Any Reason not to use wood to frame for bottom Silver B cabinet?


 
Joe Anshien

Joe Anshien

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My wife found me a nice looking Silver B with cabinet and 2 pop up shelves. It has the classic rusted out bottom and rusted out firebox cross member. I just cut out the cross member and will be welding in a new one. For the bottom I am planning on using 1x1 wood across the front and back with 2" lag bolts through the legs. Plywoood on the bottom and paint it all black. I was going to weld in 1" tubing across the front and back (like Weber should have done) but wood is easier, cheaper, and easier to attach the floor. This is a flipper and I will be drilling holes to mount the doors and metal plate for magnet in the doors to stay close. Any body do this, or tried to do this?
Silver C rusted cart.jpeg20220228_170404.jpg20220228_170419.jpg20220228_173940.jpg
 
I wouldn't use wood. For my Platinum, I ran 1.25 inch angle irons across the bottom, bolting them to the legs, and then placed planks of composite decking in the rails. In my case, I used stainless because the frame is stainless. Were a bit hard to find. Since you've got rolled steel, should be easy to find angle irons. Done that way, should hold up a long time. Might want to consider including spaces between the planks so water can drain. Didn't do that on mine because I did it as an open cart. If the cart were closed, I would have spaced my planks.
 
Roy-Parallax said:
I wouldn't use wood. For my Platinum, I ran 1.25 inch angle irons across the bottom, bolting them to the legs, and then placed planks of composite decking in the rails. In my case, I used stainless because the frame is stainless. Were a bit hard to find. Since you've got rolled steel, should be easy to find angle irons. Done that way, should hold up a long time. Might want to consider including spaces between the planks so water can drain. Didn't do that on mine because I did it as an open cart. If the cart were closed, I would have spaced my planks.
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I've been following you thread and I have done the same in the past. This is a flip and I think it will hold up, be less expensive, and easier.
 

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I see lots of plywood bottoms on flips. I haven’t heard of any fires. Weber used wood or plastic slats so it must be ok
 
I see no reason not to. I restored an S-210 using pressure treated plywood to replace the rusted out base. I stained it Grey with Teo coats of deck stain. It worked great and held up far better than the original sheet metal.
 
Sounds like a plan except for the plywood part. I wouldn't worry about heat so much as it delaminating from repeated exposure to water. Use better wood and I'll bet it's a winner.
 
Air flow and more importantly probably is that it will provide drainage. Those old metal base pans would always have a low spot where moisture would collect. There were some drain holed, but they were not placed logically and there were not enough of them.
 
BPratt said:
I see lots of plywood bottoms on flips. I haven’t heard of any fires. Weber used wood or plastic slats so it must be ok
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I think I have a solid piece of wood that would be suitable. Composite deck boards are nice but expensive and heavy. I am trying to use stuff on hand. I have used wood on I think it was a E320 and worked out fine.
 

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Joe Anshien said:
I think I have a solid piece of wood that would be suitable. Composite deck boards are nice but expensive and heavy. I am trying to use stuff on hand. I have used wood on I think it was a E320 and worked out fine.
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Joe I use salvage composite. I don’t fasten the boards I let gravity do it’s thing. Easy to remove if you need to pick up the grill
 
Top five reasons to use economical materials on a job:

1. It is hidden
2. It stays out of the house
3. It is going into something that is old and beat up anyway
4. It is easy to replace if it goes bad
5. It doesn't need to span far or carry a load.
6. It isn't safety critical
 
Scott Smith said:
Top five reasons to use economical materials on a job:

1. It is hidden
2. It stays out of the house
3. It is going into something that is old and beat up anyway
4. It is easy to replace if it goes bad
5. It doesn't need to span far or carry a load.
6. It isn't safety critical
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Scott - I like the way you think! I welded in the top bar, drilled out the fire box mount bolt, drilled holes through all the legs for the lag bolts, cut the 1x1 wood cross members, grinded rust, and treated a bunch of places with Rustoleum Rust Reformer. I will take some more pics tomorrow.
 
Bruce said:
That is interesting Joe. I sometimes wonder how that would work out in my area.
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Only one way to find out. I did a few back to new condition and found they did not sell for much more or faster. Also got tired of grinding cook boxes and such. The only one that I refused to lower the price too too much so it sold quickly was the Genesis 5. It took I think about 5 months to find the right buyer for that. I am in it to give them a second life, not to make museum pieces. Doing this bottom is kind of an experiment for me. I think it will be fine, and hits most of Scott's points. Wood does not rust and is easy to replace. It is not exposed to heat where I am putting it and should last quite some time.
 
To be fair, all the original post mentioned are "plywood" and "paint". There are countless grades of each with various degrees of suitability.
 
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