Picked up a couple clearance sear grates @ HD today (thanks for the heads up, Thin Blue Smoke!)... took one over to my younger brother, as he's been wanting one for awhile. I remember that he'd mentioned finding a yellow lid a few years back that had been spray painted. I had thought he said he'd tried to get the paint off, but was unsuccessful. I asked if I could see it. So he pulls it out of the back of his shed... and it's a not just a lid, it's the whole kettle (a 1978)! He was walking thru his neighborhood and found it on the curb out w/ someone's trash. Talk about a score!
He actually did a decent job getting most of the paint off of the lid; hasn't worked on the bowl too much. Also, the vents are painted. We now know how to go about removing the paint (lacquer thinner... thanks, Tattooedant!). Hoping that lacquer thinner will remove the paint from the vents, as well.
Unfortunately for me, he's not willing to part with it, but I'm excited to help him restore it. He's a very busy guy (young kids, and a teacher), and my schedule's been crazy, too, so I don't know how quickly we'll get to it, but plenty of pix will be taken, and I'll definitely be there for the first cook (w/ the sear grate, of course)!
Here are the few pics I took (the lighting is not great... trust me, this is the brilliant yellow we know and love):