Craigslist find - Trash or Treasure?

[Cellar2ful]

Here is a link posted by Brian (@zavod44 ) with pictures of his repair of rusted out leg sockets using washers. Your leg sockets and bowl appear to be in much better shape than the ones he repaired on his posting. I think option #2 will work fine. 

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/like-a-phoenix-rising-from-the-ashes/msg119567/#msg119567

[haeffb]

Restoration commencing. Here are before/after shots of the triangle, sitting on a bucket where the ash pan is soaking in CLR.




Use a razor scraper and 00 steel wool. There's still a little rust in a few spots that had gone through the chrome, but I think it looks pretty good for only a little work.

The lid and bowl are soaking in EasyOff in a plastic trash bag overnight and will work on cleaning them up tomorrow.

[Darko]

Ok. I've been wondering the orange peel meant. Looking at the lid, ya'll mean all the paint texture, for lack of correct words. Is that something that happens with time? From the factory? Type of paint being used at the time?


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It was something at the time. Whether it was the amount of porcelien enamel or the formula I don't know but the old colours look great.

[haeffb]

The lid and bowl are cleaning up nicely.

The "orange peel" is on the inside of the lid as well - I can't tell if the texture is in the steel, or just in the porcelain coating.



The ash pan is going to take a LOT of work to restore - this is after soaking in CLR overnight:



And some work to reshape:



The daisy wheels are also caked with crud that's going to take work to remove:

[jkolantern]

Looks like you're well on your way!  I'd make sure you get a picture to the seller/donor when you're all done.

[haeffb]

Two legs cleaned up, with the third in the foreground to see if you can tell the difference!



Test fitting the hardware:




Drilling the holes in the sockets with a hand drill wasn't easy - the drill tended to move off to the left. You can seen in the second photo how the holes aren't centered. There's still enough metal left to hold them in place, though, I think. For future reference, I'd recommend finding someone with a drill press.

Question: What should I do about the rust in the bowl at the leg sockets? I'd like to clean it up and seal it somehow, but worried that rust is all that is there!

And I will definitely be sending a photo to the donor when it's done.

[Darko]

The orange peel is all in the porcelain. Nothing to do with the steel.

[haeffb]

The second socket went a little better - used a 5/64 bit to start a hole away from the weld indentation.



Drilled two of three tabs on the third socket, since the third was still attached.



Also spent some time cleaning the top vent.



This thing is about ready to put back together - just need to decide what to do with the rusty parts of the bowl at the leg sockets and a bit more cleaning up. Ash pan is going to be a while still.

[haeffb]

Forgot to detail the SS hardware that will be used to reattach the leg sockets:

18 - 1"X1/4" fender washers
9 - 10x32 pan head machine screws
9 - lock washers
9 - flat washers
9 - nuts

Total of about $10 at the local ACE hardware.

Plus one leg cap, sandpaper, steel wool and chemicals that I had on hand.

The holes in the sockets were done with a 13/64ths bit. The second and third sockets were started with a 5/64ths bit to avoid the weld dimple. Used an angle grinder to remove the welded/rusted bowl pieces from the leg sockets.

[haeffb]

Continuing the adventure, I decided to try some high heat Krylon on the rusted bowl in the leg socket areas, inside and out. The black doesn't match the bowl, obviously, but it'll be underneath and mostly hidden. Here's a shot of the still attached socket:



And a shot of the inside of the bowl at one of the other sockets:



And the handle sanded and with a coat of spar urethane:



Quite a difference from the original photos:



This didn't come from the kettle in question, but it made a nice reward for all the work so far:

[haeffb]

Back on her feet with some makeup and new bling:

[Travis]

Man, that was a lot of work. Sure did clean up nice. Good job bud.


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[haeffb]

Man, that was a lot of work. Sure did clean up nice. Good job bud.


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Thanks! It was a learning experience - hopefully will come in handy when I find that "Holy Grail."

I've offered to give it back to the donor, but I have a feeling she thinks I'm some kind of stalker. Who drives 2.5 hours to your house to pick up a grill you're throwing away, then keeps sending you text messages to show what it's become?

[Darko]

Nice job. Looks great.

[haeffb]

Grill Karma:

The donor contacted me today and she is going to get it back at no charge - when we picked it up last Sunday, she told us that she was going to her Grandmother's visitation after we left. It was her Grandfather's grill, and she is thrilled to be getting it back, back on its feet and prettied up. Seems like the right thing to do.

Not an hour later I found another option on Craigslist - setting things up to get it Sunday.

More to come.