Need Advice: Interested in acquiring and restoring a rusty 18 WSM


 
T

Tim-wannabe-smoker

TVWBB Fan
Hey All

I recently came across an inexpensive but quite rough WSM-18. Since I dont like junky stuff, I of course would want to resore it as much as economically feasible.
Attached are the pics I got that show a fair amount of rust inside and out. What ideas besides " a lot of elbow grease" would you give for removing the rust, cleaning up the grates and possibly renewing the paint/finish. Im not looking to flip it (just yet) just want it as a backup cooker for large parties and events.

I'm all ears ladies and gents, what would you reccommend?

Thank you in advance for your input!
 

Attachments

  • 01.jpg
    01.jpg
    142.2 KB · Views: 47
  • 02.jpg
    02.jpg
    132.3 KB · Views: 46
  • 03.jpg
    03.jpg
    170.3 KB · Views: 46
  • 04.jpg
    04.jpg
    81.2 KB · Views: 45
Last edited:
My thought is a good cleaning, replace the cooking grates, any damaged hardware and cook with it. Rusty grates gotta go.

The exterior can be cleaned by burning a 275°F fire and slowly wiping the exterior with a very damp, folded hand towel. Do not exceed 275.

All the exterior gunk will basically steam off. Wear heat protective gloves and re-fold your towel as it becomes soiled. I've used this technique for years on porcelain and painted cookers.
 
B.A. Poole said:
My thought is a good cleaning, replace the cooking grates, any damaged hardware and cook with it. Rusty grates gotta go.

The exterior can be cleaned by burning a 275°F fire and slowly wiping the exterior with a very damp, folded hand towel. Do not exceed 275.

All the exterior gunk will basically steam off. Wear heat protective gloves and re-fold your towel as it becomes soiled. I've used this technique for years on porcelain and painted cookers.
Click to expand...
Hey @B.A. Poole good advice thankyou. Quick question... is there ever a time or scenario where the cooking grates could be salavaged or is it just not worth it?
 
This is a long but very detailed thread on the restoration of a very old WSM that had a lot of rust. It illustrates what's possible using the right products and a LOT of elbow grease.

tvwbb.com

1981 18.5 and parts

I just picked this up at a friend’s garage sale for 35. I was wanting something smaller than the 22 I have now. It has some rust but has been kept in a garage/shed over the years so it isn’t too awful. I’m going to give it a good cleaning and replace the hardware which is rusting. I’m assuming...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
Last edited:
I just prefer rust free gates against my food. Unfortunately stainless steel grates are out of my price range. The used, 2nd hand cookers I've bought had grates too damaged to salvage. I never let acidic sauces or glazes contact my grates. Tomato and BBQ sauces attack the chrome on the grates. To keep rust at bay on the charcoal grate I clean up quickly after cooking and lightly spray the charcoal grates on both sides with cooking spray.

Around the lid handle welds I would knock down the rust and touch up those spots with high temperature gloss paint. I've sprayed paint in the can's cap and touched it on with a swab.
 
B.A. Poole said:
I just prefer rust free gates against my food. Unfortunately stainless steel grates are out of my price range. The used, 2nd hand cookers I've bought had grates too damaged to salvage. I never let acidic sauces or glazes contact my grates. Tomato and BBQ sauces attack the chrome on the grates. To keep rust at bay on the charcoal grate I clean up quickly after cooking and lightly spray the charcoal grates on both sides with cooking spray.

Around the lid handle welds I would knock down the rust and touch up those spots with high temperature gloss paint. I've sprayed paint in the can's cap and touched it on with a swab.
Click to expand...
Thanks I see your point. After a few passes of oven cleaner and scrubbing there is still an undesireable surface. So I sprung the $24 for a replacement from Home Depot. I will try your heat, damp towell technique tomorrow. Thanks again
 
Last edited:
Chris Allingham said:
This is a long but very detailed thread on the restoration of a very old WSM that had a lot of rust. It illustrates what's possible using the right products and a LOT of elbow grease.

tvwbb.com

1981 18.5 and parts

I just picked this up at a friend’s garage sale for 35. I was wanting something smaller than the 22 I have now. It has some rust but has been kept in a garage/shed over the years so it isn’t too awful. I’m going to give it a good cleaning and replace the hardware which is rusting. I’m assuming...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
Click to expand...
@Chris Allingham thanks but the link you attached takes me back to this page. Can you verify the link and repost please?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
As far as the grates go, I would toss them and buy new ones. They are chrome plated steel and do get rusty, nothing to be done about that. The exterior of the grill is porcelain coated and should clean up well with fine steel wool and a cleaner like simple green. You really can't do any more than that unless you want to have the entire grill refinished, which would be very expensive. I think that most of what you see on the outside is just grease and should come off pretty easily.
 
Keep the temperature below 275°F so when you put a cold, wet towel on the porcelain so you don't damage the porcelain. The towel at that temperature will become uncomfortable to hold without a glove for protection.

The temperature has to be high enough to convert the water in the towel into steam. The steam trapped between the towel and the porcelain finish "steams" off grease, smoke, charcoal smugs and drippings.
 
B.A. Poole is on the right track with the temperature, too hot and you risk craziness the enamel (remember Enamel is Glass!)
not hot enough, you won’t get the steam you need to liquify the scuzz.
@ B. A. Poole, are you, by any chance, related to the great early country music star Charlie Poole?
Of , “Charlie Poole and his North Carolina Ramblers“ fame?
 
Thanks for asking. We are not a large clan so it is quite likely. It appears my earliest family members were "deposited" in the Carolinas by the British government.

Once their servitude was completed they migrated west, eventually homesteading in the Rockie mountains of Idaho territory just before 1880.
 
Thankyou all. I did scrub it with oven cleaner and heated it to 275 to steam off the outside crud. Have a new set of grates on the way so should be like new. This is an older WSM with a code DI on the dome vent. It also doesnt have a temp probe hole or a temp gauge. However, Ive now invested $100 total and have a pretty good little smoker after to show for the effort. While I was cleaning, I decided to work on my other two grills also.
 

Attachments

  • all three.jpg
    all three.jpg
    154.5 KB · Views: 25
  • wsm-18.jpg
    wsm-18.jpg
    129.8 KB · Views: 25
Get a two probe thermometer (grate temp and meat probe) cut a small notch in the lip of the barrel and you have my set up. The way these things are designed, it becomes very easy to manage. I don’t have a dome thermometer and have never missed it.
Oh, that looks fabulous! When do we eat?
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Get a two probe thermometer (grate temp and meat probe) cut a small notch in the lip of the barrel and you have my set up. The way these things are designed, it becomes very easy to manage. I don’t have a dome thermometer and have never missed it.
Oh, that looks fabulous! When do we eat?
Click to expand...
Thx got tons of thermometers will probably drill a hole with a grommet and put a Webber wire plug in it. Dinners at 7pm
 
B.A. Poole said:
Thanks for asking. We are not a large clan so it is quite likely. It appears my earliest family members were "deposited" in the Carolinas by the British government.

Once their servitude was completed they migrated west, eventually homesteading in the Rockie mountains of Idaho territory just before 1880.
Click to expand...
So, that a “possible”? I would encourage you to search some of his music. I’m talking OLD style country (hillbilly) music. Great songwriter! My band does a few of his songs. There was a retrospective of his music by John Loudermilk called “High, Wide and, Handsome.“ interesting treatment of the “raw“ sound of Charlie’s day. We are talking the twenties early thirties, interesting life/tragedy to be honest.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top