Genesis 1000 Restoration - Firebox issues

I finally found a 13 bar Genesis to restore, but it was in black. A few days later, I stumbled across a red one.



This is Southern California, so both frames are in excellent shape. I disassembled everything this weekend and ran into an issue with the fireboxes.

The Black one has six extra holes in it from a non-Weber rotisserie:





The Red one has a mounting bolt from Hell. I've read dozens of threads here that deal with this bolt and I think this is something new. It appears that a smaller diameter bolt was used and some sort of filler material was inserted in the hole with the bolt. I tried drilling out the bolt, but it won't budge. All of the PB Blaster I used managed to dissolve some of whatever compound was in there, because I can now see into the firebox through the hole to the right of the bolt.



I'm at the limit of my very limited skills and tool set.
How do I get rid of the now-hollow bolt in the Red grill without damaging the fire box, besides taking it to a local machine shop?
Should I fill in the six holes in the Black grill, and if so, with what?

I am not sure I understand the problem with the bottom picture. Is that dark circle the old bolt broke off or is that a hole through the fire box?

Regarding the first picture, you can use Ultra High Temp JB Weld. It will patch up those holes just fine. But, I would try to repair the bottom one first.

I would not sweat the extra holes. Just get some appropriate sized screws and some washers and just put them into the holes. Easy peezy. The bottom one. It appears the bolt is out and the hole is open. Just use some fender washers (large diameter outside with small bolt holes) and that will fill in the gap just fine. Don't over think it.

Thanks for the responses! Re the Black one with the extra six holes, I will likely fill the four small holes with JB Weld and put bolts in the 2 larger ones.

Here is the same pic of the Red firebox (bottom pic above) with additional information:



The bolt is not out. It is still very much fused to the firebox at about the 7 o'clock position of the original mounting bolt hole. I drilled a hole through the bolt in a failed attempt to extract it, so in the pic, the bolt appears as a small silver circle with a black hole in the middle. The original factory hole for the mounting bolt is larger than the bolt. I was able to remove some of the hardened mystery compound that was apparently put into the mounting bolt hole along with the (smaller than OEM factory) bolt. In fact, I was able to make a pin hole through the mystery compound to the right of the bolt. However, the rest of the mystery compound is stubbornly resisting efforts to remove it. I can't ignore it and move on as there is insufficient space to get any useful sized bolt through as it currently stands.

It's impossible for me to drill out the what is left of the hollowed out bolt with my handheld drill because the bit dances of the edge off the bolt and into the firebox. I suppose I could stand the firebox on its end with the mounting bolt hole facing up, keep soaking the mystery compound, and hope for the best. Or I could find a machine shop that would drill it out with a drill press without charging me an arm and a leg.

Any other ideas?

Well, if it was me, i would support the area around the cook box on the inside. Then I would get a punch and lightly try hammering out the smaller bolt along with the "mystery stuff". You will get horror stories about cracking the cook box, but I have done this to about 15 cook boxes and only failed on one. I suspect the Mystery stuff is actually High Heat JB Weld.

Stupid question: Can you not increase the drill size step by step to drill out the bolt? Looks like you already drilled a hole through the bolt. Now use a slightly larger drill. That is what I have done in the past if the bolt wouldn't budge. I have metric drill set spaced in 0.5mm sizes which is a little bit less than 1/32".

Stefan H said:

Stupid question: Can you not increase the drill size step by step to drill out the bolt? Looks like you already drilled a hole through the bolt. Now use a slightly larger drill. That is what I have done in the past if the bolt wouldn't budge. I have metric drill set spaced in 0.5mm sizes which is a little bit less than 1/32".

Click to expand...

Not a stupid question at all. The bolt is stainless. I started with a very small bit and increased it twice. But each time I stepped up in size, it thinned out the side closest to the firebox. I tried the next size up but it seemed to be getting into the firebox rather than the thicker part of the bolt and the mystery compound. If I had a drill press I could clamp it to, then I'm sure it would be fairly easy to drill out.

Stefan has a good point, but make sure you use high quality bits and safety goggles. The bits tend to grab when stepping them up and it is easy to shatter them.

Bruce said:

Well, if it was me, i would support the area around the cook box on the inside. Then I would get a punch and lightly try hammering out the smaller bolt along with the "mystery stuff". You will get horror stories about cracking the cook box, but I have done this to about 15 cook boxes and only failed on one. I suspect the Mystery stuff is actually High Heat JB Weld.

Click to expand...

Bruce said:

Stefan has a good point, but make sure you use high quality bits and safety goggles. The bits tend to grab when stepping them up and it is easy to shatter them.

Click to expand...

Thanks Bruce, I will give that a shot. I did break a couple of bits getting as far as I did and I always wear eye protection.

Yes it is a challenge to hit the center of the bolt and prevent the drill running off to one side. This happened to me as well. But sometimes when you cut out the bolt on one side the remaining pieces can be removed easier. I would not be worried if the bolt hole gets a bid wider and more oval than round. The firebox can't move forth and back and the only purpose of that bolt is to prevent the firebox from tilting up when the lid is opened.

I agree with Bruce.... Support the inside of the firebox and using a centerpunch give that bolt a whack with a hammer. If you can angle the punch towards the thicker side of the drill hole, all the better.....

I like the “support and hit it with a hammer” idea. I also see the value in stepping up drill size once the sidewall is thin enough you should just be able to snap it and then clean up the hole and use Larry’s fender washer fix. Same for the holes, but, I’d probably clean it up and just not worry about those, I never said I was a purist!

UPDATE: No hammer needed. I bought a HF blow torch over the weekend to deal with the stuck drip tray bolts and manifold bolts. The torch easily removed those 6 bolts. So I applied 15-20 seconds of heat to the hollowed out mounting bolt in the picture and it fell right out.

glad to hear that.