OMG! How $15 roached out HC turned into a (yellow 73-74) $7 "The Yachtsman"

[Mr.CPHo]

Again, congrats. 

I would not drill out the rivets.  Sometimes there's a bunch of greasy ashes that build up between the bowl and vents and no amount of bending will fix that.  The vents are pretty pliable and can be formed back into shape while still attached.  Clean out the area underneath the vents and see if you can bend them back into shape afterwards. 


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[PotsieWeber]

Thanks for the tip.  I'm pretty excited because I don't have a yellow & am looking forward to seeing the color change during a cook in person.  While there are quite a few prettier yellows around here, for $7, I'm just thrilled.

Again, congrats. 

I would not drill out the rivets.  Sometimes there’s a bunch of greasy ashes that build up between the bowl and vents and no amount of bending will fix that.  The vents are pretty pliable and can be formed back into shape while still attached.  Clean out the area underneath the vents and see if you can bend them back into shape afterwards. 


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[PotsieWeber]

Strangely, this is the second kettle I bought that was missing a front leg. 

The first was a black steel wheel where the pictures were just awful & you couldn't even tell the front leg was missing (and it wasn't mentioned in the ad).  What I did see in the bad pics was a small portion of a steel wheel, so I jumped on it.  I don't think it was mentioned in the ad, but he claimed it had never been used & had been sitting in a basement for a long time.  I was skeptical (at first), but when I got it home I looked at it very carefully & did not see any evidence it had been cooked on, but there was a some dirt, dust, grime, but not from a cook.  It was listed for only $20 and I just doubt anyone would have done WKC cleanup/restore job on it, plus throw in new grates, just to sell it for so little.

[PotsieWeber]

I actually barely started cleaning her up a bit.  Just started on the bowl last night, but wound up getting interrupted.  (Wife & 2 small kids).  I tried the spay on a mix of liquid Tide & water first, but it doesn't quite come off as easily as some experience (some were able to "hose" it off, but maybe they were working on one that had been cleaned in the last several decades).

But, it does seem to be coming off ok with the razor blade.  I'm actually using a NOS vintage MADE in the USA one that I picked up somewhere still in it's sealed package with 5 MADE in the USA razor blades.  Cracked it open for this because I didn't remember where my other one is.

I'll take some pics when done.  I'll even try using a better camera & steady the camera better. 

[Lowbrass]

Third pic is the top vent, with a patent number.  It has the early completely plastic wheels circa 73-76.

I am thinking that the small tabs on the bowl indicate that it was born in '74. @Craig ?  Am I correct with the year?


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[PotsieWeber]

Thanks for pointing that out @Lowbrass. 

I forgot the tabs on the bowl bottom narrow it down further because the large ones started in 75. I skipped that part when trying to figure out it's age.  So I think that narrows it down to a '73 or '74, but I don't think the exact year can be figured out necessarily.  I'll take a look again at the guide again.

[PotsieWeber]

Yes, it looks like that narrows it down to either a 73 or 74 as it has the patent number on the top vent and has those all plastic wheels that also started in 73.  It age guide doesn't appear to indicate any known differences between 1973 and 1974 kettles. 

[PotsieWeber]

I got most of the gunk out of the bowl fairly quickly last night using a razor blade after giving it the liquid Tide treatment someone had mentioned.  While it did not hose off, as another mentioned, it certainly did scrap off a lot easier with a razor blade than when I started doing that on my red mist SSP a while back (without the pre-treatment) and said "to hell with this, I'm just going to cook on it anyway."

The wife came upon me cleaning it in the washtub sort of sink in the laundry room and neither complained nor said "don't we already have too many of these damn grills already?"