Here's the latest addition to my Weber family. It's a 26". Picked this up from one of my fellow drivers at work who decided this thing was way beyond his ability to rehab. I gave him $50.00 for it, so now it's my project. According to the research that I did, these came in brown, black & red. Not sure if it's me, but this Kettle looks green to me especially sitting next to one of my black 22.5". The wood handles are shot. Not sure if I will refinish these or get the handles that go on the Weber outdoor fireplace.

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/001-40.jpg
This Kettle was pretty much used & abused. Pretty dirty on the inside. Both grates are trash and I will fab new ones. Unfortunately grates for the newer 26"s don't fit the older ones as the new ones sit lower in the bowl. Why they made the change is beyond me.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/004-26.jpg
One of two areas that will need some "special" attention.

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/003-25.jpg
It's a "N" code which is a 1991 model.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/002-38.jpg

Just a shot to show the difference in size & color.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/007-18.jpg

great score, sure should be able to bring her back to life with out to much effort.

poi-nts

Not to bad of shape for 20 year old grill....I'm sure you'll have it up and running in no time

Great find! ..... Been looking around here on CL, but have never seen one for sale.... Looks to be in pretty decent shape overall......

You prolly already know or have seen this Mikey, but here's a thread page that identifies the year a Weber was built, based on the stamped letter(s) for those that were curious :noidea:

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/wsmage.html

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/wsmage.html

Thanks Scott for the link. I've had that bookmarked for some time. That's how I determined it was made in '91.

What are you thinking for the handles? Stock plastic type or whatever they are or fab some wood ones.... ?

Cool project :thumb:

What are you thinking for the handles? Stock plastic type or whatever they are or fab some wood ones.... ?

Cool project :thumb:

Thinking about the handles off of the Weber Outdoor Fireplace.
Supposed to be a direct replacement.

http://www.weber.com/explore/grills/fireplace/fireplace

there is a guy I think on the brethren that makes some awesome handles...I'll try to find a link...someone else might know who I am talking about tho

Heres the link I was talking about....from what I understand great guy and great products...

http://amlwoodart.com/

Nice score!

SWEET! I almost pulled the plug on a brand new one the other day at Lowes. $299. :faint: I opted for patio furniture instead. I promised meself if I can get the UDS finished as well as combining the two 22.5" in to one, then I could have a new toy.

Looking forward to your rehab project. It does look green up next to your black one though. How much do you think you'll have invested in it once it's all said and done? I really like that size. Does the lid cradle the back of the unit? Congrats!!!! and poi-nts for a great find!!!!

Cool score, I need to work harder on chasing down the scrap guys. I have a few neighborhoods that throw grills away when the grates get too hard to clean. Paint it blue.......

SWEET! I almost pulled the plug on a brand new one the other day at Lowes. $299. :faint: I opted for patio furniture instead. I promised meself if I can get the UDS finished as well as combining the two 22.5" in to one, then I could have a new toy.

Looking forward to your rehab project. It does look green up next to your black one though. How much do you think you'll have invested in it once it's all said and done? I really like that size. Does the lid cradle the back of the unit? Congrats!!!! and poi-nts for a great find!!!!

After really getting in to it today and taking inventory of what I think it'll need, I figure it should take less than $75.00 to get it functioning properly. I just ordered the one touch system from Weber for $18.00+ some change. $7.00 of that was shipping. The cook & coal grates are unavailable so I'll just make those. Weber wouldn't sell me the handles for the Weber outdoor fireplace since I was honest and told the gal I didn't own one. For now, I'll just give the handles a quick sand job, restain and clear em. I have to have this thing done and ready to cook on by June 9th.
P.S. The lid on this one does not cradle.

If I know Mikey, which I do a little bit, watch what he does with this. This thing'll be purring along in no time. Not intending on putting any pressure on ya Mikey. :lol:
All kidding aside, one of my heroes on this website. :hail::hail::hail:

Okay, back to whatever you were doing. :thumb:

Damn nice find there Mikey!! I'd love to get hold of a 26... never seen one in real life.

nice find!

Finally got this thing to the point of being functional which was my goal from the onset as cosmetically, it just wasn't going to happen. I purchased a 4'X8' sheet of #9 3/4" expanded & 20' of 5/16" round stock to fab the coal & cooking grates. Got those two items for $55.00 but had to cough up an additional $50.00 to have the round stock rolled to the two different diameters that I needed. I would have settled for a 1/2" sliver of 24" & 20" pipe but couldn't find it.
I have a grand total of $155.00 in this thing which isn't too terribly bad taking in to account the size of it.
The coal grate; nothing fancy, just functional.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/0517021214.jpg
The cooking grate; same song, 2nd verse but I did make a door for adding coals using the indirect method. Made the cuts where the hinge was going to go, button tacked the hinge on, then made the rest of the cuts. Came out perfect as it's hard to see the cuts.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/0517021216.jpg
I'll make a better coal holder but had one of the Weber units left over for my test cook today on a couple of racks of spares. Foiled the coal grate and have 2 9" long firebricks in place.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo151/Smokinmikey/001-41.jpg
My son and I will be taking this along as well as my other 2 Kettles to Tooele, UT on Jun 9th.

Cool. How'd you fix that hole? That's an awesome size for a kettle

Cool. How'd you fix that hole? That's an awesome size for a kettle

Cut a patch 1"X 1 1/2" of some 16 ga. and tacked it in on the inside. This thing was pretty abused as I'm sure it sat out in the weather since it was new (1991):faint:

Dang Mikey! You rocked that baby! Congrats on a job well done. Have some Weber envy poi-nts

Ahh I missed this thread... nice resurrection!

Mikey made it happen. Bravo! Grates look killer!

Mikey made it happen. Bravo! Grates look killer!

Thanks, Scott. The damn things will be around a lot longer than I will.

I have never seen one on CL or in person and i search CL daily. Great find.

nice job Mikey!!! another thing as good as buying american, is taking an american made product someone else is done with and refurbing back into useful duty. all looks really nice, grate work on the greats too.:thumb:

and made the timeline even. needs poi-nts

Smart looking bit of kit - particularly like the little fire basket and coal add system. Now with something like that, I can see a kettle being a useful bit of kit :thumb: