56" Vieluxe Redux


 
Mike Lang, the author of "Another Pint Please" and our honored guest at TVWBB Upper Midwest Meet from a few years ago, wrote a nice article about using a Vileluxe:

www.anotherpintplease.com

The Vieluxe: a little Weber History via Denver — Another Pint Please

Last week we spent a long weekend in Denver visiting friends. To say it was a spectacular visit is an understatement. Denver is simply amazing. We had the hustle of the city on one side and the majesty of the mountains on the other. Our time flew by. Our host
www.anotherpintplease.com www.anotherpintplease.com

The one he cooked on did not have the newer bezels with markers, but it also did not have the front logo engraved like mine. I am guessing they gave up on that early on.

Here is the one Mike cooked on where you can barely see any logo left - and NO engraving:

Mike Lang article close up of knobs.jpg
 
Cody Bratton said:
If it’s recessed you wouldn’t even need to hand paint it. You could spray it and then carefully wipe it while wet with a solvent soaked rag.
Click to expand...
Good point, Cody. I had thought about that...I guess I could experiment before paying someone to do it for me!

On the instruction lettering, I am thinking black except leaving the lettering on the front without paint. It is legible enough, and I don't see it in black in any pictures:

Engrave instructions.JPEG
 
What would actually try, is a really light dust coat. Let it dry and the use a dry scrub daddy. And do several light coats so you wouldn’t get much build up of paint to remove each time - if that makes sense?
 
A LITTLE MORE

I removed all the side burner parts. The VERY heavy brass trivet and brass flame diffuser circle cleaned up but didn’t look too good. The original finish was badly faded.

I decided I would take a chance and paint them with 1200 degree paint. Hopefully, it will cure OK. I don’t expect a lot of heavy duty usage. I used a bench grinder wire brush to clean up the bottom piece. I couldn’t get everything and was starting to be concerned about being too aggressive with the softer aluminum. Altogether, they should look way better underneath those massive grates:

IMG_8477.jpeg
IMG_8479.jpeg
Those grates are clean but awaiting seasoning. I will post when ready.

The liners for my drip pan arrived. I tried hard on the massive stainless drip tray. It no longer looks like this:
IMG_8485.jpeg

But while it is very clean, no amount of scrubbing and heavy duty cleaners would budge those long burnt-on stains. It is a GREASE tray and it stays out if sight in the closed cabinet.

IMG_8482.jpeg
Compare this holder clip for the drip pan to ones used on the Genesis😲!
IMG_8476.jpeg

I also removed the six main burnets. @R Chin, I really wish these heavy duty burners could be salvaged like yours, but they all seem to mr to be a lost cause:
IMG_8484.jpeg

The smoker box burner is the only one still intact, but it is stubbornly refusing to budge. I am trying very hard to not damage this unique burner, so patience and lots of Gibbs penetrating oil is needed!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_8364.jpeg
    IMG_8364.jpeg
    231.6 KB · Views: 2
  • IMG_8439.jpeg
    IMG_8439.jpeg
    329.9 KB · Views: 4
Last edited:
I also wire brushed the flavorizer bars that could be salvaged. Some had completely disintegrated:
IMG_8486.jpeg
The prior owner’s solution to this was to pile on some cheap flavorizers from some other grill and keep on grilling!

I plan to buy a new set of 11 bars - without the welded bottom connectors - but having 7 spares will hardly be a bad thing😎. Much more importantly, at least one of the two triangular “smoker tubes” was fully intact and cleaned up well.
IMG_8448.jpeg
IMG_8449.jpeg

The smoker tubes are pricey to replace. I plan to do like @R Chin did and have Dave Santana make me an extra long one for the back of the firebox and eliminate the need for the flavorizer welded-on bottom brackets as protection for the burner crossovers. p.s. ALL of my crossovers were almost completely dissolved! The tube I restored will go in the front. More on how that all works down the road.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top