Out of Hiding, My $35 Skyline Pick Up!


 

Jon Tofte

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
You may have seen my post about the "Skyline in hiding." The seller listed his grill on CL with one sorry picture of a grill with a terrible cover, no tray tables and overall looking bleak - asking $50. The one thing was that there was a Skyline-unique wire condiment rack showing.

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I decided to not play my hand by asking questions but got him to agree to $35. He probably didn't have any action on his ad. It was a long drive, but I tied it in with seeing a college friend recovering from surgery in a rehab close by.

I was totally surprised to find a very solid, if dirty, Skyline. (It appears the seller experimented with charcoal in this grill.) No obvious rust and a very solid frame.

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I really was happy when the seller handed me BOTH of the missing Durawood trays.

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No go on the bottom wire rack, but I already have several in my "Weber graveyard." Inside, the 13 flavorizer bars were intact and stainless steel no less. They even have a little shine left and could probably be wired brushed to look very decent. Otherwise, I certainly will use them on my own grills.

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I did a very quick clean of the hood to see what I really got. There is just a very slight case of the "dreaded fade," but nowhere near as much as on my own personal grill.

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I had figured I would be lucky if I could salvage a Skylne hood and condiment rack on this deal and planned to possibly incorporate those Skyline parts into another custom job. But now that I see that I have a virtually complete and very nice Skyline, I think I will try for an accurate stock restoration. I am hoping someone with Chicago roots down here will be smitten and willing to pay me what they would have wasted on a junk fake stainless grill at the big box stores.
 
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Looks to have good bones. I know you will do a great job with it.
I have had 3 of these in the last 2 years. All have had SS flav bars.
Anyone know if that was a standard item on the Skyline?
 
Looks like a sturdy find there Jon. After reading everyone else's comments about the dreaded black fade on the skylines it appears I was extremely fortunate with mine as it has no fade at all. Hard to believe that it was down in Phoenix with that blazing sun. Also mine has SS FBs, might have been standard on those.
 
Rich, that does seem to confirm that this is the way Skylines came. They were a special edition, so it does make sense.

Yeah, this one is really nicer than my own personal one, but I don't mind the fade on mine all that much. This one will sell a lot better all shined up with almost no fade. However, if it turns out really nice, as I hope, I am not going to give it away, either. I have only done one other Durawood grill, so it will be fun to do one again.
 
And we are all looking forward to some "after" pictures. THat should clean up really well for you jon.
 

 

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