A little bit of progress on my Genesis Skyline "Chicago" Grill


 

Jon Tofte

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I am in denial about tax season (although I have already started on it). It was a pretty day today and I decided I wanted to at least get SOMETHING done on my pet dream: a Weber Genesis Skyline with some of my own modifications to make it my "Chicago" grill. I went to grad school and worked for a year in Chicago and met my wife there as well. So, although I am pretty much a Floridian at heart, I do have a special tie to the Windy City.

In case some of you may be wondering, Weber sold a limited line of Genesis grills through Sears that featured a black hood with a white graphic of the Chicago skyline. They called them the Skyline Series. The white graphic is actually part of the porcelain, so it holds up pretty well. The black hoods are prone to fading. I obtained my hood from a guy in NJ who was nice enough to disassemble his Skyline that he was selling on Craigslist and ship it and some of the other important parts to me here in FL. I was VERY happy to get this hood, which though having some fade is still in nice condition. I think these are unique and very cool:

2e1zii0.jpg


I have made a custom painted Weber logo for it and have been saving a vintage Weber "Grill Out" handle/light that I think will look perfect on this grill:

2872q01.jpg


Today, I started on re-building the frame. I am using an extended frame I picked up a while back which had a nice redhead hood and side burner. I plan to use the redhead hood on a separate redo and make this Chicago grill an extended frame version with a side burner. I think the side burner will add a little to the "urban" look of this grill. Since I plan to use this to replace my Genesis SE 330 (slated for sale), it will be nice to have a non-electric source for regular cooking in the event of another hurricane power outage.

The frame parts were hardly perfect but also not a lost cause:

xd9en9.jpg


xfds1l.jpg


I started by sanding and then cleaning off the dirt and grease with a degreaser. Then I uses a metal prep to get the parts ready for POR-15, a great substance I learned about on this forum. It converts the rust to a neutral chemical and dries into a very hard epoxy like finish. It is great stuff, but not too much fun to work with. I use two pairs of gloves but still got some on me:mad:!

24qjpfd.jpg


After prepping, you have to get the metal totally dry. I borrowed a palm tree and the Florida sun to accomplish that!
2lwu4v5.jpg


Here's after painting on the POR-15: (The wire basket piece in the lower corner of the picture is a "condiment holder" that was one unique feature of the Skyline Series grills.)

2a9e5uv.jpg


I especially worked on the open ends of the frame tubes and the place where the bolt goes through the frame to hold the firebox to it:

33en8ya.jpg


Everything will need to dry for a while, and then I can spray paint black using Rustoleum Ultra High Heat on the upper portion and Rustoleum 2X on the lower legs where heat is not an issue. These come highly recommended by other forum members.

Stay tuned. I hope to chip away a little at a time until taxes just become too overwhelming!
 
That's looking great. Have you thought about rust proofing the insides of the frame pieces?

Larry,

I did paint POR-15 inside as far as I could reach on all the open ends. I have also purchased the CRC marine corrosion inhibitor you told about. Would you recommend spraying that in all the openings? I assume that should be AFTER I finish painting the parts since that stuff is pretty slimy and any overspray would make a lot of work to 100% remove. I can definitely see how it would be a benefit. Any suggestions about how to use in this situation or any other ideas would be very welcomed:)!

I plan for this to be my very long-term keeper grill, so I am trying to do all that I can to give it a long life in spite of salt air:p!
 
Por-15

I left my parts to dry in our organization's maintenance shop over Saturday evening. Had to get them out of the way before tomorrow morning, so I brought them home tonight to continue curing in a dryer, air-conditioned (sorry you winter sufferers:eek:) environment. Here's what the part of the frame that holds the manifold and igniter looks like after POR-15 has been painted on:

2qx5991.jpg


Note that I wasn't trying for any kind of beautiful finish but rather strengthening where rust had been (see earlier pic) and to prevent it from coming back in this rust-prone area. This area is, of course, all covered by the burner cover plate. Also, I haven't applied the actual spray paint final finish, so this is just the sanded metal covered with POR-15. The really nice thing about this product is that it really does seem to bring strength and rigidity to parts that have had it applied. This area felt tinny and a little bit weak before but now feels much stronger.

