ashish debroy
TVWBB Fan
Hello all.
I picked up a beauty (in my eyes at least) recently, and am knees deep in restoring it to its former glory.
First, I thought I had a mutant - no propane assist, no vents. Then found out I had a non-Touch-N-Go pre-2000 Performer (even though the datestamp is DT - must be a donor lid) or Platinum. Pretty severe rust spots and damage to the porcelain finish on the bowl, but no areas rusted through. Eventually discovered that the vents were there, lying under a steel disc, buried under a mound of ash. The One Touch cleaner must have rusted out a while ago. WD-40 and a hack saw got all the hardware off the bowl, and now I'm in the middle of paintingin layers to fillin the rust spots. Painted the bowl with VHT high heat paint (rated for 2000F) then Duplicolor engine enamel. Will hit it with exta fine steel wool then Meguair's Mirror Glaze #7 as suggested in another forum. I am thinking of painting the lid to match. The frame has been repainted with Rustoleum Ultra semi gloss finish (rated to 1200F)
The One Touch cleaner is on its way from Amazon. Called Weber today since I wanted to fix the lid support and add propane assist. They are sending me the lid support hardware kit, burner, igniter, regulator assembly. The propane assist hardware is for the new Performer, so some mods will have to be done to retrofit it.
I need a new ash catcher bar, which terry rayburn had fabricated some time ago. Will check out if they are any cheaper options available first (alreadfy have some great tips from TVWB folks - thanks!) I think the ash catcher hardware itself is in good shape.
I'll keep you posted. This is a labor of love, and I am very excited to finish this project. Any tips will be much appreciated ! And thanks for the tips already provided in another thread.
[ummm... just realized that I don't know how to post/embed pics. Will be back with them shortly].
I picked up a beauty (in my eyes at least) recently, and am knees deep in restoring it to its former glory.
First, I thought I had a mutant - no propane assist, no vents. Then found out I had a non-Touch-N-Go pre-2000 Performer (even though the datestamp is DT - must be a donor lid) or Platinum. Pretty severe rust spots and damage to the porcelain finish on the bowl, but no areas rusted through. Eventually discovered that the vents were there, lying under a steel disc, buried under a mound of ash. The One Touch cleaner must have rusted out a while ago. WD-40 and a hack saw got all the hardware off the bowl, and now I'm in the middle of paintingin layers to fillin the rust spots. Painted the bowl with VHT high heat paint (rated for 2000F) then Duplicolor engine enamel. Will hit it with exta fine steel wool then Meguair's Mirror Glaze #7 as suggested in another forum. I am thinking of painting the lid to match. The frame has been repainted with Rustoleum Ultra semi gloss finish (rated to 1200F)
The One Touch cleaner is on its way from Amazon. Called Weber today since I wanted to fix the lid support and add propane assist. They are sending me the lid support hardware kit, burner, igniter, regulator assembly. The propane assist hardware is for the new Performer, so some mods will have to be done to retrofit it.
I need a new ash catcher bar, which terry rayburn had fabricated some time ago. Will check out if they are any cheaper options available first (alreadfy have some great tips from TVWB folks - thanks!) I think the ash catcher hardware itself is in good shape.
I'll keep you posted. This is a labor of love, and I am very excited to finish this project. Any tips will be much appreciated ! And thanks for the tips already provided in another thread.
[ummm... just realized that I don't know how to post/embed pics. Will be back with them shortly].