Olson's Coin-Op Restorations

Name: Olson's Coin-Op Restorations
Address: 6800 east 30th Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46140, US
Telephone: (317) 435-3632
Price range: $

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Indianapolis, IN
Olson's Coin-Op Restorations

Restorer of soda & coin op related machines, refrigerators, refrigeration units and coin changers

Buy-Sell-Trade & Restore : Vintage Coin Operated Machines, Jukeboxes,Pinball Machines,Stamp Machines,Gumball Machines, old Advertising Signs, Gas Pumps Etc...
Website : http://www.flickr.com/photos/coin-op_restorer/

04/04/2026

1956 Chicago Coin Steam Shovel

I’ve had this for a little while, bought it locally, they used sunflower seeds and corn for weight, must of been 10lbs of it in there. seldom do I get to my own stuff, wanted to do something for the grandkids, finally, a reason to work on it, spent some time cleaning and cleaning and more cleaning, and its up and running. Went to dollar general and bought some Easter things to dress it up, Was pretty happy how well it cleaned up, it is all original, really nice original cabinet, there was an original chain for the bucket still in original envelope stapled to the inside of the machine.
The idea is to get as many loads of small pebbles/rocks etc.. to the hopper before the time runs out, on this game I removed the conveyor that lowers the gravel to the drop door, so I can get the bigger eggs down the shoot. I seen where one guy used Lima beans instead of the small rocks. We did this by points.
Jelly beans 1pt
Hersheys kiss 3pts
Chocolate bunny 5pts
Large egg 20pts
But anywho just thought I would share. Thx again for following our page. God bless and stay safe out.
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03/07/2026

Customer just picked up yesterday, I started this just before my surgery, and finished it on Wednesday, it came out pretty good, Want to give a shout out to Tony and his guys for the great work they did on the body work and paint to Outer Graphics for all the artwork thx Carrie Schaeffer. And my powder coater Pro-Kote Indy thx to Megan and her crew and to my wife for allowing me time to bring these machines back to life, Love ya MO. Most of all to God who gives me the talent to be able to do this, It was a project, it needed a little work, was glad to get it done and back to customer. Said he got it home, was going to be a garage machine, but his wife liked it and now setting in his house. Just want to thx everyone for supporting our page, God Bless,be safe and enjoy your weekend.
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02/01/2026

1940’s Atlas Bantam Peanut Vendors
Just finished these little guys, neat little machines. They are known as a peanut vendor but you can vend other products, M&Ms, skittles etc.. had both trays rechromed. Took a little time sanding and polishing but it was time well spent. Thx again for liking our page. God bless

01/18/2026

1940’s Air Castle Desk Fan. I seen this on MP and thought it was a really cool piece. The art deco look is what got me, it might not be as collectible as some but cool. This fan needed a little lovin, was only working on one speed, dissembled and took out the speed control board which was a sandwich board, these are glued together, didn’t want to damage it but was able to get a points burnisher in there to get the contacts cleaned and adjusted, lubed the switch, rewired and added a new plug. started on this thing but never had a chance to finish, finished it this evening. This thing will really put out the air. The blade is cast aluminum and heavy. will definitely remove your fingers. Want to thank my powder coater Pro-Kote Indy for a nice job on the black crinkle coat finish on the base and Carrie at Outer Graphics for the name plate decal. Thx again for liking our page. God bless and enjoy the rest of your weekend

01/11/2026

Sorry haven’t been on here lately, had surgery about four weeks ago, just got back in the shop a few days ago to finish this machine up. These are great little machines, it will vend multiple bottle sizes all in a little package, and don’t take up a lot of space. This one needed a complete rewire from changer to lights down to the main power block to the sold out switch to the solenoid, converted to led lighting. The bottle door was rotted, customer had another one, took it to my painter Tony to get it painted. Got it back and replaced both plexiglass panels and a new glass panel and replaced the springs and thermostat, Dissembled changer and cleaned. This machine had a decent paint job, just needed a good cleaning, little paint touch up and buff job. Thx again for looking and likings our page. God bless and have a great weekend.

12/06/2025

I know it’s not a vintage coin-op device, but it’s vintage. This was restored for a good friend of mine, it belonged to his grandmother, 99% of the restorations that I do are for sentimental reasons, like this chest. Iam not gonna lie, This thing took a lot of work, when I got it I though I would fill some bad spots, sand it all down and stain it. Not, the more I got into it the veneer was pealing up and splitting, the lid and cabinet had wood missing where it just broke off over years of use. The front of the chest was cupped/Bowed inward, took the front off to cut a new piece, said he wanted to keep it all original, so I spent some time filling it to make it straight Found some nice walnut veneer, one of my woodworking friends glued on the veneer, fixed some broken wood, then it was my turn filling all the cracks and holes, made new slides and a tray for the inside, replaced two of the spring loaded seals, and stained it, I used a red Mahogany, turned out really nice and deep, I was gonna use a brush on clear, but it’s hard to hide brush mark, took it to my painter, Tony and his guys did a nice job laying down the clear, opted for a satin clear didn’t want to make it look to new Found a new lock and lid latches, he wanted newer latches because the others were real flimsy. Customer is always right lol! He picked it up yesterday. Anywho, God bless, be safe and have a great weekend

