New Old Guy with OLD New Kettle

[SteveZ]

Welcome to the club!

[zumbini]

I use a product called PB Blaster. The only thing is with a kettle like yours that the porcelain is so faded, it becomes somewhat porous to oils. Using lubricating sprays can leave stains on the porcelain.  You can either tape off the porcelain all around the vent or don't spray the PB Blaster on the vent. Instead, spay it into a small bottle or container and apply it with a Q tip. Apply to both the outside and inside of the rivet.  Let it sit for at least a day, giving it a couple of applications.  After a day of sitting, lightly tap the vent tab with a small hammer or screwdriver handle. Alternate the direction of the tapping. This method has worked for me and I have yet to find a vent that has not responded to this method.

Excellent tip Cellar2ful. I applied penetrating oil sparingly to the rivets with a q-tip. After 24 hours, I tapped on the rivets lightly until they broke free. They are spinning like a top now. THANKS!

[Cellar2ful]

Glad the trick worked for you @zumbini .  When you get your grill back together, add photos of it to this thread of Weathered Warriors.  Yours has a great patina, earned by many years of exposure to the elements.  It deserves to be in the thread.

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=28339.msg278866#msg278866

[zumbini]

It's been 10 days, 2 messages and 3 calls to customer service with requests for call-backs and still no response from Weber. I understand this is their busy season but that seems excessive...

Meanwhile I've been working to refurbish my Fleetwood. So far I have scraped out and steel-wooled the interior of the bowl (before and after)


and lid (sorry, no before pix...)





and cleaned and steel-wooled the lid exterior (before and after).




At this point my plan (subject to revision) is to neutralize the interior rust with naval jelly then prime and paint with gloss or semi-gloss black rustoleum.

I think the best option for the exterior is to remove as much surface rust as possible, buff the heck out of it, then clear-coat to preserve the character.

Wadja think?

[bear]

I vote to keep it the way it is. 
Keep it clean and dry, maybe some oil to prevent further rust on the bad spots, but it's beauty is in the patina.

[michaelmilitello]

I would not recommend painting the interior of the grill.  I'd keep it dry and oil the spots that's have lost porcelain.   The high heat paint may burn off and I doubt you want that on your food. 


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[Unab8d_Ly4m]

Welcome from Louisiana and thank you for your service.

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[bamakettles]

Welcome!!  I agree with Michael, no paint on this.  Over time, you will not be happy with the results.  Heat and canola oil on the inside should keep the rust at bay IME.

[zumbini]

Thanks y'all for warning me against painting the interior. For the time being I'll stick to cleaning and oiling the interior. Long term I'll look into a "food safe" option like a porcelain/vitreous enamel coating.

As for the exterior, I found an automotive engine clear coat rated to 2000 deg F that I'll test on a random piece of steel and bake for as long as I can keep the fire stoked. https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-260771-11-Ounce-Degrees/dp/B006ZLQ0JI/ref=sr_1_3

[ReanimatedRobot]

There is a wealth of knowledge here and I have seen members here bring kettles back into working condition that I would have never imagined being functional again.  Leg sockets gone, handles missing, holes big enough for golf balls, hell one bowl was so bad that they literally cut and welded a donor bowl inside of the rescue kettles bowl to make it functional.  By the way welding should be a last resort in repair.  Often stainless steel bolts, nuts, and washers is better for reattaching handles, leg sockets, and etc to a kettle.  Just wanted to throw that out there since I know you have a handle missing.

One trap I fell into last summer when I dived deep into this world is sometimes you just have to accept a kettle for what it is to some extent.  My first vintage find was an 18" yachtsman seen here: http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=42774.msg424218#msg424218

I was determined to bring this kettle back to as near perfect as I could and I made a lot of progress.  After sitting for probably decades outside and being abused it shines a bright yellow again.  Now you might understand why I am a HUGE advocate for never using paint unless it is just spot treating a black kettle (its a B to remove when it eventually goes bad). But sometimes obsessing over perfection can actually bring more trouble than good.  I managed to remove a lot of the rust by using evaporust and cleaning tools, but eventually had to just accept that if I tried to do more I was going to compromise more porcelain and maybe even the strength of the leg sockets.  So I had to just let go of perfection, oil it up, and apply heat.  I still need to do some sanding and polishing of the legs and ash pan, but life hasn't been kind with my time and energy.
So check out some of the restoration guides on the main WKC page, use the search feature on the forum, and if you aren't quite sure about a method of restoration make a post to ask.  You will more than likely get several replies from people that have seen the same situation you are in and can give you the positives and more importantly the negatives to your situation.  Nine times out of ten they will actually present you with the best solution.  Good luck!

[zumbini]

Time for an update on my Fleetwood project.

I removed the legs, wheels and triangle but broke one of the wheel bushing in the process. Ordered some 1/2" OD x 3/8" ID brass and stainless steel pipe to make new bushings.



Also managed to break off the one remaining all steel bowl handle (it was hanging by a thread so it wouldn't have lasted long anyway).


I found some handles that are similar to the original but they only come in zinc plated, stainless and black (powder coated).


Another option would be to buy some 1/8" x 5/8" flat stock and fab handles like the one on the lid. I would appreciate member feedback on which option to pursue and why.


Finally I spent considerable time working on the lid.  Here it is after several hours of polishing with steel wool.


This was taken after I etched it 3 times with Krud Kutter Rust Remover and Inhibiter.


And here it is after I rubbed it down with canola oil per some of your suggestions.


I like the results but probably should have stopped after the 2nd etch and left a little more rust showing.

[JEBIV]

Your kicking ass, it's your grill go for it


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[zumbini]

Almost forgot.

Saturday afternoon I received a call-back from Weber customer service (I had called at least 3 times and requested call-backs after waiting on hold for up to an hour). Weber had Fleetwood size grates in stock (cooking grate, 24.75" dia, p/n 66910, $69; charcoal grate, 19.5" dia, p/n 66911, $45). I ordered both and should have them by the weekend. Many thanks to @Cellar2ful for the part numbers!

[Cellar2ful]

I would place a "Wanted - 2 metal bowl handles" add in the Members Sales and Trades section. The 22" and 26" use the same size MBH's.  Someone's got to have an old rotted out MBH bowl sitting in their yard.  The 26" uses the same size handle as the 22" kettle BTW.

[zumbini]

I would place a "Wanted - 2 metal bowl handles" add in the Members Sales and Trades section. The 22" and 26" use the same size MBH's.  Someone's got to have an old rotted out MBH bowl sitting in their yard.  The 26" uses the same size handle as the 22" kettle BTW.

I do like the look and feel of the original handles and my initial plan was to try to find some. (I actually listed metal bowl handles in a trade request I posted last week http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=46090.0.)


However, after my "good" handle broke off I realized that they are not solid but rather stamped from thin (24 ga?) sheet metal and rolled into shape. The ends are flattened into tabs about 1/16" thick x 3/8" wide x 1/2" long that are then spot welded welded to the bowl.


When I tried to remove what was left of the tabs from the bowl one practically fell off but the other refused to budge and had to be ground off.


The only way I see to salvage old handles from a donor kettle is to cut them out of the bowl leaving some of the bowl attached to the tabs. Then grind the tabs into a shape that can be welded (tricky without a spot welder and way beyond my journeyman skills) or drilled and bolted. Is that how you've seen it done?