Grill Frame End Cap Frustration!


 
R

RichB NH

TVWBB Fan
So the bane of many of my rehabs has been the frame end caps. On nearly every grill i've picked up they are rusted in tight somehow.

Sometimes I can get them out without issue at all... but sometimes, even a little love (frustration) tap with a rubber mallet leads to disaster where the end cap snaps on one end. this is especially frustrating when one side is freed and the other just will not come out.

Do you guys have any tips on removing these?

I even picked up a grill to strip for parts, it had the removable style end bars with the end caps still stuck in, I spray PB Blaster in there and let it sit for a week. only could get off 1 of 3 of the bars without much effort. the rest you would think are still attached with the bolts, but of course they aren't. I decided before I break anymore to consult the vast wisdom of you guys!

And another related one...

So on this Genesis Silver refurb I'm doing I of course broke one side with hardly any effort. I decided in a moment of damn, I just want to get this grill done and listed, I painted a left over black end cap that had been previously painted, the end cap that survived removal and a Silver lid handle. I painted them to a nice charcoal gray. But this morning I couldn't leave well enough alone and decided a coat of clear (all Rustoleum 2x) would give an added layer of scratch resistance. Well no sooner did I finish spraying, did I noticed that my end caps cracked, because apparently the paint under the dry surface was not cured I would guess?

So my hurry it up mentality bit me in the butt today. VERY frustrating.

I've looked on the internet and there are million different "easy" spray paint removal tricks. Have you guys used any to get paint off of the plastics that wont ruin them?
 
I sprayed one with pbblaster and one side came loose, however the other side still broke.
 
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I would grab one of your destroyed end caps and try paint thinner on it. If that harms it, then try other solutions. Maybe your best bet is CitruStrip as it is less "chemically" product and more environmentally friendly....it has worked very well for me on several occassions, but it is more expensive than plain old paint thinner or turpentine.

On those frozen end caps, I have tried removing the frame extension from the grill that holds the end cap. Then I clamp it in the vice and try to pound it out from the open side of the extension with a wood dowel or piece of wood. This will some times work, but often, I will wind up having to grab an angle grinder and cutting wheel and basically cut the frame extension off the end cap. Sure, you will scar the end cap piece inside the extension, but that doesn't matter. You have to cut at an angle so that you don't nick the actual end cap outside the extension. Several angle cuts will get it to a point that you can grab the extension and peel it back with pliers or vice grips until you can get the end cap out.

That is my go to solution when they just wont come out.

They get frozen in due to rust. Sure the plastic doesn't rust, but the metal does, which makes it expand and grab the end cap...After 20 plus years, it is amazing how stuck they can become.
 
New to the grill restoration game, but as a woodworker who uses different types of clamps for many things, I thought of this

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Probably some blocks of wood inside the cover and you can apply pressure gradually to whatever is sticking.

I am currently cleaning 30 years of gunk from inside my grill cover- thanks tvwbb
 
John, I think he is talking about the plastic frame end caps (handles). Not the aluminum lid end caps. I could be wrong, but that is how I read it.
 
Bruce said:
John, I think he is talking about the plastic frame end caps (handles). Not the aluminum lid end caps. I could be wrong, but that is how I read it.
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In wasn’t sure about the either.

Your theory makes more sense though.
 
At the end of the day, sometimes you break stuff when you try to get it apart. Start with the least risky ideas first. It's a risk/reward calculation.
 
I use Bruce’s idea of of inserting a piece of wood inside from the opposite end and pounding them out after soaking them a few days with PB Blaster. I think the secret is, I have a piece of birch hardwood cut to just barely fit inside the tube so that the force is distributed to all edges of the cap. Just my theory. 🙂
 
LMichaels said:
Why not just leave them LOL
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Because I'm a few instances I was stripping the grill for parts. And I intended to use said parts on a different grill. But going forward I think I'm just going to tape them off when I go to paint them. But I'm also thinking I don't have enough time to do these flips and should drop the hobby. So I don't imagine I'll need to deal with it much more haha.
 
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