I feel like a dope head

I feel like one of those guys that smokes dope and always trying to get the next guy to take a hit and cheering them on when they do.
Some new guy comes into the forum and asks: "Is this blah blah blah grill a good deal?" And I reply: "oh, heck yah, go get it". And once you do, this what you want to with it and it will be so great and then you can try another one and another one and they will just keep getting better and better. And if you buy enough of them, you can sell some and buy more with the profits. Just like a drug addict who feels better when he isn't the only one.
Sheesh, is there a 12 step program for grill owners?

That's pretty good, Bruce! I guess I need 12 steps or jump up to dealerhood!

Actually, I think it can be a rewarding hobby, so I think we are OK with encouraging newcomers. I like that you try to point out the pitfalls of going overboard with expensive parts. I wish I had been on this forum when I did my first full restore of a Genesis. Nice grill when it was done, but even I would have a hard time justifying the total cost



So, I think we keep encouraging but also educating so others can learn from our mistakes. And in my case from having eyes bigger than my stomach!

No harm in being encouraging. It's up to the person asking how far they want to take things not up to you (or me for that matter) only to the person beginning the "hobby". Me? I think I am kinda trying to "wind it down" a little. I.E. I got a nice price from RC on some new grates for my Wolf. Believe it or not wife is encouraging me to spend over $100 MORE for RC's than for OEM style CI grates....................go figure.
So I did acquire the Genesis Silver B last fall for $20 that just flat out works like a champ! I would like to find though a "long" frame or build an extension for it to hold the side burner I have for it (though I will have to drill and tap the manifold on it) not really hard job though. Advantages to it over the Summit. Gets just as hot, just as fast (maybe a little hotter and faster), aluminum fire box (no more rust through), same cooking area, (so I can swap the really nice SS grates from the Summit to it), it will be a good rotisserie grill for if/when I don't want to wheel out that 450# monster just to spin one little chicken, (something the Summit is worthless at due to burner layout). Cons, the Genesis Silver B does not "look the part" like the Summit does. Let's face it that Summit just flat out "looks" better/impressive.
With stainless RC grates on that Wolf though, it would be an outstanding "go to" for most everything I currently use the Summit for. And it's all solid stainless (304) at that including the cart, it's frame and so on. The only parts not stainless is the black iron pipe manifold and connections. So otherwise there is nothing to rust out. The burners are extremely thick and show no signs of going bad, burner tents are also very heavy 16ga 304 and only need a brushing off now and them. If I could find the Wolf dual side burner for it than I'd have totally top notch.
I do want to try and retrofit some decent igniters for it. I am tired of trying to use an extra long lighter to fire it. I have to find some decent knobs for it (missing 2 OEM ones). The factory igniters cost $80 ea and it takes SIX of them, and the OEM knobs are about $40 ea.
Anyway that Silver B (especially with my new custom flavorizers) and the SS grates off the Summit would make a great daily "driver" especially if I can find a way to retrofit that side burner on it. And the Wolf with SS grates a great big boy for those party time cooks or times I need more than just rotisserie. Like pizza. I use the rotisserie burner at full bore, and two outside burners on at full bore and the other 4 burners on med/low and it mimics VERY well how a wood fired pizza oven works.
This would bring me down to the Genesis, Wolf, Q220 red head, and small (jumbo joe) kettle. I think with that assortment I can cover anything that comes along LOL

Yah, I think you would bet set with that configuration Larry. I would just keep your eyes open for a Silver C to pop up and use that frame. I got mine for "free" last fall. They are not nearly as common as a B, but they are not exactly rare either. That would alleviate the need to modify anything, to include the manifold as well.

I don't usually respond to the which one do you think is the best one type questions, without seeing the grill in person it's hard to tell what condition it's in.
I will give my opinion of why I think folks like restoring the early Weber grills then it's up to the individual to decide if that's the route they want to go.

