My Custom Vertical Offset is Getting Close...Big Daddy Bandera!!!

sliding_billy said:

That thing is going to be far too sexy for a utilitarian (male) name like "Earl." I'm thinking something like "Raven."

P.S. Love the GTO. My dad and I did a lot of muscle cars and rods when I was growing up (late 30s Fords and 69-72 Buicks were our thing). I still don't think he has forgiven me for my current Hyundai obsession. Including my latest (a 2013 Genesis Coupe Track), I have owned 8 of them now. I call the Genesis "Pikey."

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Love that color! I have liked the Genesis since they came out...

dwfisk said:

it's saturday!

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I KNOW!!!!

Going to pick up Earl at 2pm.

Bob in St. Louis said:

He probably can't see your post since he's out on the porch waiting for the big brown truck. ha ha

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Nope...fabricator is local, so going to get Earl with some help from the FIL and a neighbor.

Big George's BBQ said:

You do mreally nice work Looking forward to the painted pics

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Only work I did was describe to AJ what I wanted :wink:

sliding_billy said:

2PM. You need to go get yourself a brunch in FW or something to take your mind of of it and get closer to it at the same time. :-D Good luck with the transport.

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Haha...I'm gonna run some errands here in a little while. I was hoping for 8am, but AJ requested 2pm.

Sorry...been a long day.

Here are some pics of Earl.











Fire basket can be raised to upper level is I want to just direct grill.











Getting Earl all seasoned...in the rain.





Been hot since about 4pm now.

Threw some bacon on the racks after it had been hot for a couple hours and sprayed everything down with Pam.

Earl will get some more work in the morning, but I'm beat and decided just to grab some Subway for dinner.

Had a couple minor issues. With a rack in the bottom shelf slot, the bottom thermometer clashes with the rack handle. I have to run over to AJs to pick up the touch up paint I forgot, so I'm just gonna have him cut off the handle on one rack. The handles aren't really needed since I have full access to the front of the racks.

Second, despite a 48 hour pain cure, once the paint got warm it got pretty soft. I placed a couple logs on the top of the firebox lid to heat them and it marred the paint a bit. Touch up paint will fix it.

The 3rd issue is the tougher one. The thermal expansion of the firebox/grill-top lid caused it to have a slight rub against the side of the smokebox and it marred the paint as well. Again, I will touch it up (or just keep that spot well seasoned if it looks like it is getting down to bare metal) but it might be just a characteristic of Earl for the long term. AJ has offered to make adjustments but that requires cutting off the lid and trimming which would involve getting it back to his shop. All that seems a bit extreme, to me for a minor cosmetic issue. I was just kinda bummed seeing the finish marred up within an hour of getting it hot.

As for performance, this stick burning thing doesn't seem as hard as everyone says. Temp starts to drop, add a log. Want hotter temps, add a log. Earl holds temps pretty steady and he seems to breathe pretty well. I ran him at 250 for a while, then ran him at 350 for a while. Gonna let this fire go out and start again in the morning. Still need to do some better testing of the tuning plates.

Bob in St. Louis said:

Yea....I hate to say it, but I called that one.
As much as I'd want my new baby to stay at my house, I'd say that for the long run,. you should let AJ take this one back to the shop and "scoot" that lid to the right about 1/4". Nothing more than a grinder to the hinge points and some teflon washers to keep it "encouraged" to the right side.

Also, in hind sight, the temps you're running the first day might be a bit extreme for new paint. I'm no expert on that one though.

Great looking rig dude. That's an heirloom unit right there. Bite the bullet, fix the things you don't like, and live with it for the rest of your life. It's a beauty!

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Thanks for the input. I'm considering it. Just need to work it through with AJ and get a better look when it's cold...

The lid will actually have to be shortened for the 1/4" scoot will make it overhang on the right, so it is a fair bit more involved than you describe.

I'll get some better pics of the hinges tomorrow...

Bob in St. Louis said:

I'll help if I can. Otherwise, just tell me to buzz off! ..... hahaha

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No worries...

A buddy suggested just grinding the lid a bit. I don't think it is so close it is scraping more than just rubbing, so this might be a viable option, then just need to grind off the lid stop to allow it to rotate back far enough to take about a mm or so off that area and re-weld lid stop/re-paint lid.

Talked to AJ again about options and he is gonna pick it up in a few weeks since I have a party scheduled in a couple weeks in Earl's honor. He will fix the issues then and re-deliver once completed.