Comparing Restoring a Broilmaster to a Weber


 
I know this is an old thread, but I had no place else to go. I've scoured the internet and this is the best thread out there about restoring a Broilmaster.
Here's my story. I read about the Broilmasters being a high quality grill and did my research, which led me here. I've had numerous Weber grills, both gas and charcoal (many I've flipped), but after reading this thread, I had to get myself a Broilmaster. They are hard to find! About 2 months ago, I found a P3 here in town and the seller was asking $20. I was super excited and went to go pick it up. When I arrived, the seller told me that he just discovered it was stolen from the side of his house. Seriously? He said the grill had been there for months and it was just there a few days ago, but it was now gone.

So, I had to wait about 2 months before I found a "free" one on offer up. I went and picked it up last Sunday.


Here it is at home. It's a D3CP model made in 1998. I think the only difference between this and the P3 is that mine does not have the stainless steel base. It had a black painted base that was rusty all over.


The burner, bottom grate, and ceramic briquettes were all pretty much new. The igniter was shot and the grates had peeling porcelain and rust. I ordered a new ignitor (rotary), sanded down the rust on the base and replaced the various nuts and bolts that needed replacing. Instead of using the ceramic briquettes, I used ceramic tiles that I had used from a previous grill. Per Jon's suggestion, I used Krylon high heat for the head and it came out nice.


It fired up on the first try and I let it run for awhile. It runs silky smooth. I can tell this thing will get hot. I haven't cooked on it yet because my wife was grossed out by the original grates. She told me to order some new grates from Amazon (no arguments here) and those should arrive tomorrow. I opted for the $35.99 set of cast iron grates. I'm going to work on getting them properly seasoned tomorrow if I have time.

Thanks to all those in this post that inspired me on my Broilmaster journey! I can't wait to cook on it.
 
I should add that I've got a new label ordered and hoping it will arrive and that it is not out of stock. I had to order a label with no ignition hole as the label for the models with rotary ignition are no longer available. I'll just make my own hole in the label. I thought about converting to electronic ignition, but I'm pretty sure the hole size is different in the panel and I didn't want to try to enlarge the existing hole. It's been a fun project.
 
When you get the new sticker and grates, it would be great to see some updated pictures of the inside and outside. Also, let us know how you like it once you have a chance to burn some animal flesh on it.
 
Mike,

A great score and looking nice already! I think you will really like this grill. If you get a chance, could you post a link for the grates? I didn't think you could get the 3 piece waterfall grates so inexpensively. I know the stainless set (which is VERY nice) is really pricey.

I like that one with old-fashioned wood tables. Kind of like the old Webers. Look forward to updates.

One nice thing you can do with these is really good indirect cooking. Heat on one side with grate on other side with no heat up to the highest level. Use a smoker box or tube and you have a viable low and slow BBQ machine. Then next time crank it up with grates down low and you have a super high heat searing grill. Mine registered well into the 800's at the grate level!
 
Mike in Sacramento said:
Jon,
Here's a link to the grates I got. They are due for delivery today. https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01AP90FV4/tvwb-20

Thanks for the cooking tips. I can't wait to try it out. I'll post more pictures after I get the grates in.
Click to expand...

Cool:cool:. Way to go Hongso! They look just like the originals in the picture, so I hope they pan out. That's a killer price for the "3" model grates. I took a look at the reviews and it looks like these are what I call "real" cast iron and not porcelain plated. That is good because you don't have to worry about the porcelain starting to flake off on your food making the grates unusable. The bad, of course, is that they DO require some babying. Regular seasoning and coating with oil. If you keep your grill outside and aren't going to use it for a while, I recommend removing the grates, well oiled, and storing them in a box inside your house. If you get carried away and burn off all the seasoning (I had my smoker tube underneath do that to me) then you MUST re-season right away. However, if you will care for them, they should last a good long time and will serve you well. Cast iron will always be my sentimental favorite:eek:!

Thanks for posting that, and we do look forward to seeing it all come together.
 
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Jon, I had a shot at a Broilermaster curb alert a couple months ago. It looked to be in restorable condition but I didn't bite. I was considering pulling the grates which looked to be in very good shape, but I didn't do that either. I figured it would ruin it for someone who might restore the whole grill. Would you have grabbed the grates and maybe even the burners?
I couldn't help but think, what would Jon do, the whole time I was looking it over. hahaha
 
Bruce,

There is probably some market for Broilmaster parts that are in decent enough shape to clean up and re-sell. Hard to say how long you would sit on that.

The one thing I would say is that these grills make for pretty easy restores. A lot simpler to redo with just a two-piece aluminum firebox/hood. If you get one with the stainless stand then there is almost nothing to rust or go bad and relatively easy to clean up. The parts take a lot of shopping and some aren't cheap. But for a free pickup that would have allowed some wiggle room for that. As far as reselling I think you have to make it look really nice and then go high in price looking for someone who appreciates that Broilmaster is not some old Charmglow, etc. They are out there, and that strategy worked for me.

As Larry warned me, though, you might grow to really like these homely grills and not want to sell:rolleyes:. I only parted with my "keeper" third Broilmaster to have enough funds to get my dream pellet grill at a steal of a price I couldn't let slip by. I would definitely do another Broilmaster if one came up close enough to me. They very seldom pop up for sale anywhere in Florida, unfortunately (or fortunately based on my backlog:eek:).
 
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Larry,

While I do aim for the real WWJD I will have to admit that I come pretty short, and it is probably more often What Would Jon Do?

OK, you have me stumped on ROTFLMAO????
 
