Sunny SoCal with SS performer & mods


 

Ricky B

New member
Earlier in the year, i found a red 98 SS performer on CL. It had belonged to the sellers friend who had passed away approx 10 years ago. Thinking they'd use it, they kept it only be stored away for that long. They finally decided to let it go on CL and I was the lucky one enough to be there first.

I already had a black OTS with slide aside that I was using with two side table but had always wanted a SS Performer since i saw them. When i bought the SS, the OTS was sold on CL as well.

But the red bowl and lid didn't appeal too much to me so I reached out to Brian and proposed a trade worthy enough to take place on draft day in the NFL. In exchange for a blue bowl and lid off one of his performers, he received my red bowl and lid along with one first round draft pick for 2017, a player to be named later and cash considerations. Just like that, the deal was done.

Once I received the blue SS bowl/ lid I installed it on my SS cart and was very happy.

Since I had been researching TVWBB and other forums, i started to plan diff mods that I would perform on the....performer.

I ordered wooden handles for the lid, vent and bin lid from Brian and then upgraded the propane tank, hose and regulator to accept the small disposable tanks. When I bought the SS on CL, the hose was torn (rats?) and the propane tank was empty an no longer refillable.

Along with that, I moved the igniter to the front panel and now and have access to it and the regulator on/off knob without having to lift the bin lid. To do this, i used the old propane tank bracket that was used to hold the old 10 lb tank to the SS frame. I used it as the bracket to mount the new regulator and disposable propane tank. I had it welded to the rear of the front panel and rigged it to accept the new regulator and tank. Works great.

I also really liked the lid bale but didn't like the way the lid didn't allow me access to the entire grill. Seeing that the lid hook was not factory on the performer lids, I researched the forums (WKC and here) and found some posts by other Weber fans that helped me do the lid hook mod and regulator upgrade.

The holes leftover from removing the lid bale were plugged using hole plugs and fiber washers. They are tight and have no air leaks.

Before-



After-



















What do you think?

Mods I still want to do-

Add wood panels to the bottom wire rack.
May install the 2015 lid bale and ask Brian for wooden lid bale rollers
Increase the height on the SS performer
Add table mod to increase table space.

Thanks to all of you for posting advice, tips and pics to help me out with my SS. Brian you were a big help teaching me how to post pics

If possible, Ill post a vid of it in action and as well as some cook pics.
 
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Welcome to the group, Ricky. Very nice conversion !!

By chance, ever take a lunch break at the NW corner Lakewood & Gallatin School House Rd ?
... my 'ol stomping grounds back in the '50s
... building used to look like a log cabin back then (before it burnt down, the first time...) ;)
 
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Welcome to the group, Ricky. Very nice conversion !!

By chance, ever take a lunch break at the NW corner Lakewood & Gallatin School House Rd ?
... my 'ol stomping grounds back in the '50s
... building used to look like a log cabin back then (before it burnt down, the first time...) ;)

2 closed Ford and Mercury dealerships are at two corners. Been closed for over 10 yrs. The other corners have a Chris and Pitts and a McDonalds.

The chris and pitts is the one that was in the news about a month ago where a police chase suspect ran in held hostages and then shot himself.

Pass by there every so often
 
Welcome to the forum Ricky very nice job. I grew up in Huntington Park and was always doing things with friends in Downey.
 
Some nice mods there Ricky and welcome to the forum. Don't know if you're aware of this but now that you can use the small bottles you can get the adapter hose that the Q grills use to hook up a 20LB tank. If you don't move the performer a lot it's a good way to go much cheaper than buying the little bottles. I have one on each of my performers and can go a least a year of heavy use without refilling.
 
Your performer looks awesome with the wood handles!

Could you provide more details about the small bottle conversion? The more details (and pics), the better!

What is that grill system show in the last couple of pictures? It looks awesome!

Thanks
 
Your performer looks awesome with the wood handles!

Could you provide more details about the small bottle conversion? The more details (and pics), the better!

What is that grill system show in the last couple of pictures? It looks awesome!

Thanks

Regarding the propane conversion, you just replace the old regulator and hose with one from a newer model Performer. It costs about $45+. Really easy

http://www.ereplacementparts.com/images/part_p_1477523_2290167233.gif

They fit into the burner tube exactly the same as the old hose does. Its held in with a C clip.

The hardest part is that you will need to fab a bracket to mount it somewhere on the cart. Most likely the front panel like me.

