About to restore my SS Performer: Finished!

[Foster Dahlet]

The star nuts arrived in the mail today, a bag of 10 for about $10. They measure at about 15/16 inch.  The picture makes it look like the nut is not lined up to the edge of the ruler, but it is.   I can now proceed to work on the frame, hopefully this weekend.

[greenweb]

Nice! My new to me Red SSP is all apart and getting restored too. I have already sourced ash bucket I was missing. I will need to get some star nuts and the frame plugs but these are easy to get anyways. Lots of stuff to do on mine.

Good luck with your restore. Looking forward to the end result.

[Foster Dahlet]

Nice! My new to me Red SSP is all apart and getting restored too. I have already sourced ash bucket I was missing. I will need to get some star nuts and the frame plugs but these are easy to get anyways. Lots of stuff to do on mine.

Good luck with your restore. Looking forward to the end result.

Where did you find the ash catcher?  I've spent hours scrubbing mine.  Almost done, but it is a bear.  I am looking forward to seeing your finished product.

[greenweb]

Nice! My new to me Red SSP is all apart and getting restored too. I have already sourced ash bucket I was missing. I will need to get some star nuts and the frame plugs but these are easy to get anyways. Lots of stuff to do on mine.

Good luck with your restore. Looking forward to the end result.

Where did you find the ash catcher?  I've spent hours scrubbing mine.  Almost done, but it is a bear.  I am looking forward to seeing your finished product.

Brand new one. http://www.ereplacementparts.com/ash-catcher-assembly-p-1477085.html   Not sure if this is a new style or not.  I am getting mine from another member at a good price. Have no idea what condition. Hope it is good.

Ash bucket is aluminum. Not to worried about inside. Clean inside and out and polish outside. If the handle is rusted, pop it out and sand it down to a bare metal. Then paint high heat black or silver paint.  If that sounds too much, just buy a new one as shown. They are fairly cheap including the new ring. Might actually worth it to buy new for a nice restore.

[Foster Dahlet]

Nice! My new to me Red SSP is all apart and getting restored too. I have already sourced ash bucket I was missing. I will need to get some star nuts and the frame plugs but these are easy to get anyways. Lots of stuff to do on mine.

Good luck with your restore. Looking forward to the end result.

Where did you find the ash catcher?  I've spent hours scrubbing mine.  Almost done, but it is a bear.  I am looking forward to seeing your finished product.

Brand new one. http://www.ereplacementparts.com/ash-catcher-assembly-p-1477085.html   Not sure if this is a new style or not.  I am getting mine from another member at a good price. Have no idea what condition. Hope it is good.

Ash bucket is aluminum. Not to worried about inside. Clean inside and out and polish outside. If the handle is rusted, pop it out and sand it down to a bare metal. Then paint high heat black or silver paint.  If that sounds too much, just buy a new one as shown. They are fairly cheap including the new ring. Might actually worth it to buy new for a nice restore.

Thank you sir!  I have cleaned & polished the outside well.  The inside is a bear.  Got a lot of it clean, but the rest will not come out.  I'll show in the final pics.  I did sand down the handle, and I will paint with black high heat paint, as you suggest.  The lid, bowl, and ash catcher are almost 100% done.  I am ready to get going on the frame.  I miss cooking on it.  My other kettle is nice, but there is nothing like a performer.

[greenweb]

Good luck with your frame restore. Post up your progress and ask any questions. There are lot of knowledgeable members here who can help. I am new to SSP restore, so yours and other SSP restore thread will help me restore mine.   Maybe I should start a thread to document my restore.   

[Foster Dahlet]

Good luck with your frame restore. Post up your progress and ask any questions. There are lot of knowledgeable members here who can help. I am new to SSP restore, so yours and other SSP restore thread will help me restore mine.   Maybe I should start a thread to document my restore.

Start the thread!  It will be helpful for many who follow. 

[SteveZ]

@Foster Dahlet Good to see you are coming along with your restore! I noticed you used threaded rod on the bottom before. Is the metal strong enough to hold the star nuts? Just remember not to punch the star nuts in too deep, one inch of your bolt is taken up by the crossmember. I used 1/4 20 x 2inch Stainless Steel bolts for these. Looks like you got the star nuts from a cycle shop, they may have metric threads. I'll be looking for more Pictures. Sounds like its coming along GRATE!

Steve

[Foster Dahlet]

@Foster Dahlet Good to see you are coming along with your restore! I noticed you used threaded rod on the bottom before. Is the metal strong enough to hold the star nuts? Just remember not to punch the star nuts in too deep, one inch of your bolt is taken up by the crossmember. I used 1/4 20 x 2inch Stainless Steel bolts for these. Looks like you got the star nuts from a cycle shop, they may have metric threads. I'll be looking for more Pictures. Sounds like its coming along GRATE!

Steve

Steve, thank you.  You will save me some time with your suggestions.  I am grateful.  I did use a threaded rod 7 or 8 years ago when one of the star nuts in the frame rusted and popped loose.  It has held up well.  But, now that the other side is loose, and there are several other issues to address, I decided to go with all star nuts this time and see how that works, because I wanted to keep it as close to original design as possible. I don't know if that is very practical.  We'll see.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@Foster Dahlet - gummi's advice is solid.  My handle was loose when I guy mt SSP and I just waited until the handle eventually popped off.  It actually left a small hole in the lid which was perfect as a pilot hole for drilling through the lid then into the handle to install my bolts.

[Foster Dahlet]

@Foster Dahlet - gummi's advice is solid.  My handle was loose when I guy mt SSP and I just waited until the handle eventually popped off.  It actually left a small hole in the lid which was perfect as a pilot hole for drilling through the lid then into the handle to install my bolts.

Thank you, Mike.  I will follow yours and gummi's advice on the lid.  You both have given me peace of mind on that.

[Foster Dahlet]

Each side of the upper frame had a small crack in the tube.  I used a putty epoxy for them.  No photo of the epoxy, but it wasn't pretty.  I used too much.




The lid is finished....


The bowl is done. I patched 3 small holes with self tapping screws, washers and nuts. One patch is upper right of center, one is lower left of center. The third is behind lower right strap.  It does not impede charcoal grate.


I used caliper paint, satin finish...


Upper frame, finished


Bowl, installed


Done!


I was a little over aggressive in shining up the ash catcher assembly


You can see one of the small holes I plugged with a screw on the left,  I sanded and oiled all of the heat pox marks. 


I used new star nuts to fix lower frame (pics are above in the thread).  They nuts fit in, without bulging the tube outward....perfect fit.  They take M6-1 bolt, either 45 mm or 50 mm will work.  I put star nuts about 1/4 in depth into the tube.


My restored 14 year old SS Performer!  It is much sturdier now than it has been in years, and all the rust on the frame and basket has been addressed.  I hope to get a few more years out of this grill.  I know it is not the greatest looking grill in the world, and it is not the best restoration job in the world, but it is mine and I am glad I did it.  Thank you all who encouraged me and gave me advice.  I am grateful.

[greenweb]

Great restore work! It looks fantastic.   Should last you lot longer than few years.

[Foster Dahlet]

Great restore work! It looks fantastic.   Should last you lot longer than few years.

Thank you, my friend!

[Mr.CPHo]

Congrats  on a well done restore


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