MBH "Redhead" Craig's List find

[Cellar2ful]

Ok, now I am a true believer.  Being new to the WKC, I had my doubts as to the veracity of all these $10 and $20 finds on Craigs List of old Weber Kettles. This one was posted at 10 PM Sunday night.  I emailed the seller 10 minutes after it was posted and heard back from him on Monday morning.  Made arrangements to pick it up on Monday evening as he was at work.  He bought it new in the mid 70's and although he used the crap out of it, he found it was not being used much anymore.  He was very happy it was going to a good home and was going to be restored.  It will look great next to my other Redhead, a 1999 MT (red fade) that I have owned since new.  The lid handle is the only item in need of replacement, although it is still usable.

[jolayiv]

Oh man. She is a beauty! Awesome find and awesome cleanup.


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[addicted-to-smoke]

Sweet find! You're a believer? Many of us already thought vintage Webers grew on trees in CA.

[Craig]

Killer find! The mid 70s-early 80s reds are my favorite shade of red. The brightest! Congratulations!

[Travis]

She's a beaut! You mean they don't grow on Cali trees???


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[charred]

Nice find/clean-up. Sweet looking redhead.

[dazzo]

@Cellar2ful Nice!

It was outside the 30 minute rule for me, or else it might have been mine   

I pinged the group, wondering if anyone picked it up already, but no one answered.

If you want, send me a PM with your email address and I can add you to the Bay Area disti list.

Guess I'll just go check the trees out back to see how the other MBHs are doin'

[Yendor]

Wow! I have the same 2 kettles!  Now that my camper is all cleaned up I can start restoring my older kettle. My MT is also a 1999, I bought it for $25 recently. The mid-70's  one was found in a scrap pile. I have wheels and am waiting on a handle. Fantastic find!

[jkolantern]

Beautiful!  Killer orange peel!

[WNC]

Man great find!
Wonderful job on the clean up too!

[Cellar2ful]

So it has taken me about a month to finish the restoration on my first CL score and restoration.  The kettle now sports new wheels, new SS grate and a new @zavod44 handle.  Although the sockets were still tightly affixed to the bowl, I found it wobbled and one leg would fall out.  I did a search on the WKC Forum and found a thread on fixes for kettle wobble. The recommendation of using HVAC aluminum tape worked fantastic fixing the loose leg problem.  The triangle was so badly rusted, corroded and pitted, painting it was the only option. I found that working on the ash pan was the most challenging, hardest and least enjoyable part of the entire restoration. Thank you to @MacEggs for the aluminum tape suggestion and @zavod44(Brian) for the handle.


Can you see any difference?






          After



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On to the next restoration project.

[Jeff]

Wow, you did a great job.  How many hours do you have into polishing the ash pan by itself?
Did you install a whole lower half?  Legs, wheels, triangle?

[zavod44]

Incredible

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[Cellar2ful]

Wow, you did a great job.  How many hours do you have into polishing the ash pan by itself?
Did you install a whole lower half?  Legs, wheels, triangle?

Thank you @Jeff and Brian @zavod44.  I am quite pleased with the restoration.  I probably have over 8 hours into the cleaning and polishing of the ash pan alone.  Had to do it in 1 or 2 hour blocks as it is real hard on the fingers. The only new parts installed on the kettle was the grate, wheels and handle.  The triangle and legs you see in the finished restoration pictures are the same ones seen in the first picture (prior to restoration).   

[greenweb]

Nice score and stunning restoration.  You must be really proud of it.  You may have another favorite there.

I always love how you take pics.  Very artistic.