Yellow painted green restore-Part 1

[tattooedant]

Decided to make this a new thread, which will focus on the restoration of the yellow kettle that was painted green. It was slow going until my Dad brought over some Lacquer Thinner, then the green was a snap to get off. Here are some pics of today's work and hopefully you all can chime in with your fixes that have worked. As you will see, this girl has been through it and looks to have had many many cookouts on it.



Looks like a Green Bay Packer grill






Yellow Again!


Oh dear... This is ugly


more ugliness


So here's my first question: Is there a fix for those rusted out vent holes? I was thinking of maybe getting a round piece of sheet metal and fabricating a new "floor" for the bowl. Anyone ever try it?

Any other ideas here would be greatly appreciated!

[Thunder71]

That'll buff right out.

I admire your willingness and ability to try and save it.

Perhaps this one is just too far gone... then again, anything more complex than sandpaper and duct tape is beyond my abilities when it comes to fabricating something. 

[MartyG]

Vents? You don't need no stinking vents! Run it wide open - wait for the sunset-effect and enjoy! If you want the vents to vent, how about using a pair over each set of holes - one inside and one outside? Kind of like a big washer of sorts. Sure, you might need to play with each one to get all the holes to line up, but my guess is most cooks you'll do on this beast won't require a lot of finesse.

[Duke]

Any idea if the seller ever cooked on it after he painted it that hideous green? It has plenty of life left and I have thought about your idea of making a new 'floor', but just never gave it a go. You could probably try using an old ash pan. Thanks for sharing the pictures and progress.

Marty's idea is also a very good one and worth a try.

[Hogsy]

How about making some new ones up like I did
Put some new nuts, bolts and some large washers on
You don't need a lot of tension on the nut and bolt

[tattooedant]

Vents? You don't need no stinking vents! Run it wide open - wait for the sunset-effect and enjoy! If you want the vents to vent, how about using a pair over each set of holes - one inside and one outside? Kind of like a big washer of sorts. Sure, you might need to play with each one to get all the holes to line up, but my guess is most cooks you'll do on this beast won't require a lot of finesse.

I was thinking about going that route, vents inside and out, going to a metal shop and having them weld the inside ones on...although I do like the idea of running over to harbor freight to get a welding setup, not sure its in the budget.

[tattooedant]

Any idea if the seller ever cooked on it after he painted it that hideous green?

No thankfully. he didn't have a chance to assault the BBQ anymore.

[Bluesman]

I admire your willingness and ability to try and save it.

Has nothing to do with willingness nor ability...........It's a farking sickness.............stick around.............you'll get it too...........

Great job so far...............

[mike.stavlund]

Tattoo, this is holy work you are doing, and we all salute you for it. 

(Also, extra points for using an old Weber gasser frame as a workbench.)

[Ted B]

I say clean it up good and cook. Skip the low and slow on this one. Just enjoy the sunset change of color. It'll make u fall in love with it even more.  U can always rat rod it like I did with my beat up yellow. Might be my favorite color to cook on.

[G$]

Ant, thank you for taking this work on.  You are doing a wonderful job, and have received a lot of good input already. 

I think if it were me, I would essentially go the " double vent" route, but I would custom make the inside vents and make them an inch or so larger diameter than normal vents.  Aviation snips should be able to get through the material, and you will essentially end up with a giant fender washer with vent holes on the inside.  This avoids the cost and trouble of welding. 

Plus... i would love to cook on this, and move vents etc, so I would not opt for the wide open option.

No matter what you choose, you can not go wrong.  You already rescud this fella and game him a whole new life!

[G$]

Ted, you call that a rat rod, i call it a pristine yellow!

[Heyjude]

Put some new vents on it with larger washers on the inside. You could always smooth out the metal with some JB weld.
Then, use an internal ash an for a bit more protection.  Yes, a Happy Cooker internal ash pan.
You're making a cooker, right?
 

[Duke]

I say clean it up good and cook. Skip the low and slow on this one. Just enjoy the sunset change of color. It'll make u fall in love with it even more.  U can always rat rod it like I did with my beat up yellow. Might be my favorite color to cook on.

That yellow looks like it's in great condition.

[Ted B]

I say clean it up good and cook. Skip the low and slow on this one. Just enjoy the sunset change of color. It'll make u fall in love with it even more.  U can always rat rod it like I did with my beat up yellow. Might be my favorite color to cook on.

That yellow looks like it's in great condition.

I'll have to take more pics. The top is really rough around the handle. That pic was just to show the yellow wheels and triangle.