Another redhead Genny 1000 restoration....kinda

Hi folks, i'm back with another newbie thread! This time with some pics of the start of my Genesis 1000 restoration. Well, it doesn't need much, honestly, and i've probably overpaid in both $$$ and labor, but i plan on having this grill for a while.

I posted on another thread when i saw this go up on CL, but the seller seemed to be looking for the Snap-On premium, so i let it sit for about 2 weeks. I contacted him and offered $100 if he would fire it up, but only $75 untested, assuming everything else was present and in ok shape. He agreed but admitted he didn't have an LP tank. He said his neighbor, who is retired but used own a SO dealership gave it to him. When i got there, it was in great condition, besides the FB's rusted through. The porcelain grates were ok but showed a bit of deterioration on the underside, but still a few years of life left. All the wood was pretty weathered, but salvageable, the serial number sticker was sun-bleached white and it was missing 1 knob. There was some over spray on the lid, but not very much and not noticeable really. Some roti scratches on the sides of the firebox and a small amount of flaking paint on lid sides. Frame paint was in good shape with no rust that i could see. Burners looked complete. Paid the $75 and took her home. Attached my tank, got a long lighter and it fired right up!

I immediately ordered a new ignitor and the original weber FB's. Yes, i know better now; the next set will be rcplanebuyer's.

As i went over it more closely at home, i realized that there isn't a bunch of cook funk in the lid or firebox to grind out. The drip tray is quite clean, although the pan holder was pretty rusted. And a quick test of the firebox bolt showed that it was easily removable and even reusable. I think this thing had a pretty sheltered life and wasn't used very much. Sweeeet!

At first i was considering not doing anything besides the refinishing the wood (along with the ignitor and FB's, of course) for a few more years of service before a full on restoration, but after i read some to the stories of seized firebox bolts, i decided to go ahead and take it all the way down to the frame. I've started today with the respray of the lid sides, firebox and drip tray. UHH semi-gloss for the lid sides and drip tray and HH flat for the firebox.

I've sanded down the wood and started with multiple coats of Minwax Pecan poly 1 step in Satin. Not my best work on those so far, but i have a few days to before i am reassembling. I've bought new SS screws for the side tables, along with SS for the firebox, and drip tray bolts. Anti-seize will be applied liberally as well. Drip tray rails are showing a little rust but are still sturdy. Does anyone paint those when they do their firebox?

With this being my keeper gasser, i haven't really been bothered about the cost of grabbing new parts. I've ordered new knobs, a set of casters, (am i the only one that notices the inevitable tilt to the left of unlevel grills or is it the photos?) a new drip tray clip, rcplanebuyer SS grates, a new warming tray and lid basket and the various SS replacement of screws and bolts that are still usable.

Here are the collection of pics before and during the initial clean up. I'm not good at the photo documentation. Never enough pics and rarely of the proper thing. Its a curse for me. But i'll add more crappy pics as i reassemble, so you're welcome.

IMG_2728 by wwclements

IMG_2725 by wwclements

IMG_2727 by wwclements

IMG_2729 by wwclements

IMG_2741 by wwclements

IMG_2743 by wwclements

IMG_2725 by wwclements

Not a bad looking project and especially if you're a Snap On fan

Looks like a great find. I will be looking forward to an AFTER picture of it.

I don't paint the drip tray rails. They are aluminum. I take them off before repainting the fire box.

When you need stuff like knobs and other parts like that, try asking the forum for help. A lot of members have spare parts and will sell them for much less than retail and sometimes will give them away for the cost of postage. Buying a lot of that stuff aftermarket can get really expensive. You don't want your $75 grill to turn into a $275 grill.

Good luck with the restore.

That is a beauty. You will spend some time and a few bucks on it, but when it is done you will not only have an amazing grill, but also you will be very proud of taking it from rags to riches. Congrats, looking forward to some "after" pictures!

Here it is, reassembled. New knobs and drip pan holder arrive tomorrow.

Nice job on the restore. FWIW, I might be one of the few who thinks that the firebox looks much better with HHU just like the sides. Also, if this is going to be a "forever grill" that you are putting some $$$ into, I'd go ahead and break the frame down as much as possible, trueat for rust and repaint. In the last photo, you can see where the rust is taking hold in the seam. That's just going to get worse over time if you don't do something about it.

Dave, i saw that. It looks much worse in that picture in the direct sunlight. When i pulled the old casters off, i had some rust dust in the legs. I thought about trying to break the whole frame down, but that looked like a total PITA. Instead, i decided to pull all of the frame end caps and spray a lot of Framesaver in there. Then rotated the frame a few times to try to spread it out. Hopefully that'll buy me a few extra years.

If the frame goes completely bad, at least the firebox and lid and the rest will be good and you can swap it to a new donor frame at that point. The lid is the big thing with that grill.

Looks like a very nice job. I don't know what HHU is though but the grill looks great (or is that "grate"?)

I think Dave was referring to Rustoleum High Heat Ultra, the semi-gloss, vs regular High Heat matte finish. I used the HHU on the lid sides, and HH on the firebox.

Bill, I do the same thing

Bill in NOLA said:

I think Dave was referring to Rustoleum High Heat Ultra, the semi-gloss, vs regular High Heat matte finish. I used the HHU on the lid sides, and HH on the firebox.

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Yep. Just being lazy and saving some typing. It might just be my eyes, but the High Heat matte just comes out looking like a light gray charcoal color to me. There's more than enough contrast in the red porcelain cover and the nicely stained wood. But, everyone has their own tastes.

DaveW said:

Yep. Just being lazy and saving some typing. It might just be my eyes, but the High Heat matte just comes out looking like a light gray charcoal color to me. There's more than enough contrast in the red porcelain cover and the nicely stained wood. But, everyone has their own tastes.

Click to expand...

I hate to be a PITA but can someone point me towards a comparison of the HHUltra and the HHMatte? I'm going to be at that point this Friday on mine and it would be great to see the difference on a firebox.

And Bill yours looks really nice. I like the refinished wood color.

Rob B. said:

I hate to be a PITA but can someone point me towards a comparison of the HHUltra and the HHMatte? I'm going to be at that point this Friday on mine and it would be great to see the difference on a firebox.

And Bill yours looks really nice. I like the refinished wood color.

Click to expand...

I don't know that anyone has done any test panels with the HHU and HHM side by side. I'd look at the last 2 pics Bill in Nola posted. The HHU was sprayed on the end caps of the lid. The lower cookbox was sprayed with matte. It's a charcoal grayish in the photo. Bill says it's not as pronounced as in the photo and I definitely take him at his word.

here's a photo from a restore that Rich did. I'd wager that he used high heat matte on both the side panels and the cookbox.




here's one that MikeHawk did the ends and cookbox with HHU

HHU flat is flat and HHU Ultra is a semi gloss. Other than that, no real difference. I would put flat on the cook box and ultra on the end caps.

One reason why I would use the ultra semi gloss on the end caps is because it is much easier to clean. Once you get a stain on the flat, it is basically impossible to get out without stripping the paint.

Ultra on the endcaps, matte on the FB:



I tried ultra on both the FB and endcaps, and that looked nice as well, but I think the matte hides the imperfections better.

Thanks for the pics guys. Think I will try the HHU on both. Sorry for the thread hijack Bill.