I know this topic’s title paints a gloomy picture, but it’s in no way as bad as it sounds. It actually refers to some pretty sweet vintage non-Webers I’ve restored so far this spring. This was the third one finished:
Structo 20” Charcoal Kettle
This is the pic from the original listing. Debated for a bit if I would leave the patina on the shelf & wheels, or do a restoration.
There are a few fellas that made this possible, and to whom I owe a huge thanks...two Bobs and a Dennis. @BobBQ for referring me to a local member in the area. I like to reach out to locals to offer dibs before asking for help, so I contacted @bmcneely51 to see if he was interested in it, or if he’d be willing to agent for me. Without hesitation, he agreed to grab ‘er for me right away. He sent me a couple teaser pics after he got ‘er in his truck.
This kettle was far from perfect. There was gonna be a lot of parts fabrication, until @bladz texted me a pic of a kettle he’d grabbed for me.
I know it looks rough, but it had all the parts I needed in good to salvageable condition to restore mine: handles, handle brackets, charcoal grate, cook grate, charcoal grate brackets, and bowl damper. Leaving the monster mouse nest in ‘er was a nice surprise too[emoji23]. The hole in the bowl must have been their entryway.
Soaked the shelf, bowl damper, lid hanger, and charcoal grate brackets in EvapoRust. Scrubbed the still wet shelf to see what shade of white it originally was. Prepped, primed, and painted it. Repainted the wheels to match. Sanded & stained the handles. Finished with a few coats of spar varnish. Cleaned the bowl, lid, and grates. Polished the legs. Replaced the hardware with original matching hardware. Chose to upgrade the bowl & lid damper hardware (10-24 struss head screws/square nuts to 1/4-20 truss head screws/all metal locknuts). This will maintain the precise pressure for damper movement, and keep the lid hanger bolt from bending.
This is definitely one of my favorite kettles, so thanks again @BobBQ , @ bmcneely51 , and @bladz !!!
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Topic: Started Spring The Non-Weber Way (Part 3) (Read 1741 times)