I am a sucker for cheap old Webers. Craigslist finds and thrift store gems seem to find their way into my garage with surprising regularity.
Most of these kettles are not show pieces. They proudly display their age and not-so-gentle usage. I often rationalize these purchases by convincing myself that if I don't rescue them, nobody else will.
Now don't go thinking that I can't pass on an abused beater kettle because I do that often. I just have a hard time walking away from an inexpensive, fully functional Weber that may have some cosmetic flaws. I might pass them on to friends, use some parts for other kettle projects, or I may just keep them!
A few weeks ago I cleaned up this old N- code Outrider:
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/index.php?topic=14727.0
At the time I knew it as a Smokey Joe Platinum (SJP). Since then I learned the name "Outrider" from another thread here and I like that name better. ;)
I had the day off today and decided to do some similar improvements to my N- Code SJG and M-code SJS. I think that they turned out OK!
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/25/94f1e58c40ef48968ff1ee5030530ba0.jpg)
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/25/2af9b1c8966d5a7fc9f4d14ea732dae5.jpg)
And a shot with the Outrider too:
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/25/350600d254aa7d49921a0f55cfc5b121.jpg)
None of these are pristine. They are portable kettles and have been used as such for a quarter of a century . M = 1990. The rusty legs and ash pan made them look pretty tired. New legs and hardware would look out of place with the scars on these kettles, and probably cost more than I paid for them in the first place! ;D
Very nice. No doubt about it, these things have class.
Nice looking.
Those 2 look so sharp.
They look great.