10/12/2025

Just finished up and delivered, I did this for my good buddy and painter Tony, this is a Westinghouse junior ice chest. The unique thing about this cooler, the Drink and Ice Cold is in Spanish, made for the Spanish market. I have seen a few, but this is the only one I have worked on. This is a sentimental piece to Tony not the chest itself, but the bottle opener, it is also Spanish, this opener was in his dad’s garage when he was a little kid. So Put some love into it, he had a stainless tub made, so I took a little time and polished it out, dimpled the tub and added a stainless drain, spent some more time and buffed out the hinges to make them shine. Really enjoyed doing this for him. God bless be safe and enjoy this beautiful Sunday

10/04/2025

Just finished this up for a customer, this popper does not use oil it uses a hot plate that gets over 500 degrees to pop the corn. This has been the most intricate piece I’ve worked on to date. It’s hard to believe it’s 95yrs old. Was able to bring out the original wood color, had to make a few pieces, drilled and sleeved one of the spider gears, rewired most of the machine, replaced all the light sockets, replaced the bulb flasher unit. got luck and found a new spur gear also found a new bearing that was worn, reglued quite a few cabinet parts and rebuilt the main power switch want to thank Jim Fentress aka MR Popcorn for some insight and for selling a few parts to get it running. Just think this machine is almost 100yrs old. This popper was really nasty check out the pic with the yellow bucket and the pic before, used an ultrasonic cleaner at high heat for a few hours and that was the results. the coolest part about this machine, it was made here in Indianapolis. Just something I thought I would share, God bless be safe and have a great weekend.

08/24/2025

Westinghouse 10 Case Giant this was produced in the late 40’s up two the early 50’s, this particular chest is a water bath unit, it was cooled by circulating water through refrigerated coils by a motor with a prop. The customer wanted this one to be air cooled, so I built a refrigeration unit just for that purpose. This was the biggest cooler I’ve ever restored, had to remake all the breaker strips as well as the angled metal that holds the body gaskets. Like always, Tony and his guys did a nice job on the body and paint work. This is a really big cooler 72” long, a lot of man hours in this cooler, it makes it all worth while when the customer sees the finished product. Thx again for following our page. God bless and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

06/28/2025

Just finished this up for a customer, this is a Jacobs 56, it was the first light up machine made for Pepsi, These machines were only made for two years, 1952-1953. Some are thinking they made around 15,000, that’s why some has never seen one, not many out there. This machine is a true survivor. Almost 75yrs old with original paint. This machine required a little work to get it working, the biggest issue, the vending mechanism wasn’t working, had to remove door skin only to find out the wood that the vending linkage mounts to was rotted out replaced that and adjusted linkage and replaced insulation, would not take $, so took changer and rejector apart and cleaned. The empty light was not lighting up, added a stonger spring, adjusted linkage and the trip wire for the switch, the nickles only switch was not working, that switch was bad, I had a parts changer and took a coin switch out of it, drilled two new mounting holes, straightened and adjusted trip wire, worked great, rewired the compressor and wired in a new power cord, then I had to spend some time on the door liner it had cracks all through out it, epoxied it to make it stronger, the best way to fix it would of been to fiberglass the whole backside of the door skin, but I was given a limited budget, made a new copper drain tube, then the final phase to do a machine buff and wax to bring back the color and shine. To be honest, I’ve never worked on one of these or even owned one. Iam glad it came to the shop, in my opinion I that it’s the best looking machine of that era. The story behind this machine, the guy who brough It to me has always wanted one after seeing it in a Pepsi merchandise pricing guide, he finally found one, the lady he got it from had owned it for 40yrs, buy looking at it, it must of been inside its whole life. As Paul Harvey would say here’s the rest of the story, ok he gets it home, but there’s a catch, his wife loves antiques so she said you can put a machine it the house, but it has to be old and it has to work. So He brought it to me to get it working, So He picked it up and took it home, and now it’s inside and both parties are happy. I fell like a marriage counselor lol!! BTW it’s a 9hr drive one way for him. That’s called passion. Just thought I would share, thx for liking our page, God bless and have a great weekend.

06/21/2025

A customer brought this in and wanted to keep it as original as possible, unfortunately Tony and his guys had to do a partial paint job because of the rust that accumulated on the body and they did a great job on it, I was able to buff the top and back out, to get it to shine again, ripped the incandescent bulb out and wired in a led light, restored the refrigeration unit, fixed a broken hinge, replaced insulation, new leveling legs, door gasket, bottle door gasket and wiper gasket, replaced some decals and the bottle door spring that was broken, unfortunately they don’t make a spring for this, I was able to modify a cavalier door spring to make it work. I know some don’t like the bottle decals, but she wanted this back on there like it was when her dad owned it. Hey the customers always right. Thx again, hope you like the pics. God bless and have a great weekend.

Address

6800 East 30th Street
Indianapolis, IN
46140

Telephone

(317) 435-3632

Website

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coin-op_restorer/

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