Hi ya

[Mark Gillan]

Gold Coast Aussie here, found the forum as I want to get a decent Weber Grill and the more I read about them the more enthusiastic I am getting about possibly buying restoring and reselling them and along the way get myself some nice BBQ's. Right now I am after a decent Grill, have been looking at Genesis series, but an old Weber Summit Platinum D6 BBQ for $1200 AU and a Flat-Top for $130 AU have popped up and am working through whether to take a punt on 20+ year old grills. Have done some research and seems the D6's flavouriser bars are cost prohibited, but would really appreciate some feedback on the Flat-Top, that looks like a pretty good grill? Have sent an email off to Weber to see if I can get parts, owner won't send serial number so will duck over on the weekend to get a better look and get details. Anything I need to closely examine or if it looks OK take the plunge? It's not a lot of money for a speculator.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Welcome Mark! Those flat tops were a lot more popular in your country than here, but they were very cool. The biggest problem with them, along with the Summit grill that was popular here is the cook box. They were made of steel and tended to start corroding around the holes for the burner tubes. There is no replacement available so take a good look before jumping in.

 

[Mark Gillan]

Thanks, just got notified that it's sold, so back on the hunt!

There's a few of these older Genesis's with the (horizontal?) burner tubes, was hanging out for a later model with a sear station, but my reading has led to me the suspicion that these older ones tended to not really need it as the design leant it self well to searing without the sear station? From what I also gather the Genesis II without sear station is to be avoided?

 

[Steve Hoch]

As far as I'm concerned, the Weber grills with the east to west burner configuration were the best meaning the knobs were off to the right of the grill. Front controls and sear burners are something I would rather not deal with.

 

[Mark Gillan]

Thanks, well I have two to chose from, the E-320 (above) and an S-320. The enamel appears in better shape and is a lot closer but is a natural gas to LPG conversion, which i believe was fine on this model and think I like the cast iron grills better. I'll call Weber tomorrow and see which one I can get spares for. Thanks for your help. Please let me know if you think the Stainless is that much better. Cheers.
(Edit, think I got those dates wrong, the E-320 looks to be 2012 and the S-320 is 2008?)

 

[Anthony Spitzer]

Welcome and good luck on your projects. Have fun!