18.5" WSM cleaned up nicely!


 
Rick P

Rick P

TVWBB Pro
Hi all!
Long time lurker, second time poster.

I snagged this "N" code 18.5" last week. I've been making lowball offers for almost a year, when they popped up on CL and FB Marketplace. I wasn't in a hurry, because I've been using one of my kettles, with a SnS to smoke food, so I've been holding off until I could get one for under $100.00

The seller wanted $100.00, but it's missing a grate, so I offered $75.00* and he took it!

With a hot burn, some Simple Green and a lot of elbow grease, she cleaned up nicely. It was mostly mold, old gunk and that rusty-looking coating on the inside. One of the legs was bent, but that was easily fixed.

The intent was to put her through the paces with no mods, then go from there. That being said, the ledge on the center ring is now pristine, so I ordered a gasket kit. It can't hurt and I might as well take advantage of having a clean surface to mount it on. I also notched it to accommodate temp probes with a drill and small grinder.

The gasket kit will be here this week and the plan is to break it in with some ribs, or a pork butt.

WSM pre-clean.jpgcleaned up 1 .jpgcleaned up 2.jpg

*Full disclaimer: I'm a cheap bastard and proud of it!
 
Looks like new!
You are missing the mid grate, but you can use another top grate instead. You just have to angle it down more and it will sit a little higher on the bolts instead of the flanges/ straps.
The mid grate is a nickel plated version of the charcoal grate for any 22.5" kettle, so you could also use one of those, but it's raw steel so you would have to keep it seasoned.
 
timothy said:
Looks like new!
You are missing the mid grate, but you can use another top grate instead. You just have to angle it down more and it will sit a little higher on the bolts instead of the flanges/ straps.
The mid grate is a nickel plated version of the charcoal grate for any 22.5" kettle, so you could also use one of those, but it's raw steel so you would have to keep it seasoned.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
It seems like a lot of folks don't use the middle grate that often, so it's not a big concern. If I need one, I'll use the one out of my Jumbo Joe.
 
Rick Poch said:
Hi all!
Long time lurker, second time poster.

I snagged this "N" code 18.5" last week. I've been making lowball offers for almost a year, when they popped up on CL and FB Marketplace. I wasn't in a hurry, because I've been using one of my kettles, with a SnS to smoke food, so I've been holding off until I could get one for under $100.00

The seller wanted $100.00, but it's missing a grate, so I offered $75.00* and he took it!

With a hot burn, some Simple Green and a lot of elbow grease, she cleaned up nicely. It was mostly mold, old gunk and that rusty-looking coating on the inside. One of the legs was bent, but that was easily fixed.

The intent was to put her through the paces with no mods, then go from there. That being said, the ledge on the center ring is now pristine, so I ordered a gasket kit. It can't hurt and I might as well take advantage of having a clean surface to mount it on. I also notched it to accommodate temp probes with a drill and small grinder.

The gasket kit will be here this week and the plan is to break it in with some ribs, or a pork butt.

View attachment 25867View attachment 25868View attachment 25869

*Full disclaimer: I'm a cheap bastard and proud of it!
Click to expand...
It’s a testament to the quality of the Weber production that an obviously neglected item cleans up so well. Good job.
 
RonSpencerUK said:
It’s a testament to the quality of the Weber production that an obviously neglected item cleans up so well. Good job.
Click to expand...
Thanks and agreed!

The baby of my collection, (four kettles, one WSM & two gassers), is a 2008 second generation Performer.
 
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