My springtime project

[hammb]

Some people probably remember me posting a craigslist ad and asking what the heck this smoker was. Well, I purchased it and it is parked in my driveway. Having a new little one (and still working on a kitchen remodel from June) I haven't really gotten much time to address the smoker, and figured that it was more of a springtime project. I did, however, get all the leaves and other crap cleaned out of it. I went at it pretty good with the shop vac (quite a bit of rust as well, obviously).

Anyways, I'm posting pictures of what I now have left and asking for any advice/suggestions on what to do to get this bad boy fixed up and ready to roll next summer. Never cooked on a stick burner and never done any of this sort of work (my current cooker was a new in box WSM).

Off the top of my head:

I'd like to replace the handles. Is there a place to purchase the metal wire type handles I see on other cookers?

The wheels are shot and won't hold air. They're dry-rotted completely. I think I can pick them up at TSC which I can see from my back yard.

The racks were all garbage so I will need to get some new ones made. I was thinking just expanded metal. I'm guessing a local metal yard would be able to do that? Should I expect them to cut it to the size(s) that I need for the vertical chamber and the main cooking chamber, or should I expect a giant sheet that I have to cut myself?

My father was originally a welder/mechanic and he says he thinks he can get a portable welder to put a new bottom on the horizontal stack that has obviously rusted out.

What about cleaning out the rust/new paint? I'm guessing I should try to take some steel wool to it to get rid of the rust a bit and then hit it with a coat or two of high temp BBQ paint? Should I paint the inside of the cooking chambers/firebox/etc, or just stick with the outside?

What about thermometers. The one it has is cracked, the port in the vertical stack is empty. Any suggestions on where to get a thermometer that will fit that opening?

Any other suggestions of what to do to help restore this bad boy and get it back up and running next summer? Thanks for any help suggestions from the brethren! Love this place!

 

[GA1dad]

Looks like a great project,, and a great future smoker. Would love to find something like that at the righ price. There's probably a lesson in that rusted out bottom,,,,keep her cleaned out and dry.

 

[hammb]

Looks like a great project,, and a great future smoker. Would love to find something like that at the righ price. There's probably a lesson in that rusted out bottom,,,,keep her cleaned out and dry.

Yeah the whole thing was only a couple hundred bucks just up the road from me. And we don't see these sorts of smokers in NW Ohio all too often, so I jumped on it. I was a bit disappointed to find that the bottom was rusted all the way through though. I was using the shop vac and more and more rust started coming out until I could see my driveway....LOL.

The old guy that I bought it from was a total hoarder and said he hadn't used it in probably 10+ years. It had a propane burner set up in the main cook chamber, but I gutted all that as I don't want it. If it's any indication the tank that was with it was the old style handle that they haven't refilled in years...I'll probably just swap that at Blue Rhino to get a new tank for my fryer/camp chef.

 

[IamMadMan]

Looks like a little TLC will go a long way... Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[haunas]

If the sidewall is an indicator of overall thickness looks like not too bad to clean it up and cut out the bottom and reweld another 1/4 or so piece for bases.

 

[bbqwizard]

That's a great toy you have there. I bet you find a way to not wait until spring to fix it up

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

Looks like a great project. Have fun with it! Can't wait to see her all fixed up.

 

[BigBobBQ]

great project. I rehabbed an old Oklahoma Joe that was pretty bad. I started by using a wire cup wheel and a regular wire wheel on a drill and that removed almost everything back down to good metal. I had to wire brush a few places. I then washed, dried, then washed with denatured alcohol to make ready for 2 coats of high temp bbq paint in the rattle cans only on the outsides. The inside gets wiped or sprayed down with oil and seasoned by letting her burn a while. I would have the metal fab guys cut the expanded to you specifications to make it much easier unless you feel you can do it pretty easily. The tires you are correct you can probably get from TSC or any hardware place. The handles you might have to order online. Thermometers can be found from Walmart, Lowes, probably TSC or ordered online.

 

[BigBobBQ]

This is what I started with.




And this is the finished project.

 

[Schmoke]

Hammb: Your Craigslist find appears to be an almost perfect mirror image of my Brinkmann Southfork smoker.

Except your tires, I'm thinking that was a mod ... and surely an improvement over the stiff, non-forgiving steel wheels on the Southfork. I hate moving the thing around because of the wheels. I never thought of replacing the wheels, that is a *good* idea. That will be *my* springtime project.

Here's the owner's manual to the Southfork:

http://www.appliancefactoryparts.com/content/pdfs/10574-1.pdf

 

[ebijack]

A 4" angle grinder and a lot of cut off wheels. If you take measurements, and pay to have cuts made. Any slight variance and you'll have to cut/trim yourself anyway.
Check that old propane tank dia. The bottom of that tank section might be a perfect fit to make a new bottom of the vertical section. Make sure the tank is flame/spark friendly before cutting.
Check locally on a plastic bead/media blaster on how much to strip the rust/paint. Saves a lot of time/trouble if cheap enough. Sand blasting can really remove more metal than you want. Sometimes won't leave enough to weld to in some areas.
Just a thought.

 

[JohnnyB]

The handles can be had on EBAY. The true stainless ones are about $7/pc delivered. Finding the wheels are easy, TC is a good place, but if you wanna save a few bucks, I ordered the "Marathon" flat free caster style (non axle) for about $25/pc delivered. For the shelves, a sheet of expanded metal is really reasonable, and so is the 1" angle iron. They're easy to cut, and any portable welder should have enough gumption to weld em together. The rusted out bottom, you can have a metal distributor cut a new one out for you, it's probably easier that way, they won't charge very much to do it, and it'll be a good fit. For the rust, get a good 4"+ right angle grinder and a wire wheel and have at her. DON'T paint the inside, only the outside. Thermometers: http://kck.com/tel-tru_grill_smoker_thermometer.html, they "should" be 1/2" NPT fittings (standard). Good luck, and keep the pics of progress coming.

 

[hammb]

Thank you all for the great suggestions! Should make for a fun project and I cannot wait to post pics as i make some progress with it.