Weber Kettle Club Forums

Well, this has been about a week in the making.  My girlfriend lives in Denver and I live in Scottsdale, AZ.  I've been watching the Denver craigslist ads recently since she only has a gas grill and doesn't even use it.  Last week I came across a 62-68 Avocado for $30.  Unfortunately my gf was out of town in Salt Lake City, but her brother Shawn who lives in Colorado Springs works for a courier service as well as Uber so he is in the Denver area almost everyday.  It took a few messages back and forth and a voluntary $15 increase in my offer price with the seller and I was locked in.  Oh and I might have also told the seller that Holly's favorite color was Green....not quite the case, but I think that is what sealed the deal.  Shawn was able to make the exchange on my behalf and drop the grill off at Holly's place. 

I flew into Denver Sunday night and finally got to clean it up last night.  Considering this Kettle is 50+ years old it is in really good shape.  The Kettle is out of round on one side but with a little push the lid still fits on nice and snug.  The leg sockets are rock solid, and the legs slide in and out with no effort.  The thumbscrews are original and work perfectly.  The ash pan is a bit dented, but that is to be expected for a grill that was definitely cooked on quite a bit.  The wheels are in good shape other than the missing rubber tread.  I think I a will see if I can find some sort of vintage restoration shop to see if I can get them retreaded.

Holly was amazed when I cleaned the inside of the kettle last night.  I used some Easy Off for BBQ's like I always do, then after about an hour with a razor blade scraper and some 0000 steel wheel the inside was back to mint condition.  There is some rust around the handles and a few scars on the bowl and lid, but again, this grill is 50+ years old.  The Kettle definitely is out of round but the top goes on with a little bit of a downward push. It has a nice fade to it and I can't wait to see what it looks like when its hot tonight as I am teaching Holly how to grill on charcoal for the first time.

I'm debating what to do with the legs and triangle.  I know they will polish up very nicely, but I'm not sure if I should do that or leave them as is.  What do you think?  The lid vent and all three bottom vents spin with the flick of a finger.  The lid handle is pretty bad, but I kind of like it.  I'm sure I'll replace it at some point, but for now I think I am going to leave it as is.  I didn't bother with the inside of the lid.  That. Is never worth the time and effort to clean on a grill I know I'll be cooking on.


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This is how clean it was after one round of Easy Off and a razor blade scraping.  Took about 10 more mines after this with 0000 steel wool to get it spotless.
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Then a little steel wool around the outside.
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This will most likely get a Meguires Mag Polish treatment very soon.
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Enjoy!


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Congrats!  Looks awesome.  Thanks for sharing the story and pics. 


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Nice score!

Looking forward to a reliable tread replacement technique and tutorial! ;)

Quote from: Troy on June 20, 2017, 02:15:03 PM
Nice score!

Looking forward to a reliable tread replacement technique and tutorial! ;)

I'm thinking there has to be a vintage restoration place that does it.   Lots of old toys like wagons and things that had similar wheels on them.  Trying to remember the name of the guy or place that was on the spin off show from Pawn Stars that did all of the vintage restorations.

Looks awesome. Nice find, and great clean up!!!


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Congrats. There's some cooking to be done in Denver now.

Congrats on the Cado.

Nice job. Now get it dirty again ;D

Firing it up for dinner tonight.  Holly want to learn how to grill.  Grilled romain and boneless chicken breasts should be a good first cook. 

I need to do something easy so I can see if the lid is leaky or not. 


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Wow,great find, look's amazing with that fade line!

Most excellent!  Enjoy your time grilling together.

Congrats! That is a beauty.   I remember Denver Centennial area as I stayed there for a few days when I picked up my Yellow last year. Also, I got my 18" Cado was from Denver area.

Wow! Love the fade on that cado. Grate score!


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Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on June 20, 2017, 02:58:40 PM

Quote from: Troy on June 20, 2017, 02:15:03 PM
Nice score!

Looking forward to a reliable tread replacement technique and tutorial! ;)

I'm thinking there has to be a vintage restoration place that does it.   Lots of old toys like wagons and things that had similar wheels on them.  Trying to remember the name of the guy or place that was on the spin off show from Pawn Stars that did all of the vintage restorations.

Rick's Restorations

Congrats on the Cado find Mike and great shirt!

Not sure what I'd do with the legs. I'd probably base the decision on what your plans are for the wheels. With those wheels I'd leave the legs alone. If you are going to replace/rehab the wheels then go all out on the legs/triangle

Does your girlfriend have a bowling ball to re-shape that pan?


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Killer Cado!  Nice!

A thumbscrew Cado! Nice find! I'd love to land this version of Cado some day. Congratulations on the score!

Cool grill and great job.

Thanks everyone.  It was one hell of a find.  It is a bit leaky so I'm going to have to spend some time giving the kettle some hugs to try to get it back into round.  It did the job last night for grilled chicken and romaine.  I got a pork shoulder to smoke this weekend, but I think I am going to have to do a test run with a snake setup this week to see if it's too leaky or not to run slow and low.

@YardBurner -  That is exactly who I was talking about.  Thanks!

@Neil_VT00 - Too funny.  I told Holly that I might be able to get it back into shape with a bowling ball and she thought I was crazy.  I showed her your comment last night and she was cracking up.  Although she knows I know what I am talking about when it comes to fixing these grills, especially after her seeing how clean the inside of the kettle was after a quick 1 hour cleanup, I think it was your mentioning a bowling ball that really let her know that I don't mess around or joke about the creative ways of fixing up old kettles!

I see some WKC calendar photos happening.  Once I finish the ash pan, legs, triangle and hopefully the wheels I get some high resolution pics of it out by this shed.  Here is the incomplete restore low res pics.

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Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on June 22, 2017, 07:46:04 AM
I see some WKC calendar photos happening.  Once I finish the ash pan, legs, triangle and hopefully the wheels I get some high resolution pics of it out by this shed.  Here is the incomplete restore low res pics.

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I like this photo!

The Avacado looks great. I hope to find one someday..

Love those last two photos in front of the shed.


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That's awesome. Congrats!

I did a slow and low test run last night using the snake method.  The kettle is out of round and the lid is out of level, but it held temp just fine.  I did put two binder clips on it which resolved the out of level issue.  With both the kettle and the lid being out of whack I fear that if I try to get both of them back into shape I am just going to screw it up even more, so I am going to leave it for now.  Hopefully I won't regret that decision tomorrow or Sunday when I do a pork shoulder.  The bottom vents are pretty loose as well, which for an old grill is probably better than stuck vents, but they seemed to still do their job.  I can probably slide a credit card between the kettle and the vent on two of them without it touching anything.  I am debating removing them so I can really polish them up, but I am not sure if I should do that or leave them alone since the vents and the rivets are still original.

Great thumbscrew find and nice clean up.