Greg M
TVWBB All-Star
I've lurked on the site for several months. It has been a wealth of information on how to rehab old Weber grills. My story is kind of typical. Over my last 35 years of being a homeowner and being married I have always had a gas grill but I've gone through many of them. I'm guessing 8 or 9 total.
My father was a long time Weber owner. I remember him telling me several times "if you just spend more on a Weber you'll only have to buy once". Unfortunately I didn't listen. My father passed away in 2011. His old genesis 1000 was passed on to me. But even then I didn't take it. I had a shiny newer Kenmore that looked better than the tired old 15+ year old Weber. I gave the 1000 to my grown son. Who was grateful to have it.
Then last fall my shiny Kenmore rusted through the firebox. I was really disappointed and was just going to finally take my Dad's advice and bite the bullet and buy a new Weber. But as luck would have it a neighbor put a Weber genesis A at the curb. It didn't look too bad and I wondered if I could make it work. In the process of fixing it I found this site. Well I did fix the little genesis A. It just needed some cleaning up and new flavorizor bars. What a bargain! When I used it I was just amazed at how well it worked. Better than any grill I had ever used. More even heat, easier to clean up with the removable drip pan and bottom, and no flare ups. I used this grill for about a month. Then as luck would have it my son was moving and couldn't take Dad's ol Ginny 1000 with him. So I inherited it back.
It was in pretty sad shape cosmetically. A much more extensive rehab than the A. But because it was my father's (and he loved the old grill) I wanted to make it as close to new as possible. It needed new flavorizer bars, new ignitor, burners, etc, etc. The wood handles and side table were in pretty sad shape.The lid and firebox were in good shape (just needed cleaning) but all the internals were pretty shot. I really could have gotten it going again with just new burners and flavorizer bars. But I wanted it to look really nice.
The grates were ok. But since I was going all out I decided on the rcplaner rod stainless grates and flavorizer bars. I replaced the igniter, bottom tray, knobs, igniter switch, etc. I thought about replacing the wood but decided to go with a new plastic handle, and new durawood side table and swing up table. I repainted the end caps and firebox. With high temp paint of course. There was some rust on the frame which I sanded and then repainted the frame as well. I replaced the weber nameplate. I did all this slowly over several weeks. I even replaced most of the bolts, nuts and washers with stainless steel. I probably spent $400 total. More than I could ever get out of it. But probably nicer than anything I could buy for that price. And because it was my fathers it definitely means more. The only hard part was when I took the grill apart the frame bolt was pretty rusted and so were the screws holding on the bottom rails. But some patience and pbblaster (as described by some of you) took care of that finally and I replaced that bolt and the side rails and screws.
I sure do enjoy the grill. It's like brand new. We (my wife and I) grill a lot (4 to 5 times a week year round) and these Webers have been a revelation. The 1000 is bigger so it's more versatile than the ginny A and I use it the most. For now I'm keeping them both. One of my 2 sons may want the Ginny A at some point. But Dad's old 1000 is mine as long as I can keep it going.
My thanks to everyone that posts in this section of the site for all the instructions and advice.
Here are a few pics. I hope they post OK.
The free Genesis A
Dad's Genesis 1000 before the rehab
New burners installed
New internals (Rcplaner flavorizers and Stainless grates)
Dad's Genesis 1000 completely rehabilitated
Steaks and corn on the 1000
My father was a long time Weber owner. I remember him telling me several times "if you just spend more on a Weber you'll only have to buy once". Unfortunately I didn't listen. My father passed away in 2011. His old genesis 1000 was passed on to me. But even then I didn't take it. I had a shiny newer Kenmore that looked better than the tired old 15+ year old Weber. I gave the 1000 to my grown son. Who was grateful to have it.
Then last fall my shiny Kenmore rusted through the firebox. I was really disappointed and was just going to finally take my Dad's advice and bite the bullet and buy a new Weber. But as luck would have it a neighbor put a Weber genesis A at the curb. It didn't look too bad and I wondered if I could make it work. In the process of fixing it I found this site. Well I did fix the little genesis A. It just needed some cleaning up and new flavorizor bars. What a bargain! When I used it I was just amazed at how well it worked. Better than any grill I had ever used. More even heat, easier to clean up with the removable drip pan and bottom, and no flare ups. I used this grill for about a month. Then as luck would have it my son was moving and couldn't take Dad's ol Ginny 1000 with him. So I inherited it back.
It was in pretty sad shape cosmetically. A much more extensive rehab than the A. But because it was my father's (and he loved the old grill) I wanted to make it as close to new as possible. It needed new flavorizer bars, new ignitor, burners, etc, etc. The wood handles and side table were in pretty sad shape.The lid and firebox were in good shape (just needed cleaning) but all the internals were pretty shot. I really could have gotten it going again with just new burners and flavorizer bars. But I wanted it to look really nice.
The grates were ok. But since I was going all out I decided on the rcplaner rod stainless grates and flavorizer bars. I replaced the igniter, bottom tray, knobs, igniter switch, etc. I thought about replacing the wood but decided to go with a new plastic handle, and new durawood side table and swing up table. I repainted the end caps and firebox. With high temp paint of course. There was some rust on the frame which I sanded and then repainted the frame as well. I replaced the weber nameplate. I did all this slowly over several weeks. I even replaced most of the bolts, nuts and washers with stainless steel. I probably spent $400 total. More than I could ever get out of it. But probably nicer than anything I could buy for that price. And because it was my fathers it definitely means more. The only hard part was when I took the grill apart the frame bolt was pretty rusted and so were the screws holding on the bottom rails. But some patience and pbblaster (as described by some of you) took care of that finally and I replaced that bolt and the side rails and screws.
I sure do enjoy the grill. It's like brand new. We (my wife and I) grill a lot (4 to 5 times a week year round) and these Webers have been a revelation. The 1000 is bigger so it's more versatile than the ginny A and I use it the most. For now I'm keeping them both. One of my 2 sons may want the Ginny A at some point. But Dad's old 1000 is mine as long as I can keep it going.
My thanks to everyone that posts in this section of the site for all the instructions and advice.
Here are a few pics. I hope they post OK.
The free Genesis A
Dad's Genesis 1000 before the rehab
New burners installed
New internals (Rcplaner flavorizers and Stainless grates)
Dad's Genesis 1000 completely rehabilitated
Steaks and corn on the 1000
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