It's been a good week on CL...

[Bob BQ]

Started off the week making contact with the seller of a battle scarred red MBH; asking price was $50. I picked it up Wednesday night. I talked the seller down to $25. The real bonus was that it came with a corn n tater ring! As glrasmussen put it "Grill was free and the corn and tater was a bargain". Wasn't able to get the story behind the grill... the guy was in a bit of hurry. This grill is not much of a looker, but it is in decent shape. I'm going to use the bowl for my WSM mutt.

The next day, I was patrolling CL, and took a 2nd look at a listing for 2 Weber grills, asking price, $50 a piece/OBO. They both looked like sh*t...formerly black, now gray, rusty triangles, mismatched or no handles, etc.... however... one of the pics showed the older style cast iron grate. The posting had been up for nearly 2 weeks. I had seen it, but as the grills were in bad shape, the asking price was too high, etc, I never gave the second pic a close look. Well, I called the seller right away. The gentleman was obviously older... stated that both grills were still available, and did I want to come take a look at them. Couldn't make it out there last night, so I ran by this evening. I was prepared to offer $10-15 (or higher) for the grate alone. I got out there and wound up having a great conversation with Mannie, who is a legally blind, WWII vet. When we get around to the transaction, he immediately points me in the direction of the "nicer" grill (the one with the ci grate and mismatched handles). No special story behind the grill... it's a an "O", that was obviously well loved, and used very often. He said that he "and the love of my life are getting up there, and just can't use the grills anymore".

Well, I lost all heart for haggling for just the grate and a lower price. He told me the price was $40, not $50, so that's what he got. $40 for the cast iron grate and the conversation w/ a WWII vet is well worth it, in my eyes. Before I left, his wife came out and handed me the near mint condition cookbook and owner's manual that came with the grill. And after all that, Mannie threw in a home made chimney, a wire-brush wheel to clean up the grate, a scraper, and a few old bbq tools.

I got the grill home, did a quick wire-brush job on the grate (might need to season it up tomorrow and take it for a test cook!)...

I gave the "O" beater a quick clean up... ran the wire-brush over the triangle, cleaned up the 7409 ash sweep, scraped the insides, hosed it all off, and put in a replacement cooking grate. In honor of Mannie, tomorrow morning it's going to the VFW Hall that is down the road from my old house. They have bbq's about once a month to raise funds, and at the last one, I noticed one of their grills was sans lid. They get a grill, and I don't have to worry about my wife reacting to a 2nd unexpected grill this week! Win-win!

Oh yeah... here's a gratuitous pic of my two grate scores!

[argentflame]

Awesome score and great story.

[glrasmussen]

Just awesome!

[LightningBoldtz]

Great story, I have ran into situations where I was determined to talk down then I looked at the circumstance of the seller and gave them full price and was completely happy with it.

[kendoll]

Fantastic story and great scores Bob. Very nice work donating the grill too. Stories like that just bring a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing.

Ken

[Jeff]

Great story! 
I wonder if that CI grate insert is original with that grate.  I have the same grate, but mine came with a CI griddle fit inside.  Either way, very cool.  I'm sure its gonna get a work out!

[Cuda Dan]

 Great story about the Mannie and his wife love of Weber kettles. Those are some nice scores ( man I would love to have a grate insert style grill).

[pbe gummi bear]

A1 job there Bob. Are you gonna attend one of those bbq's one day?

[1buckie]

Great story! 
I wonder if that CI grate insert is original with that grate.  I have the same grate, but mine came with a CI griddle fit inside.  Either way, very cool.  I'm sure its gonna get a work out!

My recall is a little fuzzy, but I think it's both were available & the C. I.'s double as a fit for one of the older model gassers.....

Tremendous pick, Bob !!!!!

Don't recall too many accessory scores quite like  that at the same time & the background & personalities make it just that much better !!!!!

[SixZeroFour]

Just an excellent story Bob, thanks for sharing!

The backstory and people you meet make scores like this worth so much more than a few bucks. Congrats!

[mike.stavlund]

Nice work Bob!  Those are some grate grates.

[jcnaz]

Cool stuff.

[Bob BQ]

Great story! 
I wonder if that CI grate insert is original with that grate.  I have the same grate, but mine came with a CI griddle fit inside.  Either way, very cool.  I'm sure its gonna get a work out!

Jeff, they did sell the grate w/ the CI grate insert. BBQMiller posted a pic in this thread.

[Troy]

Man, what a great story.

I hope I can pass down my grills with legacy.

[Winz]

Bob - nice score. I have that same exact grate and use it as my every day cooking grate. You have to keep it seasoned or it will rust up pretty quickly.

Your donation back was much appreciated I'm sure. Nice job!

Winz


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