Well, friends, it is evening and not afternoon so....better late than never?
When we parted last I believe we had agreed to discuss some legs, the emotions involved in purchasing parts and long dogs.
Legs, who doesn't love looking at a great set of stems? Well, these didn't come to me in the greatest of shape. I had said earlier that the aluminum with this grill was badly pitted and that included the legs, unfortunately. Also I believe I spoke about one of the leg sockets coming off during disassembly? Well, as luck would have it, the leg is permanently stuck inside that socket due to the build up and possible dissimilar metal corrosion. Most likely aided by moisture. Lastly, I spoke of the foreleg being ground down, possibly by dragging from the rear handle. I have a picture of that to show this evening. Ok, brass tacks. Cleaning was extremely simple. Step 1: Rub in long strokes the length of the leg with 150 grit or lighter sandpaper. Step 2: When clean enough for you and looking smooth, rub with 0000 the same way you did with the sand paper. Step 3: Enjoy. The following picture shows from, you guessed it, top to bottom: dirty, sanded, finished.
Alright, now that cleaning is done I had to mount these bad boys. Before I purchased the kettle I had spoken about welding on it. That was before I knew the leg was stuck in the socket. Considering my family moves every three to four years I have the need of keeping things mobile and in an effort to do just that I have decided to go a different route. Somewhere in this forum are members showing and talking about how they used screws, washers and acorn nuts to reattach leg sockets. Using them as an example I purchased 3/4 inch #8-32 machine screws, flat washers and wingnuts. All stainless steel. Wingnut, funny word. Anyway, I opted for the wingnuts specifically for ease of assembly/disassembly. I drilled the holes in the footpads of the socket with a 5/32 inch bit and cleaned the jagged parts accordingly. It all fit together quite well. No more wobble but I did find that the back leg
NOT stuck in the socket will not seat completely. I will attend to that later. Until then, inspect my work.
Now that the legs are cleaned and mounted lets see a shot of that ground foreleg.
Ain't that a beaut! Ah, but now our once sullied treasure can stand on it's own three legs without threatening to collapse. Aside from wheel caps, a leg cap, a wooden handle and cleaning the ash pan this kettle is complete and ready for some heat.
Oh, and some photos with the new grates:
A couple more standing on it's own.
This has been an extremely enjoyable process. The only part I am disliking is waiting on the final pieces to arrive. I'm impatient, can't be helped. Going to need to learn some, however. I checked my order through eraplacementparts and my stuff is due to ship on or before 29 Apr.
Now that I am essentially done with this restoration I am having a difficult time waiting on my move so I can begin again. I believe this is described as Weberitis? Well, I definitely have the itis.
Dog tested, Cap'n Tokidoki approved.
Topic: MBH Brownie refurb in San Diego (Read 4223 times)