Picked up my first Weber Fire Pit for $20 today


 
Kyle in Woodstock

Kyle in Woodstock

TVWBB Guru
Picked this guy up today for an easy $20.
Needs LOTS of love, but a little work with the angle grinder, replacing the nuts/bolts and slapping on some new handles and she should be a nice fire pit for years to come.

This clearly hasn't been used in years. The cover was on the fire pit, but over years had shrank around the fire pit. Had to cut it off. When I did, the wooden handles fell out crumbled from years of moisture and no sunlight to dry things out.

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It's really dirty, these pictures are farm fresh. The porcelain looks to be in good shape. The middle section is rusting but solid. Nuts and bolts will be swapped out.
I'm currently working on sprucing up a Skyline, but after I get done with it I'll tackle this guy and post some after pictures.

Edit:
Found the schematics on this fire pit here:

Weber Grill Schematics | Weber Grill Models

Weber Schematics - browse product schematics and part lists by entering a serial number, description, or by selecting a product family.
www.weber.com www.weber.com
 
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Good find Kyle. I found a NIB one a couple of years ago but have never fired it up. They say the charcoal grate for the 26 kettle fits on the leg screws to make a grate for it. I have not been able to find one though except from Weber and the shipping is a killer here in Canada. You should also put sand in the bottom as a heat sink according to Weber. Looking forward to pics of it cleaned up.
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Wow, your's is pretty. I saw a NIB one the other day but guy wanted $200+ for it.

Good info on the sand, I didn't know that.
The 26" charcoal grate is actually the same size as the main cooking grate on a 22" kettle. I'll see how it fits and let you know.

It's cleaning up nicely. I'm wondering if I should paint the middle section, metal piece, with some high heat BBQ spray paint. Mainly just to slow the rusting down. I'm going to hit it with a cup brush, maybe it's all surface rust.
 
Richard in NS said:
Good find Kyle. I found a NIB one a couple of years ago but have never fired it up. They say the charcoal grate for the 26 kettle fits on the leg screws to make a grate for it. I have not been able to find one though except from Weber and the shipping is a killer here in Canada. You should also put sand in the bottom as a heat sink according to Weber. Looking forward to pics of it cleaned up.
View attachment 11036
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Is there supposed to be a nylon washer against the grill inside and out where something is mounted to the porcelain pieces? I think so, but making sure. The metal washer on the outside touching the nut and bolt head. Previous owner didn't assemble correctly, I think
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
Is there supposed to be a nylon washer against the grill inside and out where something is mounted to the porcelain pieces? I think so, but making sure. The metal washer on the outside touching the nut and bolt head. Previous owner didn't assemble correctly, I think
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I’ll try and remember to check for you tomorrow on the washer. I replaced all the hardware with SS when I put it together.
I also painted the middle section but it is peeling off and I have never used it. I never cleaned it with alcohol or anything so it might have had oil on it from the factory causing the paint not to stick.
 
Excellent, thanks. Previous owner didn't have these washer installed correctly.

I guess they aren't "nylon", but are actually fiber washers. Just a nice buffer so there isn't metal to metal contact...the one I have, the previous owner had the metal washer in contact with the porcelain and it's rusting a bit. Luckily all the old bolts came right off with a ratchet and screwdriver. No hacksaw needed!

tvwbb.com

Fiber washer question?

Hi, Just purchased a new WSM 18.5 inch and have an assembly question. Should the fiber washers for the legs go between the bolt and the leg or between the leg and the smoker body? Thanks for the insight!!! ChadO
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
Got everything disassembled, cleaned and used the angle grinder on all the metal pieces. And touched up some rust areas on the porcelain with high heat BBQ paint.

Going to paint all the metal pieces with high heat Rust-Oleum. Then put it back together with stainless steel nuts and bolts.

For the handles, with this being a fire pit, it probably will be getting hotter than a kettle. Should I put wood handles on the lid or will plastic be ok? Little worried the plastic might melt.
Only reason I want to go plastic is because this thing will be living outside uncovered and think the plastic will age better outside.
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
Got everything disassembled, cleaned and used the angle grinder on all the metal pieces. And touched up some rust areas on the porcelain with high heat BBQ paint.

Going to paint all the metal pieces with high heat Rust-Oleum. Then put it back together with stainless steel nuts and bolts.

For the handles, with this being a fire pit, it probably will be getting hotter than a kettle. Should I put wood handles on the lid or will plastic be ok? Little worried the plastic might melt.
Only reason I want to go plastic is because this thing will be living outside uncovered and think the plastic will age better outside.
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Thats funny I have an old weber fire pit that I have been wanting to clean up for awhile. I saw that one for $20 and almost gave it a shot to see if it was in better condition than mine (im here in Cumming). Looks like mine is slightly better. Im heading to HD now to get stainless hardware. My firepit has to be like 10 yrs old and the wood on the handles held up good i just need to sand and reglue then stain them. This is by far the best firepit i have ever owned. With the top on it gives like a good 10’ radius of heat. Post pics when you are done I will do the same.C9FD25F2-02EE-4CE1-B1C5-B32D9109A9D9.jpeg
 
Preston B said:
Thats funny I have an old weber fire pit that I have been wanting to clean up for awhile. I saw that one for $20 and almost gave it a shot to see if it was in better condition than mine (im here in Cumming). Looks like mine is slightly better. Im heading to HD now to get stainless hardware. My firepit has to be like 10 yrs old and the wood on the handles held up good i just need to sand and reglue then stain them. This is by far the best firepit i have ever owned. With the top on it gives like a good 10’ radius of heat. Post pics when you are done I will do the same.View attachment 11102
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I didn't think I'd get a chance to buy this one, but the seller said he had two people no-show on him and I guess I was the third in line.

