The Texas BBQ Forum

slamkeys wrote:I hand-sanded the lid with a rubber sanding block and some adhesive-backed sandpaper I picked up at O'Reilly Auto. There was 80 grit and 120 grit in the assortment.

The wire wheel was a cup shape like this one I used with a portable Milwaukee 12v drill:

I got a semi-paste paint remover. The instructions said to follow up with low-odor mineral spirits. That sound about right?

The paint on the smoke chamber lid is starting to peel near the top seam, should I take the same approach to that area before it starts to rust?

BladeRunner wrote:

slamkeys wrote:I hand-sanded the lid with a rubber sanding block and some adhesive-backed sandpaper I picked up at O'Reilly Auto. There was 80 grit and 120 grit in the assortment.

The wire wheel was a cup shape like this one I used with a portable Milwaukee 12v drill:

I got a semi-paste paint remover. The instructions said to follow up with low-odor mineral spirits. That sound about right?

The paint on the smoke chamber lid is starting to peel near the top seam, should I take the same approach to that area before it starts to rust?

I got a whole package of these from Harbor Freight for the price of this one. 9 in the pack. I'm still on my first after 7 months of moderate use; about 3 times a week..

Surely it isn't all on the pit?!
I already picked one up for $3 at lowes. I'm not sure when I'll do the work. My free weekends are usually spent cooking...

Once you get it clean and rust free, there is not much you can do to the fire box because of the high heat. It's gonna burn away anything you put on it.
The biggest culprit is letting the ashes stay in the fire box after your done cooking.
Your best bet is to clean out the ashes as soon as your done cooking and maybe apply a light coat of cooking oil. (use an old spray bottle)
Ashes are the big killer of fire boxes. Keep it clean.

txdave

txdave wrote:Once you get it clean and rust free, there is not much you can do to the fire box because of the high heat. It's gonna burn away anything you put on it.
The biggest culprit is letting the ashes stay in the fire box after your done cooking.
Your best bet is to clean out the ashes as soon as your done cooking and maybe apply a light coat of cooking oil. (use an old spray bottle)
Ashes are the big killer of fire boxes. Keep it clean.

txdave

It will last if you white metal blast it and prime it with inorganic zinc primer then top coat with high heat paint. Once the zinc prime takes to the profile on the blasted metal the firebox will not get hot enough to burn it away. The process is not cheap but it is what works.

Stainless pot scrubber then rustoleum 2000 degree (from Home Despot) then tarp when not in use. Repeat as necessary.

Can't do the blast treatment- it's a 1 yo old country pecks.
Dang thing stays covered, except when I'm cooking..
I tried the wire brush with the drill and it worked a little bit... I didn't go all out with the paint stripper yet.
I also think I probably need to get a stiffer brush to get through things a little quicker.
But I'll be cooking this weekend so it'll have to wait.

It’s not quite a year since my last post on this topic.
What a year.

So I tried the steel wool and steel brushes. That was tough. Sometimes it felt like I was going nowhere.

I’m getting ready for bbq season and am at it again.

Can I use a rust inhibitor? Like a fancy CLR or Krud Kutter made to turn rust into a paintable surface and even hang around to prevent rust from coming back.

Thanks all!

Hey there,
Check ur PM BladeRunner

Liquid acid whether it is hydrochloride acid or another form can be sprayed on, a green or red scrubby and wiped off. It cleaned up the area completely then quickly grind it with 80 grit wipe
Down with a wax and grease remover followed it up with paint.

This process is super quick and easy. I would not use encapsulator primer in it. The acid removes the rust to the pits of the steel so it doesn’t come back.

I'm still using an oil finish on the firebox lid, and it's holding up better than the original paint did. I take a rag with some cooking oil on it and wipe it down after it cools off so it doesn't rust between cooks (rain, dew, etc.). The most intense heat from the fire hits the top of the lid and it turns a bluish color when the oil is still new.

My original oil finish turned a dark bronze color when I started using Flax seed oil, and the coating got thick like paint.


I re-finished it (sanded and re-oiled with PAM) while I was home-bound after Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston and I was sitting around for weeks. This photo was after a couple of cooks and the oil finish was still pretty light in color, but you can see the blue area where the fire was hitting the top of the lid:


Overall look of the oiled lid compared to the rest of the smoker:

Well... I think I know what I'm going to be doing over the next few days. My Loaded Wichita needs some help, heh.

I ended up using Naval Jelly after several hours of trying the brushes, pads and other mechanical methods.
Paints on beautifully, rinse it off with water 15 minutes later.
Outside and inside.
On the outside, I went with 2000 degree paint.
Inside just back to Pam and smoke.

It looks like new.
I did some high speed scrubbing and even a little edge grinding to clean up some of the weld spots that were a little sloppy (I have an Old Country Pecos).