[COMPLETED!]...Red Weber SS Performer Restoration... $20 CL score...[Now with pics!!]


 
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ashish debroy

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Hello all.

I picked up a beauty (in my eyes at least) recently, and am knees deep in restoring it to its former glory.

First, I thought I had a mutant - no propane assist, no vents. Then found out I had a non-Touch-N-Go pre-2000 Performer (even though the datestamp is DT - must be a donor lid) or Platinum. Pretty severe rust spots and damage to the porcelain finish on the bowl, but no areas rusted through. Eventually discovered that the vents were there, lying under a steel disc, buried under a mound of ash. The One Touch cleaner must have rusted out a while ago. WD-40 and a hack saw got all the hardware off the bowl, and now I'm in the middle of paintingin layers to fillin the rust spots. Painted the bowl with VHT high heat paint (rated for 2000F) then Duplicolor engine enamel. Will hit it with exta fine steel wool then Meguair's Mirror Glaze #7 as suggested in another forum. I am thinking of painting the lid to match. The frame has been repainted with Rustoleum Ultra semi gloss finish (rated to 1200F)

The One Touch cleaner is on its way from Amazon. Called Weber today since I wanted to fix the lid support and add propane assist. They are sending me the lid support hardware kit, burner, igniter, regulator assembly. The propane assist hardware is for the new Performer, so some mods will have to be done to retrofit it.

I need a new ash catcher bar, which terry rayburn had fabricated some time ago. Will check out if they are any cheaper options available first (alreadfy have some great tips from TVWB folks - thanks!) I think the ash catcher hardware itself is in good shape.

I'll keep you posted. This is a labor of love, and I am very excited to finish this project. Any tips will be much appreciated ! And thanks for the tips already provided in another thread.

[ummm... just realized that I don't know how to post/embed pics. Will be back with them shortly].
 
An update...

I made a homebrew ash catcher bar. Bought a 3'long x 1/8" thick x 1.5" wide aluminium bar from Lowes. I had the old broken ash cathcer bar to kind of guide me. Used an adjustable wrench, hacksaw, file, and bench vise (without the bench)

Started with a 12" piece until it was bent in the shape that looked right. The piece had some yaw to it, which I was able to straighten out. Seems to fit perfectly now. Will paint with high heat paint so it will last longer.

It won't win any contests, but looks and fits good enough for government work! Plus, it was cheap to make.

[sorry if the pics don't look great - had to make do with my BB]






 
Thanks!

Painting is turning out to be a sloooow process - building up layers over the worst rusted spots is taking time, added to time spent waiting for parts from Amazon and Weber.

If only I didn't have to go to work every day...
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Shaun:

I'll have to dig up the pics. What would be the appropriate area of the forum to post them in? I could post them in another thread in the Weber Charcoal section if that's ok?
 
Thanks Ashish, I will take a look at them. I love naan bread. By the way, how is the restoration coming?
 
Nice fix on the bar. It will never be seen so it doensn't matter how it looks.

Can't wait to see the finished product. Of course, I bought mine in October or November and just finished it a couple weeks ago.
 
I'm jealous that you are enjoying your Performer
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Finished painting the cart with Rustoleum high heat ultra. I like the semi-gloss finish. The stainless steel cleaned up really well with Bar Keeper's Friend from Lowes. Still working on the layers of engine enamel on the bowl.

The One Touch cleaner should be arriving inthe next day or two. I hope the parts from Weber arrive soon as well. The next 3 weekends are tied up visiting family and with folks visiting us, so I have to get done whatever I can during the week.

Post some pics to inspire me!
 
I know I will take some heat for this, but I still haven't fired up the '03 since it's been restored. I am thinking of taking it to our family lakehouse. I still haven't reattached the TNG ignition. The propane bottle it came with over 10 years, so I won't be able to get it filled easily.

Now my '10 Performer gets used about 3 times / week!
 
Let me be the first... good grief man! Fire that puppy up and get it dirty!!
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Parts for Touch-N-Go and One Touch cleaner arrived today. Woohoo! The cart is painted, now have to work on finishing the bowl so I can do the final assembly.
 
A little progress...

Not sure why I started painting when i still had holes to drill... oh well

Lessons learned today:
- careful when tapping the bowl with a nail punch. It is possible to chip and crack the porcelain finish, even have it flake off. Don't ask how I know that.

-measure twice, drill once. Then be careful with your step bit because it *will* drill a bigger hole than you wanted.

Did a dry fit of the TNG parts - and they worked! Fire! Had to drill a hole in the bowl for the burner. The folks at HD are starting to wonder why I come in just to look at the innards of the Performer on display every couple of days.
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Time for the final assembly. Did not take pics yet of the fitting of the propane burner to the bowl or of the regulator to the tool tray insert of the cart, but I'll get those soon.

The pics were taken with my phone and are not great ( I won't win any awards for photography or my paint job on the bowl), but I just had to share!



 
ITS FINALLY DONE!!!

Final assembly was completed on Friday, so I took some pics. The first cook was these beautiful veal chops I picked up from Costco, already marinated in red wine and rosemary. First bite almost made me cry. They look more yellow than they should because I'm still taking pics with my Blackberry.

Her name is "Ladybug" because she came with a black lid, and also because the paint on the bowl is expected to turn black after a few cooks. One spot is already kinda brownish where the charcoal was closest to the bowl. The pain itself did not break down though (no flaking, cracks, etc)

@ Luis L: I don't think the paint color will last (I knew this from other posts on this forum and another). I used an undercoat of VHT ceramic paint which was rated up to 2000+F but the color was not red enough. Krylon makes a stove and BBQ paint which looked good in forum posts from other folks, but I could not find it in Houston, and was too impatient to order online and wait.


As others have said, temp control on the Performer is very tight. I wish I had added a probe inlet or grommet for my remote therms, but I might add that later. I'm loving the one-touch cleaner - its so convenient.The assembly and ash cather ring fit is tight, since the aluminium used to make the ash catcher bar was thicker than original spec, so I don't know how long the bar on the one-touch will last, since a fair amount of force is required to make it move.

I think what I am truly impressed with is how self-contained the whole unit is. I put a bag of charcoal in the bin with my homemade ash scooper. The only thing I have to bring out now is the meat - no more lugging the weed burner or chimney and starters out to start the coals, etc.

I may be wrong, but this may be one of the more complete overhauls of a Performer documented in the forum, which makes Ladybug even more special!











 
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