I just put first coat of paint on the metal pieces early today. Going to put two coats since I don't plan on tearing it down again for a while. I expect the paint won't last long, but at least might keep away the rust for a bit.
Also soaking the old fiber washers in a mix of barkeeper's friend and water to clean them up a bit. Everything else will be SS hardware.

I'm sure your fire pit is in better condition than this one, LOL. It's seen better days, but is cleaning up nicely. The old wooden handles are completely destroyed. Still trying to decide if I want to go with plastic or wooden handles. I know wooden ones will handle the heat better, but think the plastic would hold up better outside (uncovered). Do you happen to remember if the lid / top area gets very hot?
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
I didn't think I'd get a chance to buy this one, but the seller said he had two people no-show on him and I guess I was the third in line.

I just put first coat of paint on the metal pieces early today. Going to put two coats since I don't plan on tearing it down again for a while. I expect the paint won't last long, but at least might keep away the rust for a bit.
Also soaking the old fiber washers in a mix of barkeeper's friend and water to clean them up a bit. Everything else will be SS hardware.

I'm sure your fire pit is in better condition than this one, LOL. It's seen better days, but is cleaning up nicely. The old wooden handles are completely destroyed. Still trying to decide if I want to go with plastic or wooden handles. I know wooden ones will handle the heat better, but think the plastic would hold up better outside (uncovered). Do you happen to remember if the lid / top area gets very hot?
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It gets hot enough that I use grill gloves when i shut it down. HD has fiber washers also but i was wondering if they would handle the heat. Gonna try saving the original like you said thats a good idea. Mines not in much better condition than yours i have never done anything to it.41BC6FCE-92FF-4C9B-844F-D177D05F4FA2.jpeg
 
Washers didn't come very clean after soaking them. Going to pickup some from Home Depot, after that, should be good to put this baby back together! I'm just going to put the fiber washers against the porcelain (outside and inside) and sandwich them in with SS washers.

Getting these in case anyone is interested:
www.homedepot.com

Everbilt 1/4 in. x 0.032 in. Black Fiber Washer (2-Piece) 807908 - The Home Depot

These fiber washers, also known as sheet gaskets, come in a variety of sizes and offer more vibration and compression resistance. They are made from non-conductive fiber and are round with a hole in the
www.homedepot.com

I painted the metal mid-section a flat black with the Rust-Oleum high heat BBQ paint. And used the same paint, but gloss for the feet and metal parts of the lid handle. Might look better going all gloss, but I used what I already had in my garage.


EDIT: After going to Home Depot, I decided against using the washers I linked above. They are tiny and thin....nothing like the black fiber washers you get with a Weber grill. I'll just reuse the old dirty ones.
 
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Here she is... Certainly not in like new condition, but it cleaned up nicely and I hope to get a few years of burning out of this fire pit. Not bad for 20 bucks. I could probably get it a little cleaner using some steel wool, but I'm going to burn wood in it soon, so just wanted to get a majority of the crud off it. Lower bowl is a little curvy, I'll probably try to fix that after I've used it a few times.

I ended up throwing on some old wood handles I grabbed off a Go Anywhere grill I bought last week for $10. Put three coats of spar urethane on the handles to protect them a little.

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Looks great, Kyle. Mine is in similar shape to Preston's and I was thinking about getting rid of it - haven't used it in quite a while. Maybe I'll just clean it up a bit.
 
JimK said:
Looks great, Kyle. Mine is in similar shape to Preston's and I was thinking about getting rid of it - haven't used it in quite a while. Maybe I'll just clean it up a bit.
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It's a little work, but not hard at all. Just remove all the nuts and bolts. Grind down the middle section and legs....spray with high temp paint. Put it back together with SS nuts and bolts...done. If you already have all the hardware and paint you can get it done in a day easily. I posted mine on Facebook, not to sell just to show to my friends and a couple sent me a text asking if I'd sell it, haha. They don't sell them anymore so you should hang on to it.
 
Here is a picture out in sunlight. Middle section looks much more the black color. Grey would actually look sharp, but I'm not sure if my local store sells grey BBQ paint.

IMG_20200807_101945(1).jpg


Also, I placed a 22" cooking grate in the pit to get an idea of the size. It's not big enough to site on the nuts, but I'm sure it would work. I have an old worn out 22" grate I'll probably use, not the GBS grate pictured. The main grate from a 26" might work, but those are expensive

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