What would you do? Here's what I wound up doing

[Harbormaster]

Hey all,
Been working on the 1970 Avocado my son got for me for Father's day.




Just polished the legs, washing the wheels now, and will tackle the triangle tomorrow.
Here's my dilemma: None of the three bottom vents seal very well, and one of them is pretty bad.
The question: Do I drill out the rivets, reshape the daisy wheels and reattach with nice stainless hardware?
                             OR
Do I leave as is to keep it original?
I mean it's old, and it's cool, but will I make it worth any less if I improve it so I can cook on it?

I look forward to your responses!

[landgraftj]

If its a cooker I'd drill em out and replace otherwise you may have problems controlling temps. If its a looker clean em up and use a rubber mallet to shape them for a tighter fit.

[pbe gummi bear]

Hey all,
Been working on the 1970 Avocado my son got for me for Father's day.




Just polished the legs, washing the wheels now, and will tackle the triangle tomorrow.
Here's my dilemma: None of the three bottom vents seal very well, and one of them is pretty bad.
The question: Do I drill out the rivets, reshape the daisy wheels and reattach with nice stainless hardware?
                             OR
Do I leave as is to keep it original?
I mean it's old, and it's cool, but will I make it worth any less if I improve it so I can cook on it?

I look forward to your responses!

Nice pic of a beautiful kettle. A grill that isn't functional isn't worth much especially if you want to cook on it! How intact are the vents? I would drill them out and massage them back into shape and reattach with ss hardware. If you can't fit it, no harm, just buy a new set. You can keep the old vents if you want.

[1buckie]

It's a pretty minor thing that doesn't really show much at all..........

Yeah, if you'd like to cook, wouldn't fault you for that particular fixup......I'm of the mind only the very, very most rare ones are for the museum & shouldn't be used, at the owner's discretion......

[Harbormaster]

I'm of the mind only the very, very most rare ones are for the museum & shouldn't be used

This is where my head is.
I think if it was totally chip free I'd leave it.
But I want to cook on it with my son, so I'm thinking the drill and remount solution is the right one.

[G]

Dang, that looks nice.  If you plan to use it for cookin', drill them out and reshape or put on some new vents.  Like Buckie said, they are pretty well hidden.  Ive never had much luck reshaping the old vents once they lose their shape.   

[G$]

A couple of my thoughts:

I do not care for the screw replacements.
I like to keep everything original if feasible. (shush about handles)
All mine are cookers.  If I had a 66 mustang i wiuld drive it. If I had a 54 corvette, i would drive it. If i had a 28 duesenberg i would drive it.
I would definitely try to clean, polish and reshape with a rubber mallet before i replaced them. 

I absolutely understand the folks saying to replace them - you should probalt listen to them.

[Bman]

Are you planning on low-&-slow cooking that you need precise air flow?
I'd leave it original until I've used it for a while and determined if a change is required.

[1911Ron]

I'm not a collector if that were mine, given the chips, i would try to reshape the vents failing that drill and reshape.

Now mind you if that was a old firearm i would say no to drilling it

[Heyjude]

I'm of the mind only the very, very most rare ones are for the museum & shouldn't be used

This is where my head is.
I think if it was totally chip free I'd leave it.
But I want to cook on it with my son, so I'm thinking the drill and remount solution is the right one.

I agree, if it was mint, leave the vents. Since its not, its a cooker more than anything else. New vents with SS hardware is the way to go.
 

[Harbormaster]

Now mind you if that was a old firearm i would say no to drilling it

I hear ya there!

I'd leave it original until I've used it for a while and determined if a change is required.

Good call.

I'm filling in for our pastor at church on Sunday, and this kettle will be part of my sermon.

It'll get cooked on after that.

[Hogsy]

I'm with Bman, unless your doing L&S I'd leave it
It would be fine for grilling or high heat roasts
Awesome kettle too by the way!!!

[MacEggs]

I can't answer your questions .... I'm still quite new to the whole Weber restoration .. i.e. never done it.

But, that is one beauty of a kettle. That looks like 2-tone on the lid ... or is it 3-tone ..
Well, 1-tone, then a second tone, then back to the 1-tone. I like it a lot!! 

[bthorn9435]

I never thought I would say this but I think the Advacodo Is the best looking color next too Red. I don't even like green! I have a pot from that era passed down from my mother and it looks like a mini weber, the colors even match. Must have been a go to color back then. Well guess I will start searching for one myself.

[Harbormaster]

I don't have a rubber mallet (gonna change that soon) so I wrapped a 20 oz framing hammer with a thick layer of cloth and tapped the vents until they were in as good as shape as they were gonna get. The two that were OK to start with were much better. The bad one was still not so good.

So I got out the propane torch and heated the bad one up good and hot. With it still hot, I placed a Bush's bean can (with both ends removed) on the daisy wheel and pressed down hard on it until the daisy wheel was cool to the touch.

It worked.

It's still not perfect, but its a whole lot better than it was. I won't be drilling out the rivets anytime soon.

Thanks for all the tips and advice. Maybe my technique will help someone else.