CL Find - Weber Ranch Kettle

[xring01]

Well I picked this up the other day. Its an older model, age is unknown, alot of newer parts on it like the stand and wheels. No dents, the grates are in excellent condition. Overall I am very very happy, especially at the price I paid.

The leg pockets have been welded, which messed up the porcelain on the inside of the unit.

Its been rattle canned..

When I got it home, I took pressure washer to it, Then a grinding wire brush to the grates. Its cleaning up nice..

Now I need to figure out the best way to remove the paint on the exterior.. and Paint a few areas were the porcelain it damaged..

It doesnt have any date codes on the vents. And I cannot confirm that they are the original vents. I think they have been replaced over time.

Cant wait to get use it. One thing I love about this design, it will make a perfect fire pit, low to the ground.

I need to figure out what to do with the lid when I am using it.. Its big, very big.. you can set  it on the ground, or on the ground and lean it on the kettle, but it still is taller than the kettle??? Got some thinking to do.

These are the pics after I cleaned it up...





This is an older pic of my offset smoker.. I love that thing, but If I need temps over 275, it just sucks up way to much fuel.. Below that, its good to go. This was another nice CL Find, but that was many years ago.

[Bob BQ]

Congrats!

Now I need to figure out the best way to remove the paint on the exterior..

Lacquer thinner. There are threads on how to remove paint... do a search using "painted" and "yellow"... should find several threads.

it will make a perfect fire pit

No!

I need to figure out what to do with the lid when I am using it.. Its big, very big.. you can set  it on the ground, or on the ground and lean it on the kettle, but it still is taller than the kettle??? Got some thinking to do.

Here you go: http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/ranch-mothership-slide-aside-lid-mod/

[xring01]

Bob,

I was hoping to use a paint stripper, but do not know if it will damage anything..

Why cant it be used as a fire pit?

That link is exactly what i am looking for..

[pbe gummi bear]

it will make a perfect fire pit

No!


lol. If you do use it as a fire pit I highly recommend taking out the grates. The RK grates are $$$ and deform easily due to their size.

[pbe gummi bear]

Bob,

I was hoping to use a paint stripper, but do not know if it will damage anything..

Why cant it be used as a fire pit?

That link is exactly what i am looking for..

Try this out in a inconspicuous location: http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/painted-over-yellow-resto-progress-and-questions/ http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/yellow-painted-green-restore-part-4-final/

[Jon]

Way, way aside from any restore that you may do - please don't turn that into some Weber zombie firepit. You have acquired a  scarce resource that should be cooking some good grub. I get it, it's a train wreck. But not the kind of wreck that won't make great food. If nothing else, clean it up and cook on it.

Even if it turn out that ugly scars are revealed beneath the flat black, that is a cooker. I can see that from a hundred plus miles north of you. With all the flaws considered, you got a good deal on a unique food game changing grill. It probably won't ever be a showpiece, but that thing really looks like a great cooker.

And I would pay you for it now. (That damned work thing, why do we have to do that?) I just haven't had time to travel or I would have driven down there and bought it and bragged about it, rather than posting it here.

@xring01

[Hogsy]

Great score, look forward to seeing it restored and fired up

[Bob BQ]

Why cant it be used as a fire pit?

@xring01 , obviously, you can use it for whatever you want. What you'll find here, as a at least one comment has already stated, is that this community is all about the Three R's... Rescue (you've already accomplished this), Restore (you've started and are well on your way), Respect (it was made for cooking, dammit!  ).

Again, congratulations on your pickup! Please continue to post pics of the restore, and we'd love to see pics of the first cook.   

[AZ Monsoon]

Awesome score!

It was black to begin with, so I'm wondering why someone would spray bomb it? I'm thinking you may not like what you see when you get all that paint off. If it starts heading that direction you may want to grab a quart of the Rust-Oleum high heat paint at Lowes. I just used it on a project and it's way more satin than flat (even though they call it flat). I would think spray bombing would be a pain on something that big. You just apply with a foam roller.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=183928-90-7778502&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3052391&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

[SixZeroFour]

First off great find!

A few things... On the mothership ranch kettles the leg socket welds are generally quite rough looking so I bet it's all original Its almost like they over-welded them to give it the additional strength needed to hold so much weight...

As for stripping the paint - I would highly recommend against paint stripper. Stripper is a nasty chemical that could have an effect on the original porcelain finish. Personally I would actually try dry scraping it off with a razor blade before creating a huge wet mess with paint thinner or similar. Especially if the paint has seen a lot of sun exposure - I bet it nearly flakes right off. If not then perhaps consider something a little more aggressive (Maybe thinner and some #0000 steel wool). Honestly, at first glance it appears to be pretty solid to me. If you spend the time cleaning her up you might be surprised what you are left with.

and yes, PLEASE don't use it as a fire pit! or if you do rig up an aftermarket grate to hold the wood because as others have mentioned the stock ones are worth their weight in gold.

Congrats and welcome to the site!

Matt

[SixZeroFour]

Just had another look and you can tell just by the shape and smoothness to the finish that its in nice shape under there! Cleaned up and a couple new wood handles and I think you'll have a very sought after kettle on your hands!

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Just hope it was not sanded to get the paint to stick to it!!!!

[weldboy]

Sweet find, please don't use it as a fire pit...


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[brewtownbeatdown]

Bob,

I was hoping to use a paint stripper, but do not know if it will damage anything..

Congrats on an awesome score!!!

I just finished doing a resto on a yellow 22" that had baked on paint/primer (seller said he bought it that way & cooked on it for 8yrs).   From the look of your pics, the paint looks relatively fresh. Hopefully the seller sprayed it just before listing it. Not gonna lie to you, if it's baked on, it will be a long & tedious task removing it (well worth it though).

I would start on an inconspicuous spot on the bottom of the bowl. Lacquer thinner and #1 steel wool will work w/o damaging porcelain. You could use razor blades to scrape the paint off, then go lacquer thinner & steel wool. Be careful, because if the black is faded, the porcelain is "tender" & will scratch easily with a blade.  I did use a heat gun to make the paint more brittle & easier to scrape on my yellow, since the paint/primer was already baked on.

Here was my nightmare:


Good luck.



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[MINIgrillin]

Screw it. Leave it flat black and throw 50 steaks on it. You got a cheap RK. Abuse that bastard! ..but not as a firepit.