Last summer I purchased a 1981 Hearthstone II for $300 on Facebook Marketplace. I grew up with one of these model wood stoves and this one, although in terrible aesthetic condition, appeared for the most part to be in good working order. I brought it home and spent a good amount of time cleaning the stone that was either covered in a heavy layer of smoke residue or else someone at some point decided to use stove blackening on it.
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_2185-webp.312076/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
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![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_2177-webp.312077/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_2179-webp.312078/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_2192-webp.312079/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_2191-webp.312080/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_2189-webp.312081/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
It turned out nice, and I replaced all of the gaskets for the stove and purchased a few replacement parts for it as well, the most important of which was the internal damper which had been so bent out of shape it was almost unrecognizable. The issue was that this particular part (while ordered in August 2022) suddenly showed as backordered and was promised by October...then November... then no later than the end of January... it finally showed up on my door about 2 weeks ago just before we started to have daytime high temps near 80º. I had bent the damper back into shape as best I could and I did use the wood stove all last winter, but I ran into some issues. The most important of which was the fact that I discovered the whole thing needs to be disassembled and properly sealed. I just had too many air leaks between the castings and the stone. So I've decided to tackle this project over the spring and summer and I figure that while I'm at it I should probably replace the parts that need it and or upgrade to the features of the final year run. So I plan to replace the back burn plate, redo all of the gaskets...again, finally install the new damper and bushing assembly, upgrade the primary air control, and install the interior front door glass retainer frame. But the challenge that I'm running into are these:
Here is what the original front glass retainer frame consisted of; two strips of metal at the top and bottom are all that hold it in place. The image t
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_3050-webp.312083/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
But this is what the later versions of the stove use to secure the glass. My question is this. What does this look like installed. It doesn't look correct to me and it appears that the frame is in the way of the door latch functioning properly. If anyone can post a picture of what this looks like installed I would greatly appreciated it because I'm completely stumped.
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_3051-webp.312084/ "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
The second question that I have is in regard to the damper on the side. I do realize that this should be in the open position during normal operation. This stove does not have the secondary combustion tube as do the later ones as you can tell by the location of the damper on the side of the stove. This does seem strange to me, but maybe this is just how the original versions were manufactured. Although it is curious because the internal right side burn plate does have the cut-out/provision for the secondary burn tube... unless this maybe was a replacement piece? Don't know.
Anyhow, I appreciate any feedback in regard to this rebuild project.
On a side note, this stove lives in our basement and so we've actually decided to install a Hearthstone Tribute on the main floor of the house. We had originally purchased it new for our old house and sold it a few years later to friends of ours. Sadly it was just too small to make any kind of a difference in the drafty/uninsulated house. The new house will be the perfect place for it, so we're excited about it's homecoming. Hopefully I won't have to do as much work on that stove as I have on the Hearthstone II LOL.
It turned out nice, and I replaced all of the gaskets for the stove and purchased a few replacement parts for it as well, the most important of which was the internal damper which had been so bent out of shape it was almost unrecognizable. The issue was that this particular part (while ordered in August 2022) suddenly showed as backordered and was promised by October...then November... then no later than the end of January... it finally showed up on my door about 2 weeks ago just before we started to have daytime high temps near 80º. I had bent the damper back into shape as best I could and I did use the wood stove all last winter, but I ran into some issues. The most important of which was the fact that I discovered the whole thing needs to be disassembled and properly sealed. I just had too many air leaks between the castings and the stone. So I've decided to tackle this project over the spring and summer and I figure that while I'm at it I should probably replace the parts that need it and or upgrade to the features of the final year run. So I plan to replace the back burn plate, redo all of the gaskets...again, finally install the new damper and bushing assembly, upgrade the primary air control, and install the interior front door glass retainer frame. But the challenge that I'm running into are these:
Here is what the original front glass retainer frame consisted of; two strips of metal at the top and bottom are all that hold it in place. The image t
But this is what the later versions of the stove use to secure the glass. My question is this. What does this look like installed. It doesn't look correct to me and it appears that the frame is in the way of the door latch functioning properly. If anyone can post a picture of what this looks like installed I would greatly appreciated it because I'm completely stumped.
The second question that I have is in regard to the damper on the side. I do realize that this should be in the open position during normal operation. This stove does not have the secondary combustion tube as do the later ones as you can tell by the location of the damper on the side of the stove. This does seem strange to me, but maybe this is just how the original versions were manufactured. Although it is curious because the internal right side burn plate does have the cut-out/provision for the secondary burn tube... unless this maybe was a replacement piece? Don't know.
Anyhow, I appreciate any feedback in regard to this rebuild project.
On a side note, this stove lives in our basement and so we've actually decided to install a Hearthstone Tribute on the main floor of the house. We had originally purchased it new for our old house and sold it a few years later to friends of ours. Sadly it was just too small to make any kind of a difference in the drafty/uninsulated house. The new house will be the perfect place for it, so we're excited about it's homecoming. Hopefully I won't have to do as much work on that stove as I have on the Hearthstone II LOL.
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/327/327234-b7ec4c479fb02c0b20e6354d60269e15.jpg?hash=NMhNzaQRPK "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/327/327235-13fd5c67d486f9646d5b10238bb418e6.jpg?hash=N2NxIuoKtC "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/327/327236-86f72826a8dd395ad9b3097c40df2911.jpg?hash=bRWdJwsPxO "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
![[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/327/327237-035f5f5d954830c9d06d189a1e911c67.jpg?hash=U9WvJbwdMo "[Hearth.com] Bringing a 1981 Hearthstone II up to 1986 standards")