I also used it on the "condiment rack" which seems to be coated with some type of material to protect it from everyday use. As might be expected, that material had chipped off in several places. The POR-15 makes a pretty good fill-in for this. The Skyline Series grills featured this wire rack as a special item unique to the Skyline. It doubles as a condiment holder and a tool hanger in place of the three aluminum hooks normally part of these classic Genesis grills.

Here's somebody's unrestored Skyline to show how it looks in place:

29lodc9.jpg
 
Last edited:
I am not sure I'd use the CRC stuff but I would use the Eastwood product with the long hose nozzle. It's 24" long, flexible and sprays 360 degrees
 
I have some of that stuff (Eastwood). It goes on just like primer. I have used it on the outside and inside of the frame. But it is great for getting to areas that can't be reached like inside the frame.
 
John, that’s going to be a real black pearl when you’re finished! Nice work. I missed out on a “Skyline” last fall by an hour! That would have been the one I’d have really enjoyed restoring. My brother lived just off LSD until his death and that was the skyline out the back deck! Well, pretty much. That’s one I’m going to continue to keep an eye out for!
Nice work!
BTW, I’m just taking a break from sorting and filing things to go to the accountant here too!
 
Thanks for encouraging words and great ideas

Hey everyone, I really appreciate your kind words about my dream Skyline "Chicago" grill and also the very good advice.

I hate that it is already my tax season, but I am hoping as a small sanity reliever to try and do at least a little here and there to keep my dream alive. I will post as much as I am able.

I am very curious to see what you all will think of some of my ideas. I am also hoping to do a redhead restore and for that I will stick as close as possible to the original classic Genesis look. But for this Skyline grill, I have a few ideas that I hope will combine the best of mostly classic and but also somewhat more recent Weber features. So stay tuned!
 
Hey everyone, I really appreciate your kind words about my dream Skyline "Chicago" grill and also the very good advice.

I hate that it is already my tax season, but I am hoping as a small sanity reliever to try and do at least a little here and there to keep my dream alive. I will post as much as I am able.

I am very curious to see what you all will think of some of my ideas. I am also hoping to do a redhead restore and for that I will stick as close as possible to the original classic Genesis look. But for this Skyline grill, I have a few ideas that I hope will combine the best of mostly classic and but also somewhat more recent Weber features. So stay tuned!

Are you an accountant?
 
Are you an accountant?

Greg,

Yes, I am a CPA. After years of public practice and then a stint as the CFO of a home health care company I felt lead to step out into the wild and go to work for a not-for-profit. I split my time there between being the director of finances and managing the grounds of our residential & administration campus. I continue to prepare income taxes because a second income is pretty important when you work for a charitable organization. Doesn't leave me much time or $ for grill restorations, but I still do some anyway!

Jon
 
Greg,

Yes, I am a CPA. After years of public practice and then a stint as the CFO of a home health care company I felt lead to step out into the wild and go to work for a not-for-profit. I split my time there between being the director of finances and managing the grounds of our residential & administration campus. I continue to prepare income taxes because a second income is pretty important when you work for a charitable organization. Doesn't leave me much time or $ for grill restorations, but I still do some anyway!

Jon

Thanks for sharing that. My father was a CPA so I'm very familiar with the profession. He was a wonderful father but we didn't see him much during tax season. He sure loved his profession. He was still working part time when he passed away in his 70's several (7) years ago.
 
Thanks for sharing that. My father was a CPA so I'm very familiar with the profession. He was a wonderful father but we didn't see him much during tax season. He sure loved his profession. He was still working part time when he passed away in his 70's several (7) years ago.

Greg, you know that is one thing I love about my new life. I still work a lot since my not for profit job is full-time+ and then I have some consulting work and tax season. However, I live in the community that I manage for our not for profit and walk down the street to my office. Tax season is mostly work in my home office. So, I don't feel so cut-off from my wife and younger son who is still at home. I just wish it was possible to make $ rehabbing Weber grills instead of doing income tax returns:rolleyes:!
 
Jon, you can make money rehabbing Weber grills, but even a republican would say you need a raise. It is all about finding the right candidate at the right price (or free for curbside pickup), sourcing the replacement parts and supplies and then a whole lot of messy work. But, with you being a financial guy, it is pretty evident that a job at McDonalds is going to net you a whole lot more profit in the end.

If you factor in the satisfaction of bringing back a great grill to life, it is almost worth it, but it still doesn't buy you much more than hamburger, fries and a coke. :)
 

 

Back
Top