New Old Guy with OLD New Kettle

[JEBIV]

I  vote that it is your grill do as what pleases you, the others will get in line LOL

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[zumbini]

I  vote that it is your grill do as what pleases you, the others will get in line LOL

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True but not particularly helpful. Ironically I used that line on another member recently. Karma is a bitch!

[bamakettles]

This is a fun restore to follow.  Great job and thanks for sharing!

[Pezdogs]

I would leave as is without a coating on it.

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[Mike in Roseville]

I vote:
Leave it...no coating as well.


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[zumbini]

I haven't had much time for the Fleetwood project recently but I did make a decision about the finish. Assuming I can reverse the darkening effect of the oil on the lid I plan to go "au naturel". Thanks to all the members who responded to my request.

Meanwhile, the metal bowl handles are "in the mail" along with 3 bowl vents (hopefully in better condition than the originals). They should arrive later today.



I didn't slack off completely though. I found time to dress the wheels.

[JEBIV]

coming along nicely, I like it

[Kneab]

Looking good.
Those wheels look great

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[zumbini]

The metal bowl handles and bowl vent covers arrived. Many thanks to @Red_5_Wrangler !



I dived right in on the vent covers. Spray with DuraGloss 551 (marine grade aluminum cleaner), wait 2 minutes and watch the scrubbing bubbles work their magic , flush with water, repeat 2 times; spray with DuraGloss 551, scrub with brass brush, flush with water, scrape a few areas still peppered with baked on grease stains, steel wool for 5 minutes on each side, and they are looking pretty good.



I'll do a few more passes with steel wool tomorrow. Then I'll start prepping the metal bowl handles.

[zumbini]

Today I worked on the metal bowl handles. First I did a rough square cut to remove them from the old bowl material.



Then I rounded them off.



At this point I noticed some cracks near the pads on one side of each of the handles. I hadn't seen them during my original inspection so I may have have caused them myself.



I knew those cracks would fail eventually so I decided to try something. I drilled holes through the seams near the cracks.



I mixed up some 2-part high temp epoxy and used a narrow stick to pack it into the holes until I could see epoxy at the cracks. Then I held the base of an oscillating multi-tool against each handle hoping the vibration would insure that there were no voids in the epoxy. After the epoxy had set up I mixed up another batch and coated over the cracks and around the pads. After giving it a few hours to set up I drilled holes in the pads and test fit the handles to the bowl to make sure they fit.



Once they fully cure (48 hours) I'll sand the epoxy smooth then install the handles using either 1/4-20 stainless steel nuts, bolts & washers or 1/4" brass pop rivets. I'll let you know how it turns out....