Low Budget 18.5" MBH "Rat Rod"

[jcnaz]

Michael (AZMikey) gave me a pat# 18.5 MBH to fix up.  It was rough around the edges but serviceable. Plenty of dents and chips, a bit out of round, one handle mashed and all very faded. On the plus side it has solid leg sockets, a terrific cooking grate and all the vent wheels are present.
I spent about $4 on this project, and that is only because I was out of steel wool!
I salvaged the original lid handle with sandpaper and some danish oil. A rubber mallet helped get the handle back in shape. I spent a few hours rubbing everything down with steel wool, then I put vegetable oil on all the bare metal to protect the "patina"
The ash pan is missing. In keeping with the rat rod theme I may make my own.




Thanks Michael! Broke it back in last night with some spicy meat balls. Sorry, no before pics or action shots.

[AZ_MIKEY]

Totally different kettle. Awesome work. Good to see it come back to life and not become a planter in my yard!

[AZ_MIKEY]

Here are the before pics that I have of it.







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[jcnaz]

Thanks Mike. It looks worse in those pics than I remember it actually being!

[1911Ron]

Nice rescue! An old bucket cleaned up would look pretty good under there.

[AZ_MIKEY]

Thanks Mike. It looks worse in those pics than I remember it actually being!

Yeah it was pretty beat up. Not a project I wanted to take on at the time. It looks good now so whenever you just want to bring it on by and drop it off I will gladly use it to cook with now