after 15 yrs, i got my double kettle grill cart back!

[gps4]

brand new forum member.  its been a while since ive owned a kettle grill.  as luck would have it, i have been blessed with the opportunity to restore a grill cart from my youth....

my highschool girlfriend's dad had a grill custom made to his liking in the early 90's.  two kettle grills with a burner on each end of a heavy duty grill "cart".  the burners on each end were used to start the charcoal in a chimney and to heat grease for frying fish, chicken, puppies, fires, oysters, etc.  no telling how many burgers, ribs, catfish and chicken i ate off this thing. 

he passed away in january 1994 at the age of 43 after a hard fought battle with cancer. after he died, i got to use the grill like it was mine. i ended up marrying his daughter in December 1999.  25 months later she and i called it quits and i havent spoken to her since. I left the grill at her mama's house. 

In march 2003, she married a friend of mine and they have two beautiful kids.  she and my buddy split up in 2009.  since then, he and i have picked up where we left off before they got together. (my buddy was not in the picture when she and i split up, but it made for an awkward situation, so he and i werent close from 2002 until 2009.)

while he was married to my ex-wife, he deer hunted at a camp with my cousin and a few other of my good friends.  apparently, my deceased ex-father-in-law's grill ended up at my buddy's deer camp, along with the bed i bought when she and i were first married. anyway, when my buddy got out of this deer camp, he sold his cabin to another club member and left my deceased ex-father-in-law's grill on the back porch. 

a few weeks ago when i was telling my cousin i wish i had that old grill, he said, "i can get it for you.  its at the deer camp and it never gets used."  so last night he called and said if i would come get it, the guy whose cabin it was at would let me have it. 

after 15 years, i've finally got it back.



i'm getting a sandblaster for christmas this year, and i think one of my first projects will be to restore this grill to as close to original condition as i can.  in the last 25 years, the paint has faded and rusted, the jack stand has seized up, the burners are just about rusted out, the gas lines have dry rotted, and the two kettle grills have holes in the bottom and lost some of the plates that manage the air flow.  the good news is that the frame is structurally sound and the kettles can be replaced without having to tear anything up. the grates over the burners are square shaped and removable.  i aim to have a butcherblock cutting board made to fit in the place of the grates, so it can also be used as a food prep area.


I hope to have it completed by spring.

[charred]

Possibly THEE best Christmas story I've ever heard!

[Mr.CPHo]

Great story and welcome!


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[jkolantern]

Wow, what a first post!  Welcome to the Club!  If there's a way to save those kettles (frames are great, but its the kettles where the memories hide), the people here will share it with you.  I look forward to seeing the progress.

[jeffrackmo]

Welcome from the Lou (STL)!! 

And good luck with the restore!!!  Be sure to post up some pics along the way!!

[captjoe06]

looking forward to see it all tuned up!

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Wow!  What a story!  I can't wait to see that thing restored.  Welcome to the WKC!!!!!

[WNC]

Welcome
Can't wait to see how this turns out, happy that you got your grill back!


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[greenweb]

Welcome! Looking forward to how this turns out.

[Josh G]

That was a hell of a first post! 

[gps4]

i could have probably used the old kettles, but the lids were starting to rust through, one was missing a handle and the vent covers had fallen off the bottoms.  so, my current wife bought me these for christmas....



also, here are some of my before pics....








upon further inspection, i noticed the burners are welded to the removable grates.  im not sure if i can rework the existing burners, but i plan to fill aplastic tub with apple cider vinegar and let the grate/burners soak for a week or so to each the rust away and then see if they need any blasting.

in the meantime, i will wire wheel the cart frame and blast rust that survises the whire wheel.  then maybe give it the once over with some sandpaper to make everything as smooth as i can get it.   

once the cart is as good as i can get it, i will hit it with primer and repaint with enamel. 

if i cannot get the existing burners to work, i will grind the welds and have someone weld new burners on the old grates.

[kettlebb]

Maybe you could find an alternative way to fasten the burner to the grate? Maybe some stainless steel hardware? That way you can take them off for the off season, for cleaning, and eventually replacement if they fail.


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[Travis]

That is one serious cart, dude. Heavy duty material. You definitely have some work ahead, but that was built to last for sure. I hope you keep with us on this project. I'd like to see it back in action.
Welcome from Il.


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[HoosierKettle]

Welcome bro. Cool project. I would be tempted to eliminate 1 burner and make the other side dedicated prep with storage under.


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[Jon]

Welcome, and great story. That double-kettle-cart is a monster!