Wolf $10K Built-In Grill Restore


 
I adjusted the orifice on the left connected to the larger silver flex pipe. I thought you kept one, and donated one to your church. My bad. I did spend many hours with razor blade, scotch pads, simple green (purple one), steel wool, and drill with wire wheel. I think this thing will look and run close to new when I am done. I found out today that it is a 2009 model.
How do you know it's a 2009 model? According to the nameplate, the gas appliance was certified to the 1998 revision (which was issued as an addendum to the 1995 revision) of the gas safety standard, and afterwards the next version was in 2002. My guess is that your Wolf is newer than 1998, but older than 2002.
 
How do you know it's a 2009 model? According to the nameplate, the gas appliance was certified to the 1998 revision (which was issued as an addendum to the 1995 revision) of the gas safety standard, and afterwards the next version was in 2002. My guess is that your Wolf is newer than 1998, but older than 2002.
I called Wolf and asked.
 
One mod I have been thinking about making to mine is adding Xover tubes to it. If there is one thing I really dislike about the grill (operationally) it's if I turn off a burner or one happens to blow out it will not "relight" easily. In my case I took out all the little igniter pieces as only one worked out of the 6, and they were so damn expen$ive. I plan on making something akin to an old Weber design with one igniter and then burners being able to light with Xover tubes.
Waddaya think Joe. You're the only other human I know who has one of these monsters.
 
Amazing work Joe, that's going to be one heads up grill when your done. The issues you've run into and the problem solving is remarkable.
Can't wait to see the grill when you're finished.
 
One mod I have been thinking about making to mine is adding Xover tubes to it. If there is one thing I really dislike about the grill (operationally) it's if I turn off a burner or one happens to blow out it will not "relight" easily. In my case I took out all the little igniter pieces as only one worked out of the 6, and they were so damn expen$ive. I plan on making something akin to an old Weber design with one igniter and then burners being able to light with Xover tubes.
Waddaya think Joe. You're the only other human I know who has one of these monsters.
I really like that idea! I just went out to the garage to play around to see what is possible without too much effort.
I would also think instead of eliminating, replacing the igniters with something like either the Weber collection box, or igniters from a E3xxx series as both are cheap and pretty easily adaptable. I think a 4 burner set for the E3XX went for $16 with the everything. There maybe others out there as well.
Posting photos below.
On the crossover tube issue. I like the way Napoleon does theirs. They use 2 half pieces of SS between burners bolted to the back wall of the firebox. No matter what, you will have to drill some holes in the burners for the gas, and a hole or 2 in the back wall to mount the cross light brackets (what Napoleon calls them)
Having the igniters and crossovers would be great IMHO.
Take a look at the photos and let me know what you think
 

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I don't see any flames there
You will not / should not see flames there as it is just to pass gas (like me after bean) between burners, unlike the Weber with holes. You made me go out and take the grill apart for more photos. I even turned off the flames on one burner and gas on that turned on and let the next burner ignite it for testing (hard to do on the napoleon as the gas jet igniter is lit when you turn the knob). Here is a pick with both burners on. It was bright out so hard to see but both burners were fully lit.
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OK that's pretty cool. Weird there is no flame. As for the gas issue (yeah I have the same problem LOL). So on the Napoleon if an adjoining burner is turned off does a "flame front" form in that channel? I'm kinda wondering how an adjoining burner will "light" if there is no flames only gas. But that seems like a cool idea as it means I would not have to drill my precious Wolf burners
 
OK that's pretty cool. Weird there is no flame. As for the gas issue (yeah I have the same problem LOL). So on the Napoleon if an adjoining burner is turned off does a "flame front" form in that channel? I'm kinda wondering how an adjoining burner will "light" if there is no flames only gas. But that seems like a cool idea as it means I would not have to drill my precious Wolf burners
OK you got me thinking, maybe there is a flame that we can't see? How does that light the other burner? Maybe only when gas on the other side the flame spreads over? You will probably have to drill a couple of side holes in each burner to get gas across to the side. Charbroil and others also use the same system but with much cheesier parts. In fact these adjustable ones while not very robust may also work.
 
You will not / should not see flames there as it is just to pass gas (like me after bean) between burners, unlike the Weber with holes. You made me go out and take the grill apart for more photos. I even turned off the flames on one burner and gas on that turned on and let the next burner ignite it for testing (hard to do on the napoleon as the gas jet igniter is lit when you turn the knob). Here is a pick with both burners on. It was bright out so hard to see but both burners were fully lit.
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I once restored a built-in "Lazy Man Grill" that had solid tubes (with one small break) that served as crossovers. Similar concept. It seemed to work fine, but even these would rust out and fail. Lazy Man was one of the very first gas grills on the market. The one I restored was all stainless - though NOT bullet-proof - but otherwise very old-fashioned.

 
I once restored a built-in "Lazy Man Grill" that had solid tubes (with one small break) that served as crossovers. Similar concept. It seemed to work fine, but even these would rust out and fail. Lazy Man was one of the very first gas grills on the market. The one I restored was all stainless - though NOT bullet-proof - but otherwise very old-fashioned.

Amazing job on the restore. In the final picture it looks to still be missing the ceramic briquets or whatever layer goes over the burners.
 
OK that's pretty cool. Weird there is no flame. As for the gas issue (yeah I have the same problem LOL). So on the Napoleon if an adjoining burner is turned off does a "flame front" form in that channel? I'm kinda wondering how an adjoining burner will "light" if there is no flames only gas. But that seems like a cool idea as it means I would not have to drill my precious Wolf burners
Could it be that the raw gas from the unlit burner crosses over through the tube to the lit burner, ignites and then back lights the unlit burner. 🤔
 
Amazing job on the restore. In the final picture it looks to still be missing the ceramic briquets or whatever layer goes over the burners.
Yes, didn’t have those in time for that last picture. It was a fun restoration and I didn’t lose any $ since it was pretty much time and materials for my friend. Lazy Man is a good grill, but it didn’t do a lot for me.
 
I got my screws today, so I could put it all back together. I am waiting to see if the igniter buttons I ordered will work before I give it the Windex final shine, as if the buttons don't work I will be getting my greasy prints all over it again. I fired it up (manual ignition) and here are the almost final pictures. The grates came out really nicely after much scaping, chiseling, brushing, grinding, and oiling. In fact the back side look almost new as I am sure they were never flipped.
I know you guys would not my target customer, as like myself, you be all.... lets just say thrifty;-) but I am thinking of once the igniters work listing it for $1650. What do you guys think? Am I way off?
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No, I don’t think you are way off at all. You have done a fantastic job on that grill. What I do think is that it may be months - even into next spring before you find a buyer. This just isn’t your typical average person shopping for a lower cost fix for needing a replacement grill. You have to find someone who (1) knows what a Wolf is (2) wants a built-in grill and (3) has that kind of money to spend. That type probably doesn’t frequent FB Marketplace looking for used grills very often. But they do exist, and the right one seeing what you have done is certainly going to be impressed.

Prepare for a slew of really low-ball offers!

You might want to include an ad for a new similar Wolf in your write-up.
 
Wow that thing looks nice. Now I am jealous LOL. I love the louvered flavorizers. I am hoping to have Dave make me a set of those. Mine is an earlier version than yours and it has solid ones. You did well on the grates as well. As did I when I restored mine. Heck I got close to 10 years out of them before I could not deal with them anymore. Could you show me a close up of the igniter setup you made once more? Anyway nice job. Honestly the only issue you may have with your target price is people A. not knowing what the grill is and B people wanting a cart
 

 

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