Old "Wood Dale" Redhead found in a heap.


 
D

Dan Deysenroth

New member
I am new to the weber collecting hobby and also to this site. When I told my dad I was looking for old weber kettle grills, he told me that his grandfather's grill is sitting out in the trees with some other junk. I walked out today and found it. It is in terrible shape, laying in a heap. I need some help determining it's age.

It is red and measures 18.5 inches. The lid has a metal enameled handle and the vent reads "Weber Stephen Products Co; Weber Bar-B-Q Kettle; Wood Dale Ill." The kettle has 2 metal handles, and the legs were attached with thumb screws. It has a wire triangle and the wheels are metal with rubber "tires".

The grill is in real bad shape, The leg holders have rusted off and all 3 lower vent wheels are missing. The rubber parts of the wheels have rotted off and are laying there in pieces. The lower vent wheels appear to be missing along with the ash pan. Never the less I was excited to find it and I want to find out more about it. I will post pictures as soon as I get them off my camera. Thanks, Dan


 
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Tony R said:
Al and Dan we have the info in our site.
Click to expand...

Sorry Tony, but not even close. This site is great for all things WSM related, but the WKC is king when it comes to old kettles.

This red 18" Woodale is WAY before the 79 date stamps began. Even before the patent pending & patent numbered kettles. The rounded metal lid handle is something special. This is in the '58 - '61 vintage. And red to boot! Too bad it's not in better condition, but worth having as many original pieces as you can keep.
 
That's an awesome find! Being a Wood Dale stamped kettle, and with it's metal top handle (lid) and wire triangle, this kettle should be anywhere from 1958-1963. This kettle can be saved. If you can get a hold of some donor leg sockets there are ways of re-attaching them and making these fixer-uppers cookers again, or you can restore it to a "Looker" and not have to worry about using high heat red paint and fix it up as a display piece. The metal lid handled kettles are a great find. Especially in a color. You could get brand new replacement dampers for the bowl from Weber and use tin snips to cut the turn tabs down to a small single turn tab to make it look period correct. There's tons of opportunity with this one! Let us know what you plan to do with it. We can help you in your restore. :)
 
This site is great for all things WSM related, but the WKC is king when it comes to old kettles.

^^ THIS

thats what i love each has there own niche
 
Great find! I am also in Upstate NY (Albany area) and saved a 22.5" Red Wood Dale from the scrap heap last summer. Mine was in rough shape as well but I was able to reuse the leg sockets using stainless steel fender washers and rotating the legs 60 degrees. The existing rust holes can also be filled with a high-heat tolerant material called quik-steel.

Craig is correct, as you can buy vents for the 18.5" that can be quickly trimmed down to look period correct, except for the stop tab being on the opposite side. The replacement vents for the 22.5" can't be adapted to mimic the old style, so I just made some with a sheet of aluminum, a drill and a rubber mallet. Plenty of other good ideas available to restore that grill over on the WKC.
 
There's a name for people like you. We call them Heros. Dang good find, you're a humanitarian and a gentleman.

Now fire that b&$*ch up and show us the pics!!

Don't lift the lid...
 
Welcome to the site. Wow, great find. You have come to the right place for guidance on the how to bring that beauty back to life -- whether as a show piece or active cooker.
 
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