I would never mean to imply that I want to tell someone what to do regarding grill restorations. I feel our forum can be a help to someone just starting to not be afraid to try their hand at a restoration and to consider the merits of a well restored classic Weber vs a new big box store chinabroil junk grill.

On the other hand there are people like me who can benefit from advice on how to keep costs down, avoid money-pit grills (think current version Summits with rusty fireboxes) and, finally, be realistic about time, space and opportunities for flipping. I think we can help people by giving good advice without trying to unfairly push or deter their personal wishes.

LMichaels said:

No harm in being encouraging. It's up to the person asking how far they want to take things not up to you (or me for that matter) only to the person beginning the "hobby". Me? I think I am kinda trying to "wind it down" a little...
So I did acquire the Genesis Silver B last fall for $20 that just flat out works like a champ! I would like to find though a "long" frame or build an extension for it to hold the side burner I have for it (though I will have to drill and tap the manifold on it) not really hard job though. Advantages to it over the Summit. Gets just as hot, just as fast (maybe a little hotter and faster), aluminum fire box (no more rust through), same cooking area, (so I can swap the really nice SS grates from the Summit to it), it will be a good rotisserie grill for if/when I don't want to wheel out that 450# monster just to spin one little chicken, (something the Summit is worthless at due to burner layout). Cons, the Genesis Silver B does not "look the part" like the Summit does. Let's face it that Summit just flat out "looks" better/impressive.
With stainless RC grates on that Wolf though, it would be an outstanding "go to" for most everything I currently use the Summit for.

This would bring me down to the Genesis, Wolf, Q220 red head, and small (jumbo joe) kettle. I think with that assortment I can cover anything that comes along LOL

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Larry,
I think that you have a good game plan. You almost sound like you agree a little with me in saying that the Genesis Silver does what you want as well as the Summit does but just doesn’t LOOK as impressive.

I believe if I were you I would look for a Genesis Silver C, or better yet a Platinum C, and cannibalize until you have one the way you want and the sell the other. Maybe you can get one with a hood you particularly like. Then sell off the Summit and invest in the Wolf with RC grates and hopefully lucky scores in time on the other parts you want.

I am certainly in no position to talk, but I plan to pare down my “keeper” grills to what I can realistically use and, I admit, maybe a couple just for the fun of having an unusual grill in my collection. Everything else needs to be rehabilitated and sold, donated or scrapped. If I have energy left after that and have had success flipping, I will judiciously look for new projects. No more than what comfortably fits in my grill shed!

I don't think there's anything wrong with being encouraging either. The more of these wonderful old webers that are saved from the landfill the better in my opinion. And the more of them out there the longer weber and third party manufacturers will be willing to provide replacement parts like burners and regulators.

Personally I wish I had gone with a weber grill years ago. It would have saved us a lot of $$ and me a lot of frustration.

One of my very first adventures on this forum was building a mini for smoking.
Even 5 years later as I type this the mini is chugging away smoking some bacon.
I really had no clue and I asked a lot of questions and got lots of help and answers. To this day that is what I think makes this forum great, there are no dumb questions and the willingness of it's members to share their knowledge and experiences.
My green genesis was refurbished by me once before I even knew about this forum and I will state it would have been a much better experience if I had been a member to see the methods and ideas that are shared on here.
One way the forum helped me was I really thought the summit was the greatest grill going until I read about the rust issues, no thank you very much I'll just keep my two old and last of the E/W burners genesis grills.
Please don't put yourself down for having to many grills working or otherwise. When we start in this hobby it's a natural tendency not to pass up a deal. I joined in 2013 and by 2014 I had 23 grills from kettles to gassers. Now I have eight and yes I'm sorry I gave up a few, but I'm content with what I have because I use them all. It with time will level out.

I agree 100% with Greg.

Thanks Rich and Bruce! I am SO looking forward to getting past Tuesday the 17th and proving to my wife - and myself - that I can do more than just collect freebies and bargains!

Jon

I really admire those of you that have rehabbed multiple multiple weber grills. Making the world a better place one grill at a time!