First-timer: Scratched Lid and Storage Questions (2002 Genesis Silver B)


 
JeffR

JeffR

New member
Hello! Before I get to my questions I want to say that I think this online community is superb. Three weeks ago, my wife and I were talking about finally getting a grill, and found a used Char-Broil on sale in the neighborhood for $40. We wanted to get that grill that night, but in our family we have a two-week waiting period for impulse buys; during that two weeks I found this website and now I am working on restoring a Weber Genesis Silver B. The grill cost me $100 on craigslist and after a trip to Lowe's and rcplanebuyer on ebay I'm, well, way over-budget, but I think we're going to be pleased with the result.

Here's what the $100 bought, it's disassembled because I had to bring it home in a Corolla. It was filthy and needs some new parts, but there is almost no rust on the frame, not even where that bolt on the left of the firebox meets the frame. So I was comfortable with the $100. All the bolts/screws have come out relatively easily (except the burner guides--didn't touch those!). Overall I have been impressed with the quality of this product.

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I am neither a skilled nor experienced handyman and have had well over a dozen questions so far. I've been able to find answers to all but two by searching these forums. A fantastic resource, you guys have amassed impressive knowledge here. Anyway, I was wondering if I might be able to get some help with these two questions I'm still trying to find answers for:

(1) Scratched lid. There is an unsightly scratch on the outside top of the lid. I know working with the lids can be a little sensitive; does anyone have any suggestions for making this scratch look better? I'm not after perfection here--I can look for a better lid to swap out later. I just want to make a decent attempt to spruce it up for now.

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(2) Storage. We live in a townhome, and I don't have a good way of locking up the grill outside on our patio. We spend a fair amount of time traveling, and I really don't want the grill wandering away while I'm gone. I've been thinking about keeping the grill in the garage. I would unhook the propane after each use and leave just the propane tank outside on the back patio. Has anyone done anything like this? Other than the effort of moving the grill and unscrewing the tank each use, the only thing I think that might wear out might be the plastic screw threads on the regulator, and that's a pretty cheap replacement if it does wear out.

Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated. Now I'm off to think about getting an angle grinder from Harbor Freight to redo the outside of the firebox, and if I need apply our wait-two-weeks rule to an angle grinder...
 
You should be able to do a passable repair on that using high heat gloss black paint. You can try carefully taping off leaving only the damaged area exposed to your spray paint. Clean very well first with something like xylene, removing any rust, too. If your paint isn't shiny enough, you can top off with high heat gloss clear coat. As you mention, it won't be perfect but much less in your face than the current scratch.

I respect your caution with propane. I would bet that many people here don't hesitate to store propane tanks and even ones hooked up to a grill in their garage. I am not advocating that, so your plan makes perfect sense. I really don't think your regulator will wear out all that fast anyway. Cheap fix if it somehow did. Depending on your climate, a garage can be a real life and looks extender for a grill. Here in Florida the constant flow of hot, humid salt air is really hard on grills. Up north some tough weather there, I am sure, also can be a problem. So, your plan might yield a double-benefit!
 
Jeff, welcome. Jon has good advice.

While cleaning the basement this week I found a jar of stove black that I used to use on the top of the wood kitchen stove to keep it shiny black. Has anyone tried to see if it would help on a scratch like this? Would only work on black though. 🤔
 
Richard, that stove black might be a good choice to patch up the lid until you can find a replacement.
Jeff: I store my grill in the garage and never bother to unhook the propane tank from the hose. I really think just turning it off at the tank is all the precaution necessary, but if you feel better disconnecting it, then I don't see a problem with it. Replacing the hose and regulator is a $15 project is all.
 
Some high heat gloss black and a touch up brush. Don't try to sand it or anything. Spray the paint into a cup, dip the brush and flow the paint into the scratch. Let dry, repeat until it's a little "built up". And use it. Find a new lid as you see fit. As for storing the LP tank I have never worried about it. My garage queen Q320 sits in the garage with tank hooked up all the time along with my spare tanks. Most times I don't even shut the valve off on the tank. Modern LP tanks are very safe
 
Thanks all for the responses. I have some high heat ultra and I'm gonna address the scratch tomorrow. Will post pics when done.
 
Quick update, used some Rustoleum High Heat Ultra on the scratch. Sprayed it into an old plastic lid and applied it with a sharpened wooden dowel (couldn't find a small enough paint brush). I applied enough that the wet paint was slightly raised over the surrounding surface, but when it dried I didn't like the texture:

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So I scraped off the portion that was above the surface with a razor blade. It's still noticeable, and gets better/worse depending on the angle/lighting, but it's much better than it was. A couple different angles:

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I knocked over the lid on my latest rehab on a Silver A last night. It fell over on the top of lid with a bang. I was so scared to pick it up and look as it had already been fully cleaned inside and out. It suffered on fairly large chip on one of the top corners, but luckily enough, it is just barely hidden by the end cap. It would have been a shame to loose a nice green lid and force me to clean another lid.
 
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I finished putting the grill together tonight, ran it on high for a while in an attempt to burn off any residual chemical and then put on some sirloin tip and mushroom kebabs on one side, with some brussels sprouts in a cast iron skillet on the other. The grill made some nice sears and is clearly leaps and bounds better than the junky, rusty, or flimsy gas grills I've used in the past. So I am happy, my wife is too, can't argue with that.

