Rescued "White Buffalo" UPDATE

[bladz]

Well, I got around to cleaning the white grill/planter/fire pit cover a few weeks ago and finally took the time to post some pics.  I turned the bowl upside down, and we had some warmer weather here a while back, and the soil dropped out after about 2 days. 


All the bowl straps were still intact. The bowl was a bit rusty inside. 


Inside the lid cleaned up very nice with some steel wool and dish soap.  Very little razor scraping.


Now for the outside.  I gently scrubbed with "0000" steel wool and a water/CLR mixture.  The rust stainscame off quite easily.  Here are some before and afters.







I have 2 of the 3 bottom vents.  1 came off during cleaning




The integrity of the metal around where the sockets go seems very sound around 2 of the 3.  1 of the rusted out socket area is quite a bit larger than the others.  I'm not sure if I should make plates and sandwich them in the bowl, or if welding the sockets to the bowl would work better?  Any ideas out there?  I remember seeing someone welded them on a Ranger in another thread. 

Also, I need to reach out to anyone who may have some parts for the grill.  I will post in Member Sales and Trades, the parts I am in need of. 

Thanks for looking, sorry about the sizing, I tried making them smaller, but didn't seem to make a difference this time around.

[AZ Monsoon]

Great clean up! So cool that grill will be back in action and didn't end up in a dumpster or something.

[firedude5015]

This is what i did for the sockets on my ranch..worked great


AWESOME SCORE SIR!

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[bladz]

Firedude, is that a original Weber leg socket ground down and welded to a plate? Or is it some tube steel that is the same diameter as a regular leg socket?

[firedude5015]

Yes..original. .the ranch sockets are huge..like 1 3/8 inch...but the same setup should work with the smaller ones. Make the plate as big as you can without changing the angle of the leg. I backed it inside with stainless steel sheet metal...so far no issues..mine had thumb screws, but i didn't tell my welder buddy which way to point them so I drilled all the way through and bolted them.

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[Hell Fire Grill]

@bladz

Did you see that blu SS Performer I screwed up?

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/a-screwed-up-ss-performer/

With that in mind...

If you remove the remaining vent you could easily use a 3 wheel donor kettle for a nest of sorts. With the donor cut off just above the vents and then put the two together while aligning the vent holes, then use bolts to hold the new vents on and fasten the two kettles together.

Thats the only thing I can think of to fix it that is totally reversible.

Or you can ship it to me and I'll fix it.

[SixZeroFour]

Hey Dennis - here is the stencil of the ash pan and a few reference photos of the wheels. For the pan, my dimensions are the traced top edge of the pan. If replicating you will need to take into account the additional material required for the  1/2"rolled edge the whole way around. Also the top "pinch" to the triangle (where it wraps the front leg) should also mimic the other two corners prior to bending. Hope that makes sense... A standard 398ml (14oz) tin can is almost an exact match to the corner radius






lmk if anything else comes up, and great job so far!

Matt

[bladz]

Hell Fire, I did see your screwed up performer, and was impressed with your ingenuity and fab skills!  I don't think I could ever cut the bottom off this grill though.  Thank you for sharing your idea.

Matt, thank you for getting those dimensions for me.  You've been a great resource , and I appreciate all your help so far!

[charred]

Hey you've got that kettle looking pretty damn good! Congrats and good luck w/ the hard part.

[Hell Fire Grill]

Hell Fire, I did see your screwed up performer, and was impressed with your ingenuity and fab skills!  I don't think I could ever cut the bottom off this grill though.  Thank you for sharing your idea.

Matt, thank you for getting those dimensions for me.  You've been a great resource , and I appreciate all your help so far!

You'd be cutting the donor and leaving the white intact is what I was suggesting.

[dazzo]

Rounded would be correct.

Can't do rounded. Angled can be done.

[bladz]

Ok, HFG. I got it now.


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[SmokenJoe]

Take some pride in Rescuing an "almost" one-of-a-kind custom very early Weber Kettle.   Congrat's and thank you.                                  SJ

[Hell Fire Grill]

Another thought is to put the donor kettle on the inside. That would need to have the 3 individual leg socket holes cut open a little bit to accommodate the donor's legs sticking through. Not cutting the entire bottom out just the 3 holes the new leg sockets need. I'd never suggest hacking a kettle of this caliber, only minor modifications that'll extend its use. I dont think it can be put back on its own set of legs again without some constructive damage.

You could still use the vents for your boltup but I'd recommend using SS fender washers and either elliptical or distorted thread lock nuts on the inside. Those lock nuts dont have any plastic and theyll never loosen without a tool. All while being loose enough for the wheels to turn and not do any damage to the porcelain.

If you went that route.

On George's original kettle he had a nest for the kettle to sit in and that would be fairly cheap and easy alternative that'll buy you time to get more ideas and input before you do anything. I imagine if you want to cook on it right now you could set it in another kettle, on its handles, and cook.


And if you do rehab the rusty relic from the inside the fix would be damn near as invisible as a nun's nipples after you paint her leg sockets.

Or you can send it to me and you wont have anything to worry about.

[WNC]

Wow, great job so far! Without the rust stains it's like night and day. Good luck with the leg sockets, can't wait to see it all finished!