Rainy weather has slowed me down. I had hoped to clean and re-paint the firebox, but I will have to wait.
I did get gray paint on one side of the two side/frame pieces:
I am no professional painter, and the POR 15 globs up in a few places. I don't really care about having a showroom finish for this project. This grill will serve out its remaining life in back of a college cafeteria churning out burgers and the like. What does matter is trying to make it as rust-proof as possible for our hot, salt air climate.
Here is the replacement I have for the rusted-out bottom. A friend of mine owns a sheet metal shop and, with the help of another company that does laser cutting, he stamped out some of these for my projects. High-grade stainless that will hopefully last:
I put a rust inhibitor on the magnets (after wire brushing the original rust off) and also on the new fastener clips I got from Weber:
My friend also made me some replacement backs that I will be using. I wish I could also do the same for the side/frame pieces. Unfortunately, these are a lot more complex and not cost effective to replicate.
I will try to find some evening time this week and post progress as possible. Having a local barbecue contest Friday, so I will be cooking all day!