My Y2Kettle

[TD]

My Y2Kettle I got of craigslist. Painted with Rustoleum Ultra High heat aged copper. It's semi gloss so had to top it with 2000 degree clear from Rustoleum. The stuff gets soft when hot, so must take your time curing it. Not as pretty as the Weber copper

[SixZeroFour]

Great job, the finish looks very even! How did you cure it? And please keep us posted on how it holds up to heat cycles.

[TD]

I cured it by putting the lid on the Performer without the damper installed, firing up the gas ignition and running it up to 200 degrees. The gas starter in a Performer can make 400+ degrees in a heartbeat. You could probably cook with it. I had hot sunny days here then and it sat in the sun a few of days prior to that. Then I built progressively  larger charcoal brick fires in the assembled pit. the damper will stick to the paint till you get it cured good. The lid takes the brunt of the heat. This grill had rust around the lid handle and under the damper where the lid hook is welded ( a Weber weak spot). It was a $20 grill and was worth restoring. The black Porcelain was pretty good shape, so touch up would have been all that was needed. But I wanted a copper one. Add the $14 for copper paint (cheapest I could find it) and $7 for the clear and I could have had a good down payment on a new copper kettle. Paint isn't as good as the porcelain and should be last resort probably, and only used for restoration of a vintage pit or touch up rust prevention. Rustoleum makes 2000 degree flat orange,red,blue,black,aluminum,white and clear to give any of those a high gloss. More colors are available with the 550 degree engine enamel (yellow and green) and it's already high gloss. I used it on a damaged black lid and its worked pretty good. I haven't sat it down over a roaring fire though.  I'm sure the copper one could take two fully loaded Weber charcoal baskets easy. I have ran the black painted lid up to 475 plus and it held. More exposure to chemicals in the paint when doing a whole grill. Buy that new Weber. Weber just needs to introduce a new "color of the year" annually on their kettles.