1981 18.5 and parts


 
Chris, you are doing a really nice job! Are you planning on leaving the door and legs plain steel (as original) or maybe painting them with high heat contrasting color (red?)
 
Jeff Boudman said:
Weber sent me the wrong legs for an 18.5. I‘be been cobbling together. I didn’t realize it until I went to put the heat shield on the smoker. I received an order confirmation Saturday but have not received a shipping notification. You can have the legs and hardware after I swap them out.
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Hi Jeff-

Let me know what you want for them, seriously, I'll purchase them from you! Thank you!
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Chris, you are doing a really nice job! Are you planning on leaving the door and legs plain steel (as original) or maybe painting them with high heat contrasting color (red?)
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Thank you! I think I'm going to leave them as is. Red would look great, but I can't bring myself to paint it unless I'm touching up some rust, and I'm not even sure about doing that yet.
 
This is very interesting. I bought a Brinkman water smoker in 1984. I never figured the thing out and someone did me a favor and stole it off my patio.

To think I could've had a WSM. Back in 1984, I had no idea they existed.
 
Wow Chris, you're doing a GREAT job! Can't wait to see the whole thing finished.

The one part I'm not seeing is the charcoal chamber, the perforated piece that corrals the charcoal. (The part you're calling the chamber is called the bowl.)

2009wsm18-chamber.jpg
 
Chris Allingham said:
Wow Chris, you're doing a GREAT job! Can't wait to see the whole thing finished.

The one part I'm not seeing is the charcoal chamber, the perforated piece that corrals the charcoal. (The part you're calling the chamber is called the bowl.)
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HA! I was sitting there last night typing all this in and learning about the new "HEIC" vs "JPEG" picture files that were coming out of my iPhone. After that conversion fiasco, I couldn't remember what it was called. Thanks for the heads up! I'm going back to fix it!
 
Chris Allingham said:
If you've confirmed it's a 1981, ("C" stamped into the vent damper) it's a first year WSM. The door and legs are steel, not aluminum, thus the rust. You can update both door and legs, if you wish, but please keep those parts with the cooker so you can pass them along to the next owner if you ever decide to part with it. Or you can attempt to clean-up and keep those original parts on the cooker, but I wouldn't paint them as it would ruin their originality.

The tabs on the vent dampers appear to be bent. If you try to bend them back to perpendicular, you risk changing the overall shape and tight fit of the damper. Do so at your own risk.

Clean the outside with soapy water and a scrub brush. Baked-on grease/smoke can be removed with super fine 0000 steel wool and Simple Green or 409, then rinse. The black finish is porcelain enamel, not paint, so super fine 0000 steel wool won't scratch it. Don't use ScotchBrite green pads, they can create fine scratches. Inside, you can wash it out with soapy water and rinse. There's really no need to take it back to original finish inside. If there's peeling inside, it's just grease/smoke buildup that's coming off, not the porcelain coating. Use a stiff bristle brush to remove what you can, sometimes just a brush and water will remove a lot of it. It will just build up again as you cook in the future.

I wouldn't do anything to the original wooden handle, as long as it's not cracked.

The top cooking grate is not special, it's the same grate that goes into any 18.5" Weber kettle grill and you can usually find it at any hardware store. The lower grate is 1/2" smaller and pricier and must be ordered. You can get it on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B013KIGPZC/tvwb-20

or from other online parts retailers or from Weber at 800-446-1071.

If you decide to order a door and legs from Weber, you might as well order the lower cooking grate, too...you'll get flat rate shipping.

Good find! Good luck!
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Chris,
According to the Virtual Weber Bullet the replacement legs are now aluminum. Is that correct?
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Here is the charcoal chamber, I may just put a couple screws through it to hold it together for a bit longer.

D6E9338A-4894-4927-BEE1-ED5765F2992B.jpeg67045805-1865-45CF-B7BE-9021C6D459EB.jpegBDFE9255-2C30-488B-820E-4F72CB67917B.jpegF1E65E27-B757-46FF-9B26-D888AE119B66.jpeg1B35CBF6-D8B3-46E6-A97E-D0A7C83DBD2C.jpeg84FF4363-B20C-46E9-ABD1-3BCEF6539B0C.jpeg
 
I went ahead and put the legs on last night with the aftermarket Ace Hardware nuts/washers/bolts. Going to keep it stored in the garage to keep the rust off of it.

I think it’s complete (except for new grates and that new wood handle). The top one is soaking in a plastic bag with oven cleaner right now. I’ll see how it turns out and then also try the lower grate. I’m going to have to order a new charcoal grate though.

If anyone has any suggestions on those spots of rust on the bottom bowl, please reply. I may use the Rustoleum High Heat black paint since those spots are out of sight. I may also try that Rustoleum Clear High Heat on the legs and door.

A756BEC3-CB9C-42D5-A4F0-D1E7673E919A.jpeg
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Decided to try some Rust-Oleum Rust Dissolver gel on the bowl rust spots. Dried and then brushed on the Rust-oleum High Heat paint.

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After gel applied and rinsed (did it twice):

7969E267-D0D3-4899-8B72-0357ACC41170.jpeg
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Painted:

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The wood handle arrived today:

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Jeff Boudman said:
Weber sent me the wrong legs for an 18.5. I‘be been cobbling together. I didn’t realize it until I went to put the heat shield on the smoker. I received an order confirmation Saturday but have not received a shipping notification. You can have the legs and hardware after I swap them out.
Click to expand...

Jeff Boudman-
Thank you for sending the legs and hardware. The generosity displayed in this forum through helpful advice and parts donations makes it a joy to visit. Appreciated bigly!

Here are some shots with the Weber's new gams.

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One of the steel legs was starting to get some rust just sitting in the garage.
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