VC Resolute 1980?-Rebuild or Part out?

[adh52]

Hello, I've been lurking here for several years and I decided to dip my toe in the water.

I rent a house that came with a VC Resolute, the test date appears to be 1980, but the plate is quite warped and worn.

It is in use fairly regularly, but I have problems with it.
1: There is a crack on the front corner that is growing larger, while most of the stove appears black, this crack and all other seams look rusty.
2: There is a "flap" that looks like it ought to connect to what I believe is the thermostat that is broken off and thus the thermostat can't function properly. This pertains to 3 below.
3: I can't find a legible manual that matches this particular model anywhere (it says coal or wood and none of the pictures/diagrams quite match up) that will help me figure out how to properly use the thing (I'm used to barrel-type stoves or stoking my FILs wood broiler-very simple, just chuck the wood in), and so we're adding wood every hour or so, or we end up over-firing it if we put anything more than a tiny bit of wood in it. I'd like something that can burn for at least 6 hours without burning my house down.
4: There are no VC techs within reasonable distance, so I can't have a professional take a look at it.
5: When we moved in the inside at the back appeared rather warped to me.
6: Based on the 12+ inches of ash and construction debris we found in it when we moved in, I'm guessing it hasn't been operated correctly and probably the cat is gone (again, if it even has a cat, since I can't find any legible info on this stove).

See pics


So ultimately my question is this: Do I bother attempting a rebuild? My landlord has agreed to replace it (we have lucked out, he's a great landlord), but if it's a decent stove that needs parts that I can get easily, I'd rather save him the money and fix it. I am a handy gal and I have my Dad, Uncle, and FIL on speed dial if I get stuck, they've all rebuilt stoves, they just don't know anything about VC. So what say you all, part it out, or rebuild? And if rebuild, does anyone have a manual?!

 

[begreen]

The crack is in an odd location. In the least work some stove cement in there and watch it. The stove needs a new thermostat flapper chain or wire to connect. It looks like the flap is there, but pushed inside the hole, but maybe not? Check that. The large gap of the thermostat cover is nothing to worry about unless someone has tampered with it. What is that thin rod that seems to be coming out of the side of it?

Have you checked the bypass and does it work ok?

The manual for this stove is online here in a few parts. It covers all 4 VC stoves of this first generation.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/vermont-castings-older-stove-models/

 

[adh52]

I will try the cement. The flap is completely torn off and sitting behind the stove. The thin rod coming out is, according to the manual you linked (Thank you!! It's light enough to read!), the thermostat lever. I think there's some kind of problem with the whole mechanism as that rod cannot be moved at all anymore. Now that I can see what it's supposed to do (again, thanks for the manual link), I'll take a look and see if there's some kind of mechanical issue with it.

The bypass does work okay, now that I know what the heck it is. Well, I knew it was a bypass, I just didn't know for certain whether it was a baffle or cat bypass. I know nothing about these kinds of stoves.

This manual has cleared up a lot of my questions. I guess my main problem has been the thermostat/flapper issue. Do you have any insight into how I can efficiently run this thing? I have read countless articles and combed the forums, so now that I know what all of the parts actually are I'm certain I'll be able to run it more efficiently (I'm not sure that's saying much), I'm just not sure how efficiently.