Summit Gold D6 Restoration

Hello all,

I am new to the forum, and I just want to say how awesome of a site this is. The amount of knowledge I have gained since stumbling upon this site is priceless.

To preface—I apologize in advance for the long post, but, based on the threads I have previously read, I feel the background details are important to help you guys answer my questions.

I am just beginning the process of restoring a Summit Gold D6 grill, and I have a couple questions I can’t seem to find the answers to when searching the forum (I apologize if these have been answered before; I tried my best to look for the answers before posting). A few key pieces of background information:

• This grill is for personal use—I don’t mind spending a few dollars to return the grill to a state where it can be used for many years to come (although I want to keep the costs down as much as possible, obviously)
• The interior of the lid/cookbox has corroded significantly, and Weber is sending me new ones (both lid assembly and cookbox) because the grill is still under warranty. The grill sat outside uncovered until this point (it was sitting in the Chicago elements year-round for 10 years), but will be covered after every use going forward
• The grill works great in general, but the infrared burner does not work. I’ve cleaned the IR burner, as well as tried to light it manually, but the cookbox/stainless steel casing for the IR burner have eroded so significantly that the gas supply from the orifice is not contained enough for the ceramic surface to stay lit.
• The metal collection boxes associated with the main burner electrodes are corroded such that the electrodes take several “clicks” to create a spark to light the burners. I am replacing the entire ignition kit on the grill rather than trying to find home-made solutions to the issue (I have ordered the ignition kit from Weber). As I mentioned, the grill was sitting outside uncovered for 10 years, so I’d rather replace the entire igniter kit now—I don’t want to replace a few pieces now, then have different parts of the igniter kit break in a few years when the parts may be discontinued by Weber.

The parts I have ordered from Weber (or will be receiving due to a warranty claim), including all relevant hardware:

• Lid assembly
• Cookbox
• Bottom shelf
• Ignition kit
• Flavorizer bars (the current ones are corroded and falling apart; unfortunate that these are so expensive for this grill model)
• IR burner (including thermocouple, igniter/electrode, cover box, etc.)

Hopefully that covers all the relevant background information. Here are my questions:

1. I’ve read on a few threads in this forum that this specific model has some design flaws which cause rusting/corrosion over time. This is definitely applicable to my grill—the bottom shelf is completely rusted through (there is a hole about 8 inches in diameter). I have purchased a replacement bottom shelf from Weber—is there anything I can do to the shelf to avoid rusting in the future?
2. Are there any areas of the grill I should treat/paint to prevent rusting in the future? I know not to paint the inside of the lid/cookbox or any of the stainless steel grates/flavorizer bars, but I was unable to get a clear understanding of what specific outer parts of the grill should be treated/painted to prevent rust.
3. When cleaning the stainless steel grates, how much should I clean them? I know they will never look like brand new stainless steel again, but at what point do I know they are back to an almost-new condition? What cleaning products are best to clean the grease/grime off these grates?
4. I am going to do a deep-cleaning of the grill, but are there any other areas I should specifically clean/look for corrosion/rust/damage on when taking the grill apart? Aside for the bottom shelf, which I will be replacing.
5. What cleaning solution is best to remove rust from the grill, should I find more?
6. What scrubbers are best to use to remove rust from the grill? In the forum, some say I should use steel wool, while some say to use Scotch-Brite pads (scrubbing gently with the grain with either option, of course)—what is the general consensus?
7. Any other random tips to keep the grill from corroding/rusting in the future?
8. Completely unrelated question for fun (as you can see, I’m looking forward to having a functioning IR burner)—have any of you guys cooked a steak using the infrared burner to sear it? Any tips? I’m a filet guy usually; not sure if that matters.

Again, I apologize for the lengthy post—I was just trying to cover all the bases to preempt any follow-up questions. I really appreciate the help in advance!

Re, the IR burner. Does it actually ever light or not? As for cleaning. Fine steel wool and say a good cleaner like Simple Green are great BUT not on Stainless as the microscopic bits of steel wool will get into the pores of the steel and make it look like it is rusting. Substitute Scotchbrite pads for these regions.
Much discussion has been given to the use of Paint Over Rust type products. Two of the best are POR15 and Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. The Eastwood product has a bit of an edge because it can be had in an aerosol can with a long flexible wand to get inside stuff. It's REALLY good stuff I have used it and had it stop rust out on my cars dead in it's tracks. Be aware they're both quite expensive
Heavy grease/carbon deposits on the porcelain surfaces can be cleaned quite well with Easy Off also.

The IR burner tries to light (you can see random blue flames pop up here and there), but as soon as I remove the lighter flame from the ceramic tile, the whole ceramic area no longer lights blue, no matter how long I hold down the IR igniter knob.

Thanks for the advice regarding the cleaning— I will purchase a few of the products you mentioned and try to get this deep clean done over the next couple of days.

I'd think there is debris blocking the way to the IR burner unless the IR burner itself is damaged in some way