Getting Started with a Restoration - Genesis Gold


 
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DaveFB

New member
I've been reading through the forum and watching CL diligently for a couple months now. I finally saw something locally and for the bargain price of almost nothing I now own a fixer-upper Genesis Gold C.

The seller reported that the igniter doesn't work and the burners might need to be replaced. I also understood that there was fire at the location of the front burner knob - the back of the knob is slightly melted. Not sure if that's what was meant by a burner problem.

Visual inspection shows that the grates are possibly in OK condition. The flavorizer bars appear to be shot and in need of replacement. I haven't looked closely at the burners yet but they appear to be in decent shape. I'm prepared to replace if necessary. There is some minor paint loss on the outsides of the fire box. The cart appears to be in A-1 condition.

It's probably way premature to post since the restoration will probably take a while - I'm a noob and only have so much free time - but I'm sufficiently excited to do it anyway.

The rough plan, as it stands now:

1. Locate model information, year, etc. Download and read user manual front to back and back to front. Study replacement procedures to get an idea of what's going to be involved.

1a. Go back and reread all the restoration threads I can find!

2. Do a more detailed review of what parts are going to need to be replaced. Are the grates OK with a good cleaning? I'm thinking that a leak test will be in order for hoses and connections. Depending on how that goes, will have to figure out if I'm ready to light it up to see how the burners are.

3. Call Weber and order parts (Might look @ Home Depot if I have gift cards)

4. Clean it up (and wait for parts to arrive)

5. Replace operational parts, flavorizers, etc.

6. Last but not least a little high heat paint for the exterior.

Advice, tips and comments welcome.
 
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would suggest you take it apart first. this way you can see what you really need. take pics if you think you won't remember something. also replace all hardware with stainless steel.
 
Forgot to mention no thermometer. Will need to order one. There is also what looks like an extra basket that's just sitting on the bottom shelf, will need to figure out where that came from.

Edit: Appears to be the warm-up basket.
 
To take it apart, start by pulling the 3 knobs on the right side straight up. There's one bolt on the left side holding the fire box to the frame (it'll probably break if it is gunked up and never been turned-don't worry about it. You can either pull out the two pieces and replace with a new bolt if they're loose, drill out the stubborn piece and replace with a new one, or do nothing-firebox won't go anywhere with the manifold in), and 2 bolts holding the manifold on the right side to the firebox, either 7/16" or butterfly nuts. Spray with WD-40 or your favorite rust eater before pulling off. Once you undo those bolts and have taken the knobs off, the manifold will come off and away from the burners with a yank.

The burners will be chilling in the fire box. Spray the crossover where it enters the burners with rust eater/lubricant. You do not need to unscrew the bolts holding them down. If they don't just slide out, just scrape away any crud, spray with WD-40 and wiggle them gently. A screw driver can help, using the flat against the back of the fire box and the end of the flat part of the burners.

Once you get them free of the manifold and loose from the holders, pull the center tube loose from its bracket and pull it out from the right hand side. Then gently wiggle either side to get the crossover tube out (WD-40 helps) to avoid breaking the tube. Once it is out, remove the burner and gently wiggle the crossover out of the remaining burner.

Examine the holes. You can use a pin to clean each hole and a straightened coat hanger to clean the inside. A wire wheel on a drill or grinder also works well to clean the outside degunking the holes. Take care not to break the holes apart.

If a magnet doesn't stick to the grates, they're stainless and probably fine. Heat and clean. If a magnet does stick, they still look good. Heat and clean.

Rustoleum ultra high heat matches the original color and finish pretty well for the frame and sides of the hood. Regular high heat rustoleum gives a flat finish but still looks ok. Hood pops off with two cotter pins on the back.

Ultra-fine steel wool (0000) is great for polishing the enameled (hood centerpiece and right hand panel). Underside of the hood you can just scrape off that peeling carbon. It isn't paint or anything bad-just the evidence that it was loved.

I've never seen a knob melt on any of my grills or those of my friends or family. The only way fire can get to that part is if there was a valve or manifold problem or maybe if the burner opening was some kind of messed up.

If you sand down the inside of the box connected to the ignitor and sand the little metal tip and other connections for the wire, you can probably get it to work. Or the whole set up is like $11 at Home Depot. Or use a match. If you don't hear clicking when you hit the button, you can spray a little WD-40 on the red/black button, let it work in, and it should loosen up.