A quick search will find allot of thread about it with diff "how to's".





Grill system??? Its just a 12 in diameter heating tube that i bought at HD then drilled holes into it and put wire mesh at the bottom of.
Nothing special, just wanted something that i could use with the gourmet grill grate and have a centered cooking zone.


 
Some nice mods there Ricky and welcome to the forum. Don't know if you're aware of this but now that you can use the small bottles you can get the adapter hose that the Q grills use to hook up a 20LB tank. If you don't move the performer a lot it's a good way to go much cheaper than buying the little bottles. I have one on each of my performers and can go a least a year of heavy use without refilling.

Ya ive seen those. but i dont want to have a huge tank attached to the great looking SS charcoal performer. Besides its not too big of deal to refill the small tanks of buy new ones. I have 2 reserve just incase.

- - - Updated - - -

Welcome to the forum Ricky very nice job. I grew up in Huntington Park and was always doing things with friends in Downey.

HP???!!! I grew up in Bell. Huge rivals.
 
So, the wire rack that the SSP has is not big enough for items and sits too far under the grill. A member on another forum made a custom shelf that was wider and more attractive out of wood that inspired me to do this.

I used Tung oil and Spar varnish along with a stain that I already had in the garage that happened to match the handles Brian sent.

What you guys think?






Here is the raw wood cut to size. I placed the boards to see how they would look and checked how much spacing I would need between the boards. I noticed the end boards would need notches cut out on the corners to allow flush fitting with the frame.




Here I have begun to apply oils, before stain, stain again and seal several times.




Here, i assembled the boards and then screwed them to the guide boards that will fit between the bottom frame rails. The two guide boards keep the shelf from sliding and fit tight





I now have the wire rack that I no longer need. Anyone want it?
 
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Finally got around to reinstalling the lid bale along with Brians lid bale rollers. Plus installed the wheel covers.

No need to say it but AWESOME work by Brian as always




 
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So, i decided to finish my mods up and added the front panel wood.

used pine again and stained it to match the bottom wood rack i had made, wood handles, rollers and vent tab that Brian provided.

It was a bit difficult because I had modded the igniter button and propane regulator. Since the regulator knob wasnt sticking out enough through the wood panel after install, I added a kitchen stove knob just to be able and turn the propane on. IT IS NOT PERMANENT and will be removed.

It came out great, I think.





 
Wow looks awesome! Loving the mods and wood detail.

The overhang of the lid bale system always bothered me as well. I just upgraded my SS performer to the 2015 version, I wish I did it earlier.
 
Wow looks awesome! Loving the mods and wood detail.

The overhang of the lid bale system always bothered me as well. I just upgraded my SS performer to the 2015 version, I wish I did it earlier.


Thanks fellas

ive thought about the 2015 lid bale mod but then the bale would stick out too much and the Weber SSP cover wont fit.
 
So, after looking at 2 mods a member on another forum did, I decided to add them to my blue ss.

first, I moved the regulator to under the flip-up charcoal bin lid and side mounted the propane tank. Now its hidden and out of view. No pic of the tank mounted, but ill post one tomorrow


Because I did this, I needed to replace the wooden panel so that it would no longer have the holes. I also moved the weber plate to the right and moved the tool hooks to the left.


Then i began to work on the Slide-Lid mod
I flipped the lid so that little handle would be on the right and afford me more surface area to work with.



Since I flipped the lid and wanted it to slide open, the side edges of the lid did not allow it to sit and slide flush with the fame bc of the cross member. So....i dremmeled a groove into to each side of the cross member so that the lid edges had a "track" to slide on and allow the lid to sit/slide flush.



In order to install the drawer slides and keep the lid flush, i had to place 1/4 inch shims bw the slide and the grill frame


Then I had to glue shims to the underside of the lid so that the track would attach to it and allow a flush slide


Since the lid has a lip that hangs on the side w/out the handle, i had to dremmel a few holes to allow clearance for the reg knob and ignitor button so that the lid wouldnt hit them as its sliding.


Finally I was done with the slide aside mod


I already ordered a wire basket to replace the charcoal bin. Due to the drawer slide install, the charcoal bin no longer fits. I never really liked it anyway.

Im going to buy a wooden milk crate, paint it to match the wood on my grill and place it on the wooden rack. It it will hold my charcoal, wood chunks and stuff. Well see...

Thanks to the members who come up with mods and ideas.
 
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