I've posted about this before asking for advice, but figured I'd add a progress post for anyone interested.
I picked up a Classic Stumps gravity fed smoker a month or so ago and have been working to bring her back to life. It has been one of the more daunting projects I've ever taken on. At several points I've worried that what I thought was a good deal might actually be money thrown out the window. I'm still not certain it's not, but at this point I'm optimistic that it will turn out alright.
I have done a poor job with my picture documentation, but here's what I've captured so far:
Apart from the pervasive rust, the biggest problem I uncovered when I fired it up was the top shoot door. The gasket was trashed and it was leaking a ton of heat.
Like I said, the rust was much more wide spread than I realized going into this. That's what I get for internet (craigslist) shopping right?!
Inside the cabinet door, rust galore!
Another reason I had to order a new shoot door, the upper part (goose neck) part of the latch was broken off.
Here's the trashed shoot door gasket.
I soaked all 5 grates in vinegar and baking soda... repeatedly. Just cleaning the grates took me over a week.
As you can imagine, I've dirtied a few rags in this process.
I stripped off all the hardware, wheels included, and sanded, sanded, sanded, stripped, stripped, treated heavy rust, sanded...
There was a lot more sanding after this, but I didn't take pictures. I stripped it down a lot, but probably still could have done a lot more, but I decided I wasn't interested in making it look brand new. I want it to look ok, but mostly i want it to COOK.
So here's where I'm at. It's primed (one more coat to go), but I still have to tilt it over and attack the legs. The shoot door won't arrive for another two weeks, so I still have time for painting.
After a truck load of elbow grease, I got the racks and chamber cleaned out and re-seasoned too.
I picked up a Classic Stumps gravity fed smoker a month or so ago and have been working to bring her back to life. It has been one of the more daunting projects I've ever taken on. At several points I've worried that what I thought was a good deal might actually be money thrown out the window. I'm still not certain it's not, but at this point I'm optimistic that it will turn out alright.
I have done a poor job with my picture documentation, but here's what I've captured so far:
Apart from the pervasive rust, the biggest problem I uncovered when I fired it up was the top shoot door. The gasket was trashed and it was leaking a ton of heat.
Like I said, the rust was much more wide spread than I realized going into this. That's what I get for internet (craigslist) shopping right?!
Inside the cabinet door, rust galore!
Another reason I had to order a new shoot door, the upper part (goose neck) part of the latch was broken off.
Here's the trashed shoot door gasket.
I soaked all 5 grates in vinegar and baking soda... repeatedly. Just cleaning the grates took me over a week.
As you can imagine, I've dirtied a few rags in this process.
I stripped off all the hardware, wheels included, and sanded, sanded, sanded, stripped, stripped, treated heavy rust, sanded...
There was a lot more sanding after this, but I didn't take pictures. I stripped it down a lot, but probably still could have done a lot more, but I decided I wasn't interested in making it look brand new. I want it to look ok, but mostly i want it to COOK.
So here's where I'm at. It's primed (one more coat to go), but I still have to tilt it over and attack the legs. The shoot door won't arrive for another two weeks, so I still have time for painting.
After a truck load of elbow grease, I got the racks and chamber cleaned out and re-seasoned too.
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