So i went on a road trip and didn't get what I was after. Instead I settled on this pair of 1995 kettles for $20.00. Yes $10 a piece. When I saw them on offer up I just thought they were dirty. So my wife and I picked them up this afternoon in the rain and went home. We come to find out they were spray-painted black. So my wife loves the internet and discovers that acetone will remove non oil based paints. In the mean time I'm scraping one down with a razor blade (which happens to not be a good idea. It will scratch the porcelain.) She comes out and withing 15 minutes we have this thing stripped down to the porcelain. She's beautiful except for the razor scratches.
But, guess what, I don't care, it was an experiment. But now I'm sad, I was the one who scratched it.
So long story short, one of the wheels was held on by bubble gum. The lower dampers snapped off in my hands, and the triangle brace on one was taped up with about a mile of electrical tape. But dang it I'm in love again. And I have a set of twins. One cleaned up and one from the wild. I will post pics when I can figure it out.
Bottom Line, I haven't found my work horse for the winter. The twins are too cool.