Around 8:30 Monday night while doing my usual CL surfing, I found a listing in Sedona, AZ for a "Weber Grill 27" Large". I looked on the pictures, and I could not believe what I was seeing. A MLH 26 inch kettle.
I was very excited. I immediately emailed the seller, and he got back to me within the hour. I explained that I collect kettles, and live in Las Vegas, and wondered if he could hold it until Friday or Saturday. He said sure...
Feeling excited I went to bed.
Tuesday morning, I get to school and the seller emailed me saying he got six offers overnight, one for $55 from a local buyer. He said if I would match it, he would hold it for me. I replied saying I'd give him $60 and I would pick it up Friday night. He said OK, and then went a step further and removed the CL ad for me, to in his words, "keep it safe."
The rest of the week was spent looking at the forums here for old Fleetwoods in anxious anticipation.
Yesterday, I got out of school at 2:40, and immediately went to pick up my son from his school. We were packed up with soda, popcorn, cookies, and candy. I left his school at 3:01.
Sedona is a BIT OF A DRIVE!
I had never been there before, and after white knuckle driving on Highway 89A into Sedona, I arrived at his house at 8:40pm.
The gentleman and his wife were older, and as a bonus, Polish! (I've been to Poland 6 times). They were incredibly nice, and helped me get it into my Hyundai Tucson. They even provided some padding and sheets to keep things safe. We stopped in Flagstaff for a quick dinner, and I headed back home. My son fell asleep along the way, and I got home late with some extra miles on my car...(see the pics).
(12:41 AM)
I took one pic of the lid vent before going to bed:
Couldn't sleep much last night, I was so excited, and this morning I cleaned up the lid vent. There's some restoring that needs to be done here, and so for now, I'll show you some pics, tell you what I know, and then the questions I have:
The good:
Overall in great shape.
All the vents move freely.
VERY little rust.
Has the ash pan
All the handles are solid.
Two of the three original thumbscrews
The not really that bad:
One of the daisy wheel vents on the bowl has been cut to open and close the vent since the tab fell off.
A few dings on the lid and what I'd call splatter marks that I'm not sure about.
Non original wheels...
It sits at a pronounced tilt at the moment...I'm thinking it has 22 inch legs on it???
My questions:
First, I want to be careful cleaning this...It's by far the oldest kettle I have, and can I still use 0000 steel wool or Weber exterior grill cleaner to clean it up? Any thoughts on these splatter marks?
Second, I'm curious if it was originally gray, or if it is just faded black. In searching the site for old posts about Fleetwoods, I saw there was some debate about this.
Third...if it was black, should I try to darken it with PAM?
Finally, the leg tilt and wheels...Am I right that it is probably sitting with 22 legs on it that is causing the tilt? Finally, how impossible would it be to find original wheels. I don't think I care all that much, but it would be cool to have.
I will be updating this with pics as I clean it up, but I would sure be interested to hear people's input. Have a great weekend!