Varekais' Ranch Kettle... part 1, the clean up

[varekai]

I finally nabbed myself a Ranch Kettle. Not a mothership but HUGE nonetheless!!  I had no idea, I have never seen one in person. So with everyone here posting all they're resto's and fancy paint jobs, @SteveZ, (love that freakin badge) I got off work early so I could get started cleaning the Behemoth. I looked at it and thought, oh shit, this is going to be fun. Seriously though, it took all of about 30 minutes of razor blade work.. Bowl is in great shape. Dampers spin, a little tight but I'm going to take the lowers off and replace bolts and nuts. Frame is probably the worst part, fair amount of rusting happening and paint peeling..This summer it will be taken apart and blasted and powder coated. So, without further ramblings, heres the beginning... Oh yeah, for giggles I took everything I scraped off and put it in a baggie, weighed it and there was a pound and a half of crap that I scraped off, YUK!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/varekai/albums/72157677595653162

[Vwbuggin64]

Well that thing sure cleaned up really nice! Glad you picked it up and gave it a loving home. Wow 1.5lbs, that weighs more than my daughter (7months old). Keep us posted on the first fire.

[varekai]

@Vwbuggin64 It did clean up good. I was not looking forward to it...lol.  Still work to do, one of the front wheels is busted, lower dampers need removed, cleaned and new bolts. Some lid rim dings need to be straightened out and treated but overall, very happy with it!!!

[RottiGuy]

Wow very nice, great job on the clean up!!!

[captjoe06]

#Beast!

[SteveZ]

Good looking Ranch!

[Travis]

Great job man! I can't wait to see the first cook on that sucker. Congrats!!


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[weldboy]

Awesome man! Lot of real estate!


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[hawgheaven]

That's a beast! You did a grate job cleaning it up! What kinda shape is the cooking grate in?

[WNC]

Nice job!

[Cellar2ful]

Get ready for some big cooks Darin. Maybe it can make an appearance at this year's West Coast WKC get together?

[argentflame]

Awesome pickup. The first thing I did after cleanup I bought some SS nuts and bolts per @Heyjude advice.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

That cleaned up nicely!!!!  I love that you weighed the crud you scraped out of it!!!  These things are way bigger in person aren't they?!!!  I've seen plenty of pictures that give a good perspective but pictures just don't do it justice!

[varekai]

Thanks guys, This is pretty exciting... @hawgheaven , grates are in good shape, THANK GOODNESS..LOL
@Cellar2ful , I will definitely bring it, just say when!
@argentflame , old hardware looked worse than it really was, but still, I'm replacing everything with SS.
@MikeRocksTheRed , SOOO much bigger in person... (i'm now looking for an engine hoist to make it easier to lift the lid)...lol

So I added some new pics from todays cleaning. I went ahead and just removed the bowl so I could wash the whole thing without worrying about working around the frame. I was going to change all the hardware anyways. I replaced the 2 front casters, 1 was busted..got the build-up off of the lid bail, it looks better now. This is fun, you guys are a HUGE part of this, seeing some of the restos you all do, I have to stay focused and finish it, SOOO tempted to say fuck it and throw some hot dogs on that thing..LOL....  IN DUE TIME!!!

SO, a couple questions, its still generally "taken apart"... What I'm wondering is should I deal with frame paint issues NOW, maybe a sander, prime and repaint, or wait till summer, disassemble then and have powdercoated?  I have no issue taking it apart in the summer, its actually easy to tear down...Thanks Guys!!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/varekai/albums/72157677595653162/with/31767967353/

[pbe gummi bear]

If you know you are gonna have it powder coated anyway then I would just do a quick sand and touch up to hold you down till the summer. The meat won't care if there's some nominal rust.