Last summer, I donated a cookout for 30 people (food and wine) to support some medical expenses for a local child in need. An acquaintance of mine won the auction with a very generous bid. A couple of months later, I loaded up my performer and another grill and went to his house to grill for the party. While I was unloading, I saw an older weber sitting by the side of his house - it had clearly been neglected for some time. After the cookout, I asked him if I could buy it, but instead he said "load it up, its yours". In asking about the grill I found out that he had bought it new in 1979, but was no longer using it as he now has a gas grill that is getting all the grilling action. Here are the pictures of the grill as I found it:
I have had the grill for about 5 months now and have spent some time and $ ordering new wheels, grill and charcoal grates, new handle (thanks Brian), a new tool holder, and a new cover. I have also spent some time with steel wool scrubbing off rust, oxidation, and the stains left by the trees the grill sat under. My intent with the resto was to clean it up while still preserving some of the pantina associated with the grill (in reality, I did not want to spend the time to do a full restoration, so this is how I justify it). Here are some "after" pics:
The plan is to take it to his house when he is not home, and put it out on the deck with the new cover on it so that he can "discover" it. I am pretty certain that deep down inside it was hard for him to let his grill go and it was very kind of him to do so. I know it will be a very pleasant surprise to get it back, and am hopeful that he will start using it again as it should be.
Topic: Partial resto for a Friend (long post) (Read 4132 times)