To Restore or Not To Restore: Summit 650 Black NG


 

Ryan in Toronto

New member
Hello All!

First time poster but 2 week follower of this forum! Have seen some really great rebuilds and looking forward to sharing with you all the Genesis Silver B i'm restoring!

Now that i've picked up some experience with the Silver, I was hoping to get my hands on a bigger grill. Came across a 2000 Summit 650 NG on FB and on the fence about whether to restore or not. I went to check it out in person and frame was pretty solid. A bit worried about the firebox + lid so I wanted to get everyone's feedback to see if you think it's worth restoring.

Links to pictures can be found here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/JSuFxJxeuH9UctiY9


Thanks!
 
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Many people here recommend staying away from the Summits. The reason is that the cookbox near where the burner tubes go through commonly rusts, and there is no "easy" fix. Most prefer a classic Genesis for personal use, and if you find it to be too small, then just get another one and put it next to the first one :)
 
Not going to try following "links" all over but I can tell you from personal experience with my own Summit 450. Tremendous grill(s) BUT with major fatal flaw. Frint of fire box rusts away and Weber chose to quit supporting the product even DURING it's warranty period so no parts to fix it. So bottom line IMO unless it's free and the firebox is solid don't bother with it
 
A treasure to be sure...but, what the others have already said is true. Also, if you are thinking of conversion to LP that could be yet another challenge. You certainly won't be able to buy a LP manifold or many other parts for this grill.

It looks very nice, so the condition of the inside front where the tubes go in is the critical factor. Maybe you are fortunate enough to have a friend in the sheet metal business that could fab up a stainless replacement. I believe Larry looked into this but the prices he was quoted made it impractical.
 
The grill looks decent. How much are they asking for it? What does the bottom of the grill look like? Six burners is a huge grill. Are you really going to cook for that many people all the time? It does look impressive but will be a fuel hog.
 
thanks everyone for their input.. did not see a rust in the cookbox but I also did not take off the flavorizer bars to inspect thoroughly (the bars were ready to crumble)

what does weber customer support do if the lid/firebox rust and they do not make these parts anymore?? these grills are under warranty for 3-4 more years!
 
Well, if you name is Larry, you are SOL. I think Ryan is SOL too as is most everyone. It is a big stain on an otherwise good Weber C/S.
 
Well said Bruce. I feel badly for those who were unfortunately hoodwinked by an otherwise reputable, stand-up company. It is sad that they could not keep all operations proudly in the USA. At least they seem to try to keep it as good as they can with customer service here in the US. Sigh. I miss America.
 
what does weber customer support do if the lid/firebox rust and they do not make these parts anymore?? these grills are under warranty for 3-4 more years!

The owner's manual (p/n 92776 dated 10/98) for my 2002 Summit 450 lists the warranty as follows:

Aluminum Castings: 25 years
Cooking Grates and Flavorizer Bars: 7 years
All Remaining Parts: 5 years

If you download other versions of the owner's manual from manual websites, (some dated 1997, the first year for this grill) they also list the same warranty as above. I have yet to see a Summit owner's manual that lists something different (not saying there isn't one, just that I haven't seen it).

Lids never rust through in 5 years, so Weber never has to worry about that.

As for the firebox, the problem with this grill is that only the ends of the firebox are cast aluminum. The front, bottom, and back of the firebox is porcelain-enameled steel which falls into the "all remaining parts" category, and it's some of these parts that have problems with rust. Since 2002 was the last year for this grill, those parts went out of warranty in 2007 or 2008 at the latest.

I think some people mistook "aluminum castings" for "firebox" and tried to make warranty claims as if the porcelain-enameled parts of the firebox were covered for 25 years, when they were not. The cast aluminum parts will probably never fail on their own, so like the lid Weber never really has to worry about replacing those parts under warranty. But it's unfortunate that Weber doesn't make replacement parts for the porcelain-enameled parts of the firebox that are known to have rust problems. However, I kind of get it because they probably didn't sell a lot of 1997-2002 Summits like they did Genesis grills over the same time frame, and they're not obligated to offer replacements beyond the 5 year warranty period. But that kind of stinks for your top-of-the-line grill owner.

However, before you can even attempt a warranty claim, there are multiple trip wires that can prevent you from making a claim, the first one being:

"Weber may require reasonable proof of your date of purchase. THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD RETAIN YOUR SALES SLIP OR INVOICE." (Their emphasis, not mine.)

Do I have my receipt? Maybe, not sure.

And there are trip wires for accident, abuse, misuse, alteration, misapplication, vandalism, improper installation or improper maintenance or service, or failure to perform normal and routine maintenance (you HAVE been cleaning your grill diligently all these years, haven't you?) including but not limited to damage caused by insects within the burner tubes. And there are disclaimers for severe weather, earthquake, acid rain, chemicals in the atmosphere, and on and on.

In other words, you're screwed. There's no way you're making a warranty claim! Seriously, Weber is really good about going above and beyond on warranty claims for most grills, but the 1997-2002 Summit might be the exception to the rule.

Anyway, this photo from Larry shows what happened to his Summit, you should look for similar damage in the Summit you're considering.

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?54858-Neglected-ol-Summit&p=606339&viewfull=1#post606339
 
thanks for everyone's feedback! I decided to pass for now as it sounds like the grill is going to be problematic in the long term.
I didn't have a chance to go back and look at the firebox more closely to look for rust..
now back on to FB and Kijiji to look for my next acquisition :D
 

 

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