New Guy from South of Boston


 

Ryan RS in Mass

TVWBB Fan
Hello all, my name is Ryan, I live just south of Boston, MA.

I've been a Weber grill fan since I was a kid in the early 90s, when my grandfather upgraded to a "good grill" and bought a black Genesis Silver B with the plastic wood slats (durawood I believe it is called?).

My father soon bought a dark green Genesis Silver B as well with the plastic trays but the same side-mounted thermometer as my grandfather's, the then-current model for the mid-late 90s, upgrading from an old crappy Char-Broil.

Both were excellent, excellent grills through the years I grew up.
My father and grandfather always boasted about parts availability and while my father was alive, he worked for a hardware store with access to the Weber parts catalogs, so parts were not only available, but easy to get.
Each Genesis was upgraded at some point to stainless flavorizer bars and stainless grates for longevity.
Both grills were also converted to natural gas through the years.

When my grandfather passed away, his excellent condition Genesis went with his house as a gift to the buyers - they seemed appreciative, but days after the closing, I saw it on the street with a for sale sign on it, and I noticed a fully stainless propane-powered absolute monstrosity next to the natural gas hookup on the deck instead.
What a shame.

I later moved out on my own with my then girlfriend, now wife, and our apartment came with a deck.
My father had a friend who had a "working old grill" at his place in Cape Cod that he wanted removed, and when I drove to get it, lo and behold it was a Weber Q300, which was a real oddity for me at the time.
I had never seen one.

It was in way better condition than described and only needed a new regulator and a good cleaning, but it has been the perfect sized grill for us since, sticking with us through our move into the house we currently rent.
I still marvel at how that free grill works and my wife and I grill all year long, even in the snow.
Really my only complaint is that it has a tendency to repeatedly rust the grates out.
I am now on my second set in the 7 years I have owned the grill, and despite being purchased in late 2017, the second set is already rustier than I want them to be, despite frequently being oiled before grilling.

Here is my Q300 after a recent grilling session (before cleaning):
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That "mark" down the grey front panel is really the grill's biggest problem - I can't get it off despite repeated tries and it has been there since I brought it home.
I will see if there is any advice here for it or start a thread.


So what brings me to TVWBB other than my relatively basic Q300?

My mom and I recently bought a place in Cape Cod together and it has a nice deck. Naturally, we want a grill for it.
My mom still has my father's Genesis and knows how to use it just fine, so I immediately started looking for another Genesis for the Cape for us.

As I said, I'm a Weber-fanboy ever since my grandfather told me that they made a "good grill."
I figured with the ability to upgrade to stainless steel parts, an older Genesis with a wide variety of stainless upgrade parts available made a lot of sense for us for a long term grill in a salty-air climate.

Not knowing much of anything about them, I went looking for a forum about Weber grills and came here for information.
At the time I knew nothing about Weber grills other than the fact that they called their top models the Genesis series)
Nearly overwhelmed by the breadth of great information here about these older Webers and feeling like I had a better idea of exactly what I wanted, I set up a followed search on craigslist and was off.
I also searched apps and Facebook, having noticed others having luck buying grills on OfferUp
Friday night, August 3, I searched OfferUp and found a slightly newer Genesis Silver B for sale a few towns away.

$60 later and I have our grill for the Cape:

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Great overall condition - everything works - it needs new cotter pins to hold the pins in the lid.
It has stainless grates already, which I wanted for the Cape anyway!

The flavorizer bars are only in OK condition and the lower basket/grate could use a repaint.
My plan is to run them as is for now and replace them as soon as they get a little bit worse.
Overall, though, I am very happy, and looking forward to a quick restoration - I will be posting a thread on it soon.

But what makes me suddenly a real Weber-wacko (is that a thing)?

Yesterday morning a friend of a friend asked me if I still needed a grill.
He had a friend who had just put one on craigslist for free.
Before I could say no and that I was all set, he sent me a photo:

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I recognized a Silver A when I saw one, and I just couldn't pass it up for free.

It is rougher than the Silver B I just purchased, but it has stainless flavorizer bars and cast iron grates.
I didn't get to test this one before I picked it up last night (in a driving rain storm no less), but it is home and I will mess with it soon.

The biggest problem I see with it is that the small burner tube has rotted between the 2 larger tubes.
The friend who gave it to me said it works just fine despite this, and burner tubes are relatively affordable.
The drip pan brackets have rotted off, but I have noticed those are relatively cheap as well.

The Silver A will be a restoration project as well, though a longer, larger, slower and probably more expensive one.

I have to determine now whether I want to restore this Silver A to new, keep it, and sell my Q300, or whether I'd like to flip it, because my wife has said in no uncertain terms that there can be no more grills on our deck!
(Three grills on one deck is a bit excessive, I admit...)

Sorry if this is too wordy, but I am looking forward to interacting with you all!
 
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