A new resto project: The 18" Cado from Cali - (UPDATED FEB 16th)

[SixZeroFour]

I've been very lucky to have met a lot of cool people on this site - and one of those people is Bob (@fedex) from CA. We've had a couple transactions in the past but generally stay in touch via pm and on the forum... well the other day he sent me a pm that nearly tipped me off my chair! He explained that he had scored a 18" Cado a few months back but hadn't had the time to even take a look at it yet. He went on to say that the bowl was a bit rough and in need of some socket repairs, but that the lid was fairly clean and overall the kettle was definitely saveable... then I read the last part... He wanted to simply gift this kettle to me!! Not only that but he then continued on to say that he was interested in finding a Crimson SJ from Canada and would love to purchase one from me if at all possible!    I certainly wasn't going to take any money from him after his generosity, and I just so happened to have a Crimson here so he's been hooked up as well!  I hope he's as excited as I am! I look forward to the challenge of bringing her back to life!

Progress so far:

Here is a shot of the box contents:


This is a before and after comparison shot showing the bottom side of the kettle bowl. LOTS of scrubbing and razor work and the legs were bent back into their correct positions. I thought for sure at least one socket would come off as soon as I applied any pressure to it but they held on just fine!



Lot's of life left in this little grill! Thanks again Bob! - More progress updates to follow...

[Shafzilla]

Nice. Looks like she'll clean up real good. Look forward to the more pics.

[SixZeroFour]

Ash pans looking a touch better

[1buckie]

Wow !!!

Somebody's probably got one somewhere, but I don't remember seeing an 18" Avacado?
Limes, yes, but Avacado?

That looks great.....good show on both your parts !!!!

[SixZeroFour]

Thanks buckie, there are a few floating around... I know Idahawk has one, prob a bunch more out there

[1911Ron]

Amazing what a good cleaning can reveal eh?  Looking good so far!

[dazzo]

Enjoy 604.

Yeah, they're out there. I had one for a while...



...but I wanted an original wok more 

[jcnaz]

I procured this one a couple of years ago and promptly traded it to @G$ .
I know that it has moved on from there,  but I can't remember where.

[WNC]

Dang Six, nice clean up!

[glrasmussen]

Nice @SixZeroFour ! What are you using for the rust around the crazing? Your rust removal is amazing.

[Jeff]

Nice job @SixZeroFour
@glrasmussen ...I've found that Cerama Bryte cooktop cleaner works wonders on the rust around the crazing areas as well as blemishes that 0000 steel wool just doesn't seem to buff out.

http://www.amazon.com/Ceramic-Cooktop-Cleaner-Scraper-Cleaning/dp/B0002HSCTM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437058442&sr=8-1&keywords=cerama+bryte+ceramic+cooktop+cleaner&pebp=1437058456368&perid=182Z05JW6SAS8KVFQ4A4

[glrasmussen]

Thanks @Jeff ! I have a couple with that, what I call, rainbow residue that will not buff out. I will look into this product.

[SixZeroFour]

Thanks @glrasmussen @Jeff

For this particular kettle I used CLR with a spray head stolen from another bottle and just misted it onto the bowl. Let it soak for 30 seconds then scrub in the same direction as the crazing lines with #0000. I've also had success with the CLR polish/paste but I don't think it's quite as strong as the straight up liquid. It's a bit time consuming but works like a charm!

Have also considered trying evapo-rust in the same fashion but always chicken out thinking that once it eats all the rust away that some porcelain may want to let go... it's almost too good! I think i'll reserve that for old wheels and other metal bits

I'm going to have to check out Jeff's ceramic cooktop cleaner, that's a great idea too...

[MrHoss]

What a wonderful present from FedEx....the restore job is a beauty too. Those 18 Avocados are around....MacEggs has one too.

[Uncle JJ]

@SixZeroFour - awesome job.  How did you get that one socket back to round?