Cranberry Silver C

[John G (Boston)]

Next, I installed the cookbox. I cut out some mica insulators to go between the steel and the aluminum parts. I'm hoping this should help to keep corrosion down. On aluminum trucks they always use insulators (sometimes just thin tape) between the aluminum body and any steel or stainless steel they want to mount. I have an old step van and every aluminum-to-steel junction is protected with insulating tape or rubber, even those inside the truck.

 

[John G (Boston)]

Here are more mica insulators between the manifold and the cookbox... The ignitor that came on this grill works fine and the gas collector was actually still good so I put it all back on. I used a new stainless bolt to mount the cookbox. For now the nut is inside, like Weber had done. I wonder if it would be better to turn it around and put the nut on the outside to protect the threads? More to come...

 

[LMichaels]

And just where do you find mica insulators and are they heat proof?

 

[John G (Boston)]

I got the mica on Amazon. Not sure of the quality but it seems to be pretty good. I'm a little concerned about weather resistance - just not knowing how it was processed. This is compressed mica (and what came out of the holes when I punched them seemed good). What I bought were replacement microwave tunnel guide end caps. It is also used for electrical and heat insulation in toasters, heaters, and hair dryers. If you look inside your toaster you will most likely see the same material with the heating elements wrapped around it.

I had intended to use mica "books" - or natural flake mica - but couldn't find any (yet). Natural flake mica is what they used for the windows on my old kerosene stove (so you can see the fire). So, if the microwave guide cap stuff deteriorates due to the weather I'll keep looking for the natural form.

Not sure this is worth the effort but it made sense to me after working on aluminum trucks. Dissimilar metals can be a problem and the insulators sure did seem to work, even here in the salt belt.

Got the lid mounted on the grill - looks really nice... My Wife saw it yesterday and exclaimed, "Oh my gosh!! It looks brand NEW!!" She wasn't supposed to see it yet but oh, well

 

[LMichaels]

Maybe throw the links up for us. Thanks!

 

[John G (Boston)]

Larry suggested posting the link for the mica insulation but it seems the one I bought is now gone. There are lots of others, though. I picked one that was a plain rectangle shape with square corners because I had intended on cutting out rectangular pieces. A search on Amazon for, "mica microwave wave guide cover" will yield several currently available options. Any of the plain rectangular ones should be OK.

 

[HankBates]

Here are more mica insulators between the manifold and the cookbox... The ignitor that came on this grill works fine and the gas collector was actually still good so I put it all back on. I used a new stainless bolt to mount the cookbox. For now the nut is inside, like Weber had done. I wonder if it would be better to turn it around and put the nut on the outside to protect the threads? More to come...

I'd rather not have any exposed threads, particularly inside the cookbox. On the grills I have had, all of the bolts which hold the manifold to the box have the threads outside, except in an early 90s gen 2 , which was a nightmare.
I used extra washers as required to have a trim appearance on the anchor bolt, with the bolt head inside.
And, of course, all stainless, which has much lower heat conductivity than steel or other commonly used materials.

 

[John G (Boston)]

Hello Everyone,

Sorry been busy with stuff and have not posted recently. Here are a few more photos of the progress on the Cranberry Silver C. I cleaned up the side burner parts and got the burner back on the grill.

I managed to clean up the threads on the gas valve and still have enough there for the nut to grab (they had basically dissolved into white dust). I greased the remaining threads up when I reassembled the burner. To remove the two little Philips screws which secure the stainless burner tray to the porcelain panel I used an impact driver. They were rusted and I thought would snap if forced with a screwdriver. But the impact driver rattled them right out. These screws, which I greased during reassembly, have tiny little nylon washers under them. I oiled the steel "blast tube" which feeds the burner, as well as the igniter "spark plug" mount.

This side burner has the "snap-in" stainless mounting clips attached with screws. I'm pretty sure the other Silver C I stripped had them mounted with rivets. This is a very early Silver (test date on the gas hose tag is 01-27-00).

 

[Steve Hoch]

Hello Everyone,

Sorry been busy with stuff and have not posted recently. Here are a few more photos of the progress on the Cranberry Silver C. I cleaned up the side burner parts and got the burner back on the grill.

I managed to clean up the threads on the gas valve and still have enough there for the nut to grab (they had basically dissolved into white dust). I greased the remaining threads up when I reassembled the burner. To remove the two little Philips screws which secure the stainless burner tray to the porcelain panel I used an impact driver. They were rusted and I thought would snap if forced with a screwdriver. But the impact driver rattled them right out. These screws, which I greased during reassembly, have tiny little nylon washers under them. I oiled the steel "blast tube" which feeds the burner, as well as the igniter "spark plug" mount.

