A few weeks ago I am sitting at my parents house on Saturday night and I see a nice blue SSP just listed. I want it bad, but the wife tells me absolutely not because we had a busy Sunday planned. So I pout a little and scroll a little further down see a big Yellow beauty...THE GOURMET! I catch it literally 1 minute after it is listed and I am all over it. The lady marks it as sold at 4 minutes and I swear I was probably the only person on all of Facebook to see it. While I was jumping for joy the wife was not pleased as she thought another kettle run was going down. Fortunately I was able to get a relative to make it a priority and make pick up for a small fee of $35. Then I waited an agonizing two weeks before they visited the area and I was able to bring her home.
So far it looks to be in pretty good shape with exception to one of three welds on two of the legs seems to have rusted more than I would like. The lid had some dings/rust in it and almost some small holes in the finish that I can't really figure out. My best guess is hail or maybe some kind of tree sap/chemical bothered the finish over years and years? Eventually the leg welds might need addressed, but hopefully the two remaining welds will be strong enough to last years. I have the kettle all cleaned up, but might make another pass with 0000 steel wool to get any small remaining rust stains or grime. I plan on sanding the legs and pan with some emery paper and/or steel wool and breaking out the metal polish to make it really shine. Same with the top vent. I can't wait to have her back in shape.