a pic of the fireplace in operation last year, couldn't take a pic of the damage yet. Dimensions are 35"w x 25"h x 23"d.