Flavorizers are best purchased off ebay. Get stainless. They are as cheap as $33/shipped last time I checked. Get a decent gauge-one or two of the sellers use kind of crappy magnetic stainless. I thought golds generally came with stainless, but if they're rotted, you can replace. If they're just discolored or a little nibbled, they're fine.

That's most of what I'd do, anyway. I haven't spring cleaned one since, well, the spring, but I do that stuff every year for mine and my family's (and for the friends who stock good beer too) and from memory that's the big stuff. Take care of them and they really never die. Mine is around 15 years old and I don't want a new one-she cooks just how I want.

Post up any other questions for the real experts or you can pm/email me. Hope it helped. It was all stream of consciousness so my apologies if it didn't make much sense. I can delete it if it isn't helpful.

Great grill!
 
John, George:

Thank you for the suggestions, very helpful! Decided to start by reading the FAQ and puzzling over schematic, with some of these instructions I think I'm starting to get it.

Re: Flavorizer bars, am I correct in thinking the 304 stainless is the correct type (not the 400s)? I need to do a closer examination of the ones I have but on quick inspection they looked pretty terrible. We'll see if they're cleanable.

Thanks again.

On an unrelated note, a Silver B popped up tonight at a reasonable price ... if transport wasn't such a hassle I probably would have had a second project (for my dad) parked in the garage by now. Worried this may become a sickness.
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You definitely want the 304 stainless.

I think I see the green silver on CL. If I lived on the west side I'd grab it. I need another one to rehab myself. I wouldn't call it a sickness, but it is a good way to get a great grill for a lot less money if you are careful with the rehab. I did one for my son in law for around $200 total. I want to do another one for my other son in law but I want to do better financially so I'm waiting out a good deal.

Keep us updated with pics!
 
John Lantern provided a pretty thorough reply and I'll add my experience.

I didn't bother removing the bottom part of the shell from the frame and just cleaned it in place.

I used SoftScrub on the porcelain portion of the lid and found it to work pretty well.

I used a fine sanding sponge on the logo on the lid to make it look pretty.

I found the ID sticker on the bent over side of the cover plate by the burner control knobs. They really like to hide it.

Be very careful when you remove the burners as the cross over can be brittle. I cracked mine slightly when I took it out.

I agree with others who suggest SS flavorizers. I got lucky and someone pointed me to a CL post for SS flavorizers near them and the seller was willing to ship. Total with shipping was $31. If you need flavorizers it's probably worth asking in the Trading Post forum.

For grates, I think that cast iron is good too, though I'm not sure if Weber makes them for this grill. I was lucky enough to have a CI grate that fit my Silver A. My Silver B came with SS grates and flavorizers and I'm happy enough with those.

And yes, this can get to be habit forming!
 
Really appreciate all the advice.
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Didn't get real far today, mostly just did some cleaning and ran to Home Depot for supplies.

After looking at some of the diagrams on the Weber site I'm pretty confident that this is a 2000-2001 model. It doesn't have the swing up work surface on the left. I did find the label with serial number etc but it's mostly illegible. We'll see if anything I can read is enough for Weber to ID it.

This being a 2000-2001 model would not be a good thing. The readily available parts tend to fit 2002 and newer Gold models. For example the 00-01 flavorizer bars are ~ 23.25 inches long, not the 22.5 of the newer models. I do need new flavorizers as I only received 3 and as I thought they are in very bad shape.

I think before get too carried away I'm going to need to call Weber and see if I can get parts ... and what they're going to cost me. Haven't found them available on Amazon or eBay.

When I took out the grates (which might be salvageable) and flavorizers, the burners actually appeared to be in pretty decent shape, like they may have been replaced at some point. Then I started poking around under the control panel cover and things didn't look quite as good. A couple spider guards missing, a little melted plastic from the front burner control knob, a little scorching.

The more time I spend poking around with it the more convinced I am that I should follow George's advice and take it apart.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DaveFB:
This being a 2000-2001 model would not be a good thing. The readily available parts tend to fit 2002 and newer Gold models. For example the 00-01 flavorizer bars are ~ 23.25 inches long, not the 22.5 of the newer models. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

FWIW, here is a '00 Silver A and '01 Silver B. The lid looks considerably different from the one on yours. did you measure the length of the flavorizer bars? Just based on the style I would think yours is newer.

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Well... I take that back. I looked at the manuals and the parts diagrams confirm your ID. Interestingly, the newer Gold C looks more like the parts on mine.

