18.5 WSM Score/Rebuild

Hello brethren. It's been a year since I was here, I've filed all of the great advice and never come back. Sorry.

Since y'all like a good story- I was looking on CL at rummage/garage sales and stumbled upon a listing that had a pic of a WSM buried in a garage. The listing just said grill/smoker. So after the wife got home Thursday(couldn't let the kids nap alone!), I sped out to the house. I figured it would be gone by the time I got there, and I didn't want to send an earlier message tipping off what it may be worth. It was gloriously sitting at the top of the driveway waiting for me. My limit was $150, and I wandered over to see the price on the lid was $25. Being frugal, I offered $20 and the owner was happy to take it! Score!

Now, this thing needs a little work, new grates, door, vents, and a paint job. I'm sure I'll get a fancy door, and the grates will be easy to get, but where to get vents? It's an older model that doesn't even have the thermo on top. Weber's site is agitating. Is it just eBay and calling Weber?

Thanks for the help. I'll have to get some pics up when it's all said and done. Cheers

smoke- Yeah, I know, I just wanted to give an idea of vintage.

Harbor- Since I'm new to a WSM, I take it the 18.5 kettle grates won't fit the smoker? I know my big smokey joe doesn't share grates, for reasons that confound me. Anyway here are some pics. Thinking a a scrub with some 400 grit, prime, and paint. Hi-Temp color yet to be chosen. I'm thinking a dark blue with a Trogdor stencil.

Ha! My pic had the center section upside down. Noooooob! Don't kill me y'all, but I deem this a runner. It has 3 small rust holes in the bottom pan. The rest is rusted and unloved. 20 bucks was a good price. I'm in for 2 grates and some vents, I may skip the fancy door and spend it on a nicer thermo. I almost cried when I drilled the vents out to see the vent holes were a teardrop cut. Could have put some awesome pipes out of those holes. Anyway, I just used a wire brush on an angle grinder, and can bombed it black. Trogdor stencil and pics to follow. And now a couple of questions:

Does anybody make a 3 probe thermo? You'd think there would be enough WSMs out there to make it worthwhile. I'm waiting for new vents. Does foil stuffed in do the trick in the meantime? Finally, I see less than stellar opinions of the stock water pan. I thought I saw some purist do rocks versus water. Thoughts? Cheers.

Here we go! A rough idea of what it looks like. GFCI box to keep the Maverick transmitter cozy and dry. Slot ground the side for the probes. I kept the door after it was all said and done. I did a terrible job on the Trogdor stencil. Oh well. I'll have to use foil in the vent holes until I get the new ones. It's a runner. Maiden pork shoulder run shall commence in a couple hours!

I don't know why I keep bumping this. Oh yeah, if something goes wrong, I'll blame myself. If everything goes wrong, I'm blaming Eastern Airlines. They overserved me brandy and cokes. They also overserved bad customer service, Frank Borman, and Frank Lorenzo. 226 in the 'pit'. Time for a nap.

16hrs. Apple and Pecan. Thermo was great, smoker was silly good. Smashed it apart with my hand, by far my best shoulder ever. Thanks for all of the help. Wish you all could had some Q, and tapped an IV with Segrams 7.