It was free, so what could I do?


 

Jon Tofte

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Back 15 years ago when my sons were still kids, we would have fun listening to the song "Subaru" which we bought through the radio show Car Talk which featured it on one of their episodes. The singer/songwriter had a lyric something like this in the song:

Subaru. I never wanted a Subaru. But it was free, so what could I do? So now I am driving a Subaru...

I have been trying to lay off grill acquisitions and buckle down for the last stretch for tax season. But what should appear but this Genesis 330 earlier edition with the E-W burners. I have always thought this was the best of both worlds with the classic Weber burner layout but the advantages of a larger grill and higher hood. It was actually local and I figured I could combine it with a trip to one of my tax clients. When the "seller" on OfferUp said, "No, it is FREE. Just come and get it!" What could I do?!!!

OK, it is predictably rough:

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It has all the classic problems these grills succumb to in our Florida environment:

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But it was free, so what COULD I do?

The prior owner obviously put a lot of effort into cleaning and keeping it functional:


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But it was free, so WHAT could I do?

Well, with some help from my sheet metal shop friend (whose tax return I have conveniently just finished:rolleyes:) I can replace the rusted out bottom and back pieces. I also have some replacement parts for at least one of the side frames and hopefully can mend the other adequately. One nice thing about this grill compared to the 2nd generation 300 series is that the frame pieces also support the side trays making them much stronger. The 2nd generation side trays are just thin stainless that hang on with clips. You can get in trouble trying to move one of these if you make the mistake of using the side trays to lift the grill:mad:!

The rest of the grill isn't really all that bad and should clean up fine. The pins have rusted the lid to the firebox. I will need to be careful in drilling that out. Still, I think it will be a great grill. I think this generation was also more stylish than the newer one. I like the ventilation holes and the look of the burner knobs on the side.

So what do you guys think?

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Haha, is that what you answered the wifey with when she asked about it..."But it was free, so what could I do?" I may have to use that phrase one of these days...LOL. :cool:
 
Wow Jon that is a project and a half! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
I have a genesis E320 with E/W burners and really like it. Of course as I've said before here in AZ where rust is not permitted so that's not an issue.
It gets used more than any of the other grills because it's NG so the bottle never runs out. It's our outside summer oven and for quick cooks we use it all the time especially in the winter.
It is a little bigger than the earlier geneses grills but not by much, what I like is that it's taller, more comfortable to cook with.
 
Haha, is that what you answered the wifey with when she asked about it..."But it was free, so what could I do?" I may have to use that phrase one of these days...LOL. :cool:

She hasn't said anything yet, but I can already tell you what her reply will be. "Leave that piece of junk for someone else and get another tax return done!"

Oh well...
 
Jon, that sucker is pretty bad and it is going to cost to put it back into shape and operation. However, I would be hard pressed to pass on any Weber that was "FREE". If nothing else, keep it around for parts. Or part it out and sell the good parts on Ebay. It is all pure profit.

One more week Jon and then the tax season is essentially over. I suppose you have a few amended returns and stuff like that, but the time is near for some real Rehabbing to get done.
 
Yah, don't go down the rabbit hole of putting more into it than you can get out of it. Like I said, if there is a question, part it out and stock the parts for use on other grills or sell them on Ebay. That way, it is a sure win.
 
The rabbit hole is so tempting, but for a flipper yes, this one might be a great source of parts for another flipper. For personal use I like to rehab pretty well, and for gifts too, like the 1000 I redid for my cousin. If I were flipping then the cost of each item would go into an excel spreadsheet so I could document and track my costs. It is such an easy way to spend money!
 
The rabbit hole is so tempting, but for a flipper yes, this one might be a great source of parts for another flipper. For personal use I like to rehab pretty well, and for gifts too, like the 1000 I redid for my cousin. If I were flipping then the cost of each item would go into an excel spreadsheet so I could document and track my costs. It is such an easy way to spend money!

Yes it is:(. Been there and done that. I have a pretty big accumulation of parts. I already made up my mind that this restore. , whether for profit or keeping has to be done on the cheap using my existing stock as much as possible.
 
Yep, one of my first grills was a Spirit E210 and I put about $150 into it and sold it for $180. I didn't lose money, but if I paid myself for labor, I was getting about $4 per hour.
 
Jon, that sucker is pretty bad and it is going to cost to put it back into shape and operation. However, I would be hard pressed to pass on any Weber that was "FREE". If nothing else, keep it around for parts. Or part it out and sell the good parts on Ebay. It is all pure profit.

One more week Jon and then the tax season is essentially over. I suppose you have a few amended returns and stuff like that, but the time is near for some real Rehabbing to get done.

Ahh Bruce, some see the ugly but I see potential:D! Well, yeah it IS a mess, but since I already have a lot of parts for this model I am hoping it can be done on a shoestring. I honestly do think it can be restored reasonably as long as it disassembles OK.