A few pictures--

First the before photo:
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And after:
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Here's the firebox with new burners. (I probably could have cleaned out the old burners, but the previous owner was using the grill without flavorizers so there was a bunch of grisle dripped on all of the old burners clogging many of the ports. Found the new ones on craigslist OEM new in box for $25, so that's not too bad.) Anyway, after a couple hours I remembered the firebox was just going to get dirty again soon, so I didn't put as much effort into the top half as the bottom:

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RCPlaneBuyer's flavorizers, which arrived a day early!
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Here's a different angle. You can see the scratch on the lid...but you were right Bruce, I didn't even notice or think about it while I was cooking tonight.
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Aaaaand some of the dinner:
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Some observations:
  • I called this a "restore" in the first post but having seen the amazing work some of you have done, I didn't go to that level, so I think I would call my project more of an "update." I'm still quite happy with it, but I kept all the original parts that were working, some of which retained some faint stains that I couldn't get out or some chips/scratches. I put in new burners, flavorizers, warming rack, and regulator, but everything else was working so it was cleaned and/or repainted and then put back on the grill.
  • I have been impressed with the way Weber designed these to be so easy to maintain and update. ("Stopwatch engineering"?) 18 years old and it feels like a well-made grill, quite the opposite of a lot of the grills I see on sale at the big stores.
  • Everything about this project was fun. (Except cleaning out the inside of the firebox.)
  • Almost everything I knew how to do for the project I learned from reading posts on this forum or watching videos from members. The wealth of practical knowledge here is truly astounding.
  • Next time I'll probably spring for an Angle Grinder and take the lid side caps and firebox exterior down to bare metal. I just painted over the base coat without primer, so I'm curious to see how long it'll last.
  • I was going to use 400-grit to sand down the paint on the frame prior to repainting, but a family member recommended 120-grit, so I split the difference (sorta) and used 180-grit. 180-grit was too low. The scratches from the 180-grit were too deep and at the right angle you can still see them faintly in some parts of the frame despite what was probably too many coats of paint from a rattle can trying to cover them up. They're not painfully obvious but if you get in close and know where to look you can see the scratches. So don't use 180-grit, use something much higher...as several here have already recommended.
Finally, some useful knowledge I might be able to contribute: I misplaced the two small screws used to hold the drip tray rails to the bottom of the firebox. After about an hour of fruitless searching I gave up and turned to Google. I found many places willing to sell me the screws, but I couldn't find anywhere that listed the size of the screws so I could run to the hardware store and buy some without ordering from a grill parts store. I ended up buying several sizes of screws from the hardware store and coming home to see which screws fit. The #10 1/2 inch screws fit well. The #12 3/4in screws fit the holes in the firebox, but 3/4 in was too long. A #12 1/2 inch probably would have worked. So if you are needing screws to attach the drip tray rails to the bottom of the firebox, #10 1/2in will do the job, and maybe a #12 1/2 in, but that wasn't specifically tested. #8s were too small. (These would be the screws in relation to part numbers 88203 or 98057, according to the schematic at Weber.com.)

Thanks everyone, collectively, for all the help!
 
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I see absolutely nothing wrong with not cleaning the inside down to bare metal. Another half dozen cooks and you won't be able to tell you did any of the inside anyway.
Unless the frame paint is chipping or peeling or there is rust under it, I don't mess with it. It is good solid paint. If I do have to do any work, I just do the small areas that need it with a wire wheel and then some sand paper to feather it in. I just clean the rest with simple green and a green scratchy pad and then wipe it down with a prep like rubbing alcohol (99%) and then paint.
 
Good to know. I used odorless mineral spirits as a prep--didn't have much rubbing alcohol on hand and didn't want to go as far as acetone. Hopefully the mineral spirits did the job ok--I hadn't used them as a surface prep before.
 
You did great! That’s a brunette beauty😁! Totally agree with your decision to do just what was needed on cleaning the inside. The extra hours (and health risks😲) from slaving until it is all shiny is for resale. Like Bruce says, in a few cooks it will be right back to the way it was. We only do the extreme stuff to wow buyers, some of whom might be leery of a “used” grill.

Good to see you put it right into use and awesome looking results on that!😋!

If you get the notion to do one more thing, my suggestion is to hand paint the kettle on logo badge red😎. It will really pop with that shiny black hood:

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JeffR said:
Good to know. I used odorless mineral spirits as a prep--didn't have much rubbing alcohol on hand and didn't want to go as far as acetone. Hopefully the mineral spirits did the job ok--I hadn't used them as a surface prep before.
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Quick word about Mineral Spirits. I would never repeat never use them on the grill, the cook box or anywhere. Mineral spirits is nothing but Kerosene that "knows somebody" to get a fancy name. Like jet A1 as well. It will soak into porous metals like cast aluminum and it will be very difficult if not impossible to ever totally get rid of it. Always use a far more volatile solvent if you want to use solvents. (actually no other way of you're prepping for paint) also know the MS residue will prevent paint from curing and adhering properly. Even "rubbing alcohol" is useless for paint prep due to being a large percentage of water. You can buy (as Bruce did) industrial type isopropyl alcohol but it's hard to find and expensive. Always use good old lacquer thinner or a product like prep sol for this type of work. But, mineral spirits is nasty long lasting residue stuff and should only be used for what it's intended for. Never paint prep or grill cleaning
 
Lacquer thinner. That is that other one I can never remember.
Oh, Xylene, or Xlol is another option and easily found in the paint section at stores.
 
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