This side burner has the "snap-in" stainless mounting clips attached with screws. I'm pretty sure the other Silver C I stripped had them mounted with rivets. This is a very early Silver (test date on the gas hose tag is 01-27-00).

Sounds like the side burner was a project in itself. You have it looking good though, nice job.

 

[John G (Boston)]

Oh, NO!! The flavorizers!! This happened a while ago but it was comical so I thought I'd post it... I had laid out three sets of flavorizer bars to compare - the ones for this grill (the cranberry Silver C), the ones for the redhead, and the ones for the Junior. Meanwhile, the woodchip guy came... Luckily, the flavorizers were at the end of the pile and I was able to dig them all out (by hand) before going at the pile with the tractor.

 

[John G (Boston)]

Here's the grease pan all cleaned up. Some of you may remember the "before" picture further up in the thread. I wonder if all the gunk actually protected the pan? I had to replace both slide rails. I tried to sand blast them (was going to just paint with engine paint) but they were so rusted that they blasted right through. I applied anti-seize to the screws before installing. I reused the original drip pan and hanger basket for now.

 

[John G (Boston)]

Control panel cleaned up really nice and shows no Weber fade. I used Simple Green and 0000 steel wool. I mounted it with original screws salvaged from a scrapped grill (oddly the originals on this grill were missing).

 

[John G (Boston)]

The nameplate was pretty corroded so I blasted it. I see in the photo that I missed a few specks of old paint - Ha! I didn't see that with my eyes!

 

[Steve Hoch]

Control panel cleaned up really nice and shows no Weber fade. I used Simple Green and 0000 steel wool. I mounted it with original screws salvaged from a scrapped grill (oddly the originals on this grill were missing).

That's definitely an above average control panel, it looks pretty much new.

 

[Steve Hoch]

The nameplate was pretty corroded so I blasted it. I see in the photo that I missed a few specks of old paint - Ha! I didn't see that with my eyes!

Ha ha, I don't think you'll notice those couple specks in the final finish. I wish I had a sandblaster, it's difficult to get all the old paint out of there otherwise and I usually don't try to hard.

 

[Jon Tofte]

The nameplate was pretty corroded so I blasted it. I see in the photo that I missed a few specks of old paint - Ha! I didn't see that with my eyes!

That should look really nice when done. The media blasting, I assume you are referring to, leaves a slightly rough finish not too different from an original badge, end cap, or firebox factory finish. After you paint it black and then sand the logo, ultimately with a fine grit, the letters/logo being shiny smooth while the background is rougher will look like it just came from the factory.

I will be interested to see your final result. I have a sandblaster guy who does projects for me. You have me thinking that I should bring him my bag full of badges have him do them all at once .

 

[Bruce]

That is probably a great idea Jon. I may do that as well.

 

[Kelly C]

Looking forward to seeing the refurbished grill. Looks great so far. You will really like the lid color. I found this one about a year ago.

 

[John G (Boston)]

Ha ha, I don't think you'll notice those couple specks in the final finish. I wish I had a sandblaster, it's difficult to get all the old paint out of there otherwise and I usually don't try to hard.

The sand blaster is actually my brother's (it's in his truck garage). It's a good sized ScatBlast cabinet and he powers it with two big compressors. I'm thinking of getting a Harbor Freight unit someday. From what I've read, with a few modifications they are actually pretty good.

 

[John G (Boston)]

I decided to splurge and get some new grates and flavorizers so that my Wife had a shot at the old Genesis being as "new" as possible. This would give the cookbox a nice "new" and shiny appearance when she opened the lid. I ended up with these grates:

QuliMetal SUS304 9MM Cooking Grates for Weber Spirit 300 and Spirit II 300 Series, Spirit 700, Genesis Silver/Gold/Platinum B & C, Genesis 1000-3500​

and these Flavorizers:

Votenli S753F(5-Pack) 22 1/2" Stainless Steel 7536 7537 16GA Flavorizer Bars for Weber Genesis Silver B and C, Spirit 700 Weber 900 (22 1/2 X 2 1/4")​

Both from Amazon. The grates were $97.99 and the flavorizers were $29.99

Both items are nice and heavy. The grates are all resistance welded together (like most, probably) and the welds are not the most substantial I've seen. But, they are only grates and not really structural components so they should be fine. They are HEAVY.