As far as flavorizers, I would be surprised if you could not find some to fit on eBay. (These?)

Edit: Weber has the flavorizers as well.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Hank B:

Edit: Weber has the flavorizers as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

A-ha! So if I plug in that I have a stainless side table it will offer me the correct parts. Thermoset gave me 2002-2008 model parts. Thank you!

And those ebay flavorizers appear to be the correct length, I'll have to check with the seller to see if he offers a set of just the long ones.

Jerry -- will check them out. I pulled up a couple of third party sellers and for the parts I randomly checked they appeared to say 'special order from Weber'.

Optimism mostly restored
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DaveFB:
A-ha! So if I plug in that I have a stainless side table it will offer me the correct parts. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I went with Porcelain work table and then handle type 2 to get to these. (But the same flavorizers are listed either way.)
 
Bump, haven't made much progress, but I plead an excuse: I found a Silver A for $25 and have been using that. It decided to flake out on me this weekend (when lit, only the first inch or so of the front burner tube ignited) so now I have two grills to work on...

A couple of very dumb questions just because I can ask them:

1. Can anyone describe (or link me to) how you know when it's time to change the burner tubes?

I hooked up a propane tank, leak tested and fired it up without flavorizers. The FAQ on the Weber site says "The tips may occasionally flicker yellow, with a descending light blue to dark blue flame. If the flame does not appear to be uniform throughout the burner, follow the burner tube cleaning instructions for your grill." I'm definitely getting way more yellow than that, the flames are also a bit bigger than expected, from memory maybe closer to an inch.

2. The warming baskets appear to be rusty, any useful way to clean them up short of replacement? The best idea I have so far is vingear.

Like I said, dumb questions. I'm sure I'll have more as well...
 
Looking at the manual and comparing that to what I remember seeing, it looks like at a minimum I should clean the burner tunes, and if I'm going to do that I might as well replace them...

And as for cleaning the manual says soap and water for a lot of things. Time to apply some elbow grease!
 
The only problem with burner tubes that I have seen in the few gassers I have looked at was an obviously deteriorating transfer tube. (the small one at the end that lights the second and third burners.)

I can think of two problems that could lead to what you describe.
<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>The burner tube itself is plugged with something like a spider web.
<LI>The orifices in burner tube are plugged. If a couple consecutive orifices are plugged, that's enough to cause the flame not to propagate along the tube. (This seems likely if you have deteriorating flavorizers.)
[/list]

I've used a brass brush to brush the holes in a burner to clean them. I've also poked something in them to clear out carbon or ash. Be careful not to enlarge them.

I think you need to remove the manifold to get the burner tubes out. That's not too difficult.
 
Thanks, cleaning out the tubes is on the to do list for the Silver A.

I ordered parts for the Gold C from Weber today (I got a couple things at Home Depot earlier). Spending a decent chunk of money on this but once it's done it should be good as new.

Now if only I didn't have to wait 7-10 business days...
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Good thing I have lots of cleaning to do and if it gets warmer some painting...
 
Busy day today. My parts order came in during the week and it was too wet to work on the yard, so I worked on the Gold C instead.

Made an executive decision to wait on doing some of the appearance work. I bought the appropriate paint but it just hasn't been good painting weather. And I'm impatient.

Here's what I did:
1. Some general cleaning (exterior, removing carbon from inside of the lid, etc)
2. Took it apart as much as needed. Since I'm not painting it I didn't remove the firebox from the cart.
3. Scraped the accumulated stuff off the bottom and cleaned the drip dray.
4. Replaced the burner tubes with stainless
5. Replaced the igniter
6. Replaced flavorizers with ebay stainless
7. Replaced grates with stainless.
8. New thermometer and control knobs

Hooked up the propane tank, tested for leaks and ...
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Clearly not getting enough gas. Small flames and kind of a wave effect with 'waves' of no flame. Heat only got up to about 250 before I ran out of patience.

Internet and the Weber FAQ suggest that this is a regulator issue. I tried the recommended reset procedure, no luck. Tried a different tank -- flames looked a little better but it only got up to about 300 before I gave up.

Sigh. Figuring out what to do now is a project for another day. So far all I have is to do another extra detailed leak check. Suggestions appreciated!
 
Id blow out the tubes, not the burners with a air compressor,squirt silicone spray in them and blow it out again, something is restricted or a new regulator is in order, Also the tank connection would get a good bath with spray and air. sounds like insect or webs.
 
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