I was given one of these years ago that had rusted out even worse. Never could get the burner assembly off the firebox in spite of a ton of PB Blaster and all kinds of tools. I scrapped that one down to parts as best I could, plus I had foolishly already purchased some new stuff for it. So, depending on what I have left I might be able to get fully functional without going much further out of pocket. I did do a restore of a stainless version of this grill, so I may have used more parts than I remember:confused:, but I am hoping...

A minimal cash outlay restoration would sure be a good thing at this point:rolleyes:!
 
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Sounds like a plan Jon. What you don't have on hand, you might be able to pick up as the season progresses through another donor grill. Good luck, before and after pics are going to be a must for that one.

I have a question for you and others who rehab Webers. Have you ever thought about showing the grill (or pictures of it) after you restore it to the guy you got it from? I have had a couple people look at me like I was an idiot for wanting the grill or thinking I was over my head for trying to fix it up. They just don't realize a lot of times that it doesn't always take a lot to get them back in shape.
 
Bruce...I've thought about showing the before and after pics of the rehabbed grill to the person I got it from but haven't yet.
 
Sounds like a plan Jon. What you don't have on hand, you might be able to pick up as the season progresses through another donor grill. Good luck, before and after pics are going to be a must for that one.

I have a question for you and others who rehab Webers. Have you ever thought about showing the grill (or pictures of it) after you restore it to the guy you got it from? I have had a couple people look at me like I was an idiot for wanting the grill or thinking I was over my head for trying to fix it up. They just don't realize a lot of times that it doesn't always take a lot to get them back in shape.

Bruce,

Actually, I DID do that one time. The young lady who sold me the stainless E-310 that I rehabbed for our cafeteria. I texted her some of the progress pictures and the one where it was delivered to the college cafeteria. She was amazed and very happily surprised, and she thought it was an extra nice thing that it went for a charitable purpose. That one was pretty ugly with another fused on lid that we couldn't get off when we were trying to load it on my van. I don't think she thought it had a chance!;)

I wanted to do that with my very first restore of a charcoal gray "Target" 1000 but lost the seller's info. I wish I had contact info for some of my other ones as well. It is kind of fun to shock people about what can be done with a redeemable Weber grill!
 
That sure does look like a project. I have gotten mixers that were trashed like that. One I still have on the bench because I started the repaint late in the summer and I have not gotten the lower gear case housing finished yet. I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will. We're due for yet ANOTHER week of February in April weather with snow, ice, and WAY WAY below normal temps. (In case you didn't figure it out I do my painting outside in the garage
 
That sure does look like a project. I have gotten mixers that were trashed like that. One I still have on the bench because I started the repaint late in the summer and I have not gotten the lower gear case housing finished yet. I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will. We're due for yet ANOTHER week of February in April weather with snow, ice, and WAY WAY below normal temps. (In case you didn't figure it out I do my painting outside in the garage

Well, at least no alligators or pythons to worry about ;). Maybe we can both get some projects off the table soon. I am out of space, so if another freebie comes along I may have to pass:mad:!
 
I just got one project off the table yesterday. Overhauled a 33 yo KItchenAid "Classic Style" machine for my neighbor's niece. Just a tip for anyone reading this. The PO of this machine (another of his nieces who had passed away) ran the machine without the little chrome cover on the front. Many people do this thinking it's just a decoration. Well....................surprise..........it's not. It's there to keep flour and what have you out of the attachment hub which has a large bronze oil light bearing in it. Well of course during the refurb that hub drive gear was nearly impossible to get out. Thankfully I was able to get the carboned up bearing cleaned and repolished otherwise I would have had to replace the entire upper gear housing. Seems like a simple thing but amazing how many people lose that piece and don't bother until the machine does not run or makes loud noises. I've seen people throw them out for this.
Much like bypassing some simple care on the old Genesis grills.
Well his other niece should easily see another 30+ years of service from that machine.
 
Jon, don't pass on a freebie. Just leave it outside. That's where it probably spend most of its life anyway. I have one sitting in my driveway right now and six on my trailer in the back yard with a tarp over it. Some of those are going to be parts grills, but they are worth keeping.
 
Jon, don't pass on a freebie. Just leave it outside. That's where it probably spend most of its life anyway. I have one sitting in my driveway right now and six on my trailer in the back yard with a tarp over it. Some of those are going to be parts grills, but they are worth keeping.

Bruce, that sounds fine to me...My wife doesn't, unfortunately, see it this way, and with a continual flow in of junker grills and nothing going out it is getting hard to blame her:rolleyes:. That isn't to say I won't take another freebie (or ultra-bargain) but starting next week it is time to get things moving toward some completed and SOLD projects!:D
 

 

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