I received the Hongso grates and they fit perfectly. The do seem slightly thinner than the original grates, but I think that is because they don't have the porcelain coating on it. I spent some time yesterday working on seasoning the grates - heat up, lightly oil, heat up, then cool down. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I want to do a few more cycles of seasoning before I cook anything. I'm also waiting on few parts. As you can see from my earlier picture, the label on my black control box is very worn out. Replacement "Black" labels are not available, so I ordered a "stainless" label, which was $19 after adding in the shipping charge. In the meantime, I came across a stainless control panel on ebay that is in great shape and total cost for that was $32, so I bought that and I'm cancelling my order for the label. That ebay seller also had a stainless handle for $32 (new is $60) so I got that too. Initially, I was concerned the stainless control panel wouldn't look right since my base is black, but I've seen pictures of BM's with this configuration and they look great.

Here's a picture of the Hongso grates. Yeah, I didn't bother taking the wire brush to the inside of the box. I figured it would just get dirty again anyways so I just gave it a good scraping with a putty knife.


I'll add more pictures after I get my new parts. I hope they arrive this week.
 
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Mike,

It is looking good. No sense doing all the frilly grinding, etc. if you will be the end user and putting it right back to work. And that is what that Broilmaster was designed for;).

The Hongso grates look perfectly fine to me. With the care you are taking getting them primed up with seasoning, I believe they will serve you well. Bring on the steaks:cool:.

You got a winner!
 
I would love to find a Broilmaster used in my area. I passed on one in the Winter but it was LP and I would have had to have converted it to NG... which as I understand it is certainly easier than doing so with a Weber. Best I can do is keep my eyes peeled for one on CL and FB marketplace.
 
I received the rest of my parts today and my rehab of my Broilmaster is complete. In summary, I got a Broilmaster model D3CP (Model year 1998) for free a couple weeks ago. I believe the D3 model differs from the P3 as the D3 uses painted black metal for the control panel and base/cart. As far as I can tell, the P3's have a stainless steel control panel and stainless steel base/cart. I ended up replacing the grates (see previous post), 2 casters, the control panel, electric ignitor, temperature gauge, and handle. I also replaced the front wooden shelf with the folding black plastic shelf.

The casters
My cart has 2 fixed wheels on an axle and 2 casters. The 2 casters on mine were badly rusted and one was completely frozen. I noticed the mounting plate on these are more narrow than the casters you can get at home depot or harbor freight. I was able to find a replacement part at https://www.broilmaster-gasgrillparts.com/. After shipping it was a little less than $20. My new ones are the exact size of the old rusted ones. Here are the old ones:


Control Panel
My original control panel was black and the front label was badly worn. My BM also used a rotary igniter, so the hole size on the control panel is different than the control panel for an electric igniter. Black replacement labels are not available anywhere and there are no available labels with a cutout for a rotary igniter. I originally ordered a SS label ($20) with no igniter and I'd cut the hole myself. While I was waiting for that order to be shipped, I saw a used SS control panel on Ebay and the total cost including shipping would be $32. I decided to cancel my order for the SS label and bought the used SS control panel from Ebay. The SS control panel has a cutout for the electric igniter so I purchased an off brand igniter head from Amazon for $9 to use. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WLSEQ3G/?tag=tvwb-20
The conversion from rotary is easy - just replace the Rotary Switch with the Electric head. Be sure the Electric head uses a "AA" battery and requires a 7/8" hole and it will fit perfectly into the BM control panel. As for the wire leads, just pinch then with a needle nose to make them snug on the new electric igniter head.

Some observations of the original black control panel vs. the Stainless Steel Panel. The two studs on the black control panel were badly deteriorated on mine and I ended up having to cut them off, drill and replace with stainless nut & bolt to remount into the head. The side pins on the black control panel were also tack welded onto the sides and were weak. When I got the SS control panel, it appeared that the 2 mounting studs were stainless steel and the the 2 pins on each side were studs with nuts and they also appeared to be stainless steel. The Stainless Steel control panel is easily much better quality.

Here's the original black control panel and my newly installed SS control panel:


Here's how I replaced the deteriorated mounting stud on the original black control panel. The other side (not pictured) is same as this:


Here's the new SS control panel installed:


Temperature Gauge
A new round Broilmaster temperature gauge costs about $20. I found this one on Amazon for $6.99. It fits perfectly and gives it an updated look. - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XH3FD3M/?tag=tvwb-20


Handle Replacement / New Front Shelf
I wasn't liking the original wood handle and a new SS handle is about $60. I found a used handle on Ebay for $32 and bought it. I've read that the mounting distance of holes for the new handles is a little shorter than the original distance of the holes for the wood handles. I was expecting to have to drill some new holes and cover the old holes but to my surprise, my new handle fits without modification. I must have got lucky and gotten an older style SS handle. The SS handle looks so much better than the old wood handle.

I also didn't care for the old wood slat front and side shelves. I don't need the side shelves, I just removed them. I ordered a new black plastic shelf from Amazon and got that easily installed. I think I'm into this project for right around $200, but I'm keeping it and I can't wait to use it. It was a fun project and thanks to all those who posted before me about theses BM grills and the restoration process. Here's my new toy!
 
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My BM had that flip up front shelf but I found I rarely used it and used the side shelves FAR more because the front shelf was so big it got in the way of using the grill.
 
Mike,

If you haven't already junked the old wood shelves and handle, I would be interested in them. If I am able to get another Broilmaster, I would be interested in doing a retro-look. Those parts would fit in nicely. PM me if you are interested in selling.

Your Broilmaster grill is coming out super nice:D. Look forward to seeing it action and hearing what you think of it.
 
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