The long-awaited Imperial Kamado restoration project :)
 

Ok. As I wrote in the Cattle call thread I received my Imperial Kamado from my folks a few years ago. They bought it from a relative of ours in the mid/late 80’s who was importing goods from Japan at the time. The pot was in heavy use for the first 15 years, but after my parents moved to a ground level flat/apartment it was hardly used at all.

It’s been subject to harsh weather conditions here in Finland. Big changes in temperature, cold winters, warm summers, lots of rain etc. Most of the time it’s been covered by some sort of BBQ cover, but that hasn’t protected the metal parts from rust. Nor the colors from fading from the bright green/black to a blueish gray.

http://i.imgur.com/EZ801dl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7zZyHG2.jpg
Made by the good folk at Kinuurayaki Pottery

The first thing I did with it was replace the support wires around the firebox and ring to hold them intact. The old wires had rusted away. Firebox was in five pieces and the ring in two and I didn’t know what to use to repair them. So I just used wire for the time being.

The wagon was in terrible shape too. I scraped the rust off with a steel brush and spray painted it a black.

http://i.imgur.com/Btid9Jx.jpg

The original grate had shattered a long time ago. My old man replaced it with a stainless steel disc with holes drilled to it. That’s worked fine and I even have a spare.

http://i.imgur.com/EpPN65Q.jpg


Some time later I decided to properly fix the cracked firebox and ring. Found a fireplace sealant from Bison from my local hardware store. Stands temperatures up to 1250 degrees Celsius (2282 degrees Fahrenheit).

http://i.imgur.com/GBaYi3V.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ASmP50X.jpg

After that it was time to restore some of the metal accessories and parts. I used a rust remover product from CRC.

http://www.tme.eu/katalog_pics/f/1/e...crc-rr_250.jpg

Worked ok. It didn't get the most stubborn rust out but the rest I tried scrubbing off with a steel brush.

Here's some before and after shots:

http://i.imgur.com/vpea5XH.jpg
Ye olde damper toppe

http://i.imgur.com/hiQ8cfk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xQjb8qi.jpg
After rust removal

http://i.imgur.com/0doOkG2.jpg
All done! :clap2:

Right now I'm in the process of painting the dome and base (and the ceramic damper top). Gonna make it red with black surface texture.

Here's a sample of the original color found under the draft door.

http://i.imgur.com/ZkcAGXp.jpg

And here's what it looks like now. Before the black surface texture.

http://i.imgur.com/YFEE1dT.jpg

Will add pics and text as the job progresses. It's slow due to child-caring-responsibilities. We had twins last December :becky: Then there's the 4 year old too... Sigh..

Lookin good

that thing is going to rock, can't wait to see the finished product!

Ditto

Awesome work!! :clap2::clap2::clap2:

Keep those updates coming! Seeing these things come back to life is like watching the History Channel, DIY Network and Food Network all rolled into one! :thumb:

Got a little bit of work done last weekend.

Removed all the rust from the bottom slide draft door.
http://i.imgur.com/B9JmBn6.jpg
This was after the chemical rust removal. It left behind some stubborn rust patches.
http://i.imgur.com/CGZKM5b.jpg

Used a wire brush bit for my cordless drill to manually remove the remaining rust. What a genius invention that is :thumb:

http://i.imgur.com/pmJm2xY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/pmsZOqJ.jpg
Some serious corrosion there.

Then I gave it a few coats of black heat resistant spray paint. And there it is. Almost as good as new.

http://i.imgur.com/esOdw16.jpg
Notice the original fraction markings that I taped over before spraying.

Also derusted the grate just for the heck of it. Chemical remover was sufficient.
http://i.imgur.com/aDaNAaQ.jpg

And then it happened...

The damn base cracked when I lifted it with one hand on the top rim, the other in the bottom vent. I immediately put it down and searched for any damage. Found an approx. 40 cm (16 inch) long crack starting from the upper right corner of the bottom vent. I was not happy.

http://i.imgur.com/U6rfQIu.jpg

Decided to fix it with a heat resistant epoxy glue from Plastic Padding/Henkel. Also used some fiberglass tape as extra support. The glue is resistant up to 150 degrees Celsius (300 Fahrenheit). That should be enough, since the base doesn't even get hot to the touch when grilling.:pray:

http://i.imgur.com/hrOjlAm.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/StfX4vR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/L4oTOZ7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Sr17XZb.jpg

Added a few more layers of red on to the surface. Next I'll try to paint the surface pattern black. That's going to be a challenge.

Very nice work, and I love the color!:thumb:

A labor of love!

Very nice job!
Thanks for the pics and I hope you will have Phun with it!!!

That looks great. Wonderful job. Want to see pics when you get it all dirty :thumb:

Awesome work!

I love it when folks restore a vintage Kamado-especially one that has been in family as long as yours! I hope it gives you many more years of fantastic meals and memories and even last to hand down to your children!

Small update...

I finally found the right kind of paint for the surface pattern. At least I hope I did.

This is an alkyd paint called Miranol. Should be weather and heat resistant up to 120 Celsius (250 Fahrenheit). Lighter colors will turn slightly yellow with temperatures over that. Since I'm using black that probably won't be a problem.

Used a small foam paint roller to apply it.

Here's a sample of what the final color will look like.
Did the damper top first in case it would suck.

http://i.imgur.com/oYhDeRv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9BwQ286.jpg

Nice Restore! Can't wait to see her finished.

Paul

That is sharp, very nice:thumb:

Very nice work!!!

Very cool!

Hi guys

Here's where it stands now.

http://i.imgur.com/stUZXTU.jpg

Finished painting the black pattern on top of the red. I guess it came out ok. Could have maybe benefited from a more talented painter. A master painter.

http://i.imgur.com/a66N1Gk.jpg

It was damn hard trying to get an even finish. Slightly too much pressure and the roller left a darker spot. The fact that the surface is round doesn't help either.

http://i.imgur.com/j9r7qPs.jpg

I might try to even out a few lighter patches, but this is pretty much the finished look.

Next up is the hinge kit. It's in real bad shape. Stay tuned :)

You have done good work. Thank you for bringing that old pot back to life. :clap2:

Looks GREAT! Cant wait to see pics with some meat on it.

Nice job! It looks great.

Yep, what they said. Great restoration:clap2::clap2:

Great job and great thread.

I read somewhere on this forum that the loss of the imperialkamado.com website was a shame, because all of Mako's restoration secrets were on there (ie: how to repair the earthenware, etc).

I just wanted to let you all know that business operations for Imperial Kamado was transferred over to Kamado King Inc a couple years ago. I have all of Mako's Imperial restorations secrets, as well as a full history of the Imperial Kamado, and will be transferring this stuff over to our new site, www.kamadobbq.com

This is being done to "preserve" all of this lost information and history of imperial kamado. Please be patient with me, as this will take some time. I am busy setting up the new site with other features. We do have a BLOG section for Q&A on Imperial Kamado History, so feel free to stop by and drop us a comment. Augie will get back to you. He is the owner and opened his first imperial kamado stores in 1974.

Well, that's all, I just thought I would share the update.

Happy grilling , and great site! -Justin Kamado King Inc.

Very nice, Thanks for sharing! Look Great

Hi guys.

I'm back and so is the pot. It's been almost four years since my last post. Not much has happened since then. Kids have grown and the kamado is still in frequent use.

I bought a table/cart for it a year ago, or was it two years. Anyway, I assembled it a few weeks ago and had to modify it a bit so the kamado would fit in it. Made it a bit longer and tougher.

http://i.imgur.com/58HWLBO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/uElgL9W.jpg

As you can see I never could figure out what to do with the hinge kit. I knew it would rust again if I did nothing to it. But also knew I couldn't paint it because of the moving parts. Well after four years of searching I finally found a promising product: Rust converter from CRC. It says on the label "converts frail rust to solid metal". I just had try this.

http://i.imgur.com/ZuwEIsM.jpg

I took a small brush and painted it on the hinge kit. Two layers. Removing only the loosest flakes of rust before applying. And I must say the end result looks pretty darn good. I'll just have to wait and see if it keeps the rust away for good.

http://i.imgur.com/r5mCwFP.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5Fw7zry.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JrPOiNE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/s8CGHlS.jpg

Also been thinking about getting a gasket for this kamado. Not sure if it needs one though. It's never had one originally. What do you think? Is the gasket for insulation or just cushioning the impact of closing the lid too hard?

ps. in case you're wondering what's on the grill, well that's some genuine Tapola blood sausage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustamakkara.

That rust converter really did the trick!