How old is this cute little grill?


 
J

John G (Boston)

TVWBB Super Fan
This cute little grill is for sale in CT. Sadly, the frame looks tired. Does anyone know what it is? Did they make a Spirit series way back when they made the Genesis 1, 2, 3? Note the control panel. It does not have the "outdoor use" warning and also does not have the Celsius temperatures. I'm thinking this is quite old. The last thing I need is an other grill but I like the looks of this so much that I might just snag it.

An other interesting note is that the "home made" swing up table bracket looks very similar, if not exactly the same as, the one on the old Genesis 2 that Hank stripped (and I am continuing to strip). Now I'm wondering if these brackets were made by Weber? Has anyone else seen such a bracket?

-John (Boston)
 

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That's a Weber Junior. Very rare. Also, tough to replace the burners for that one, they are shorter than Genesis or Spirit burners. But a cool little grill. I'd snag it if I were you!
 
I think it’s a Weber Junior. They are rare. I heard they don’t cook well and are more of a collector piece.
 
It is a Genesis Jr. (originally called the XX and XXi). I think they are very cool and not sure they deserve the poor cooker rap. That one could hopefully be brought back to look really nice again. You might have to fabricate some parts, but there are ways.

That bracket you refer to is the one that was used on the very oldest Webers. It is a true Weber part. Hard to find those, now.

This is mine, thanks to the kindness of @Bruce and his sister getting it ultimately to me all the way from Minneapolis and delivering at last year's TVWBB Upper Midwest Meet. This one even had the owner's manual, rotisserie, and Weber special cover. It is unrestored and essentially all OEM - pretty good for over 25 years old! You can see that mine has that bracket in place and still working. They just put it on backwards when installed on the right side. Most of them, of course, were used on the left side on 80s Genesis grill where you don't see the exposed bolt on the front.

Jr From Bruce.jpeg
 
What on Earth would make that not cook well?

I didn’t know they were rare. Had a shot at a mint one for like $75 couple years ago
 
I suppose the answer is that the two short burners are as far apart as burners 1 and 3 on a Genesis. (In fact, the manifold from a x000 Genesis will fit on these grills, and one member here went all out and added a 3rd middle burner to his Jr.)

The later 2-burner Silver A/Spirit grills had a firebox that was scaled down rather than just hacked-off and shortened left to right like the Jr. The burners were longer and not as far apart. On the other hand, the Jr. used the same two-rows of flavorizer bars that the early Genesis did (just fewer bars). The Silver A/Spirit just has one row of 5 bars.

I have not done much serious cooking on my Jr. to date - to my regret. But what I have done shows that it is fully capable of getting plenty hot and doesn't seem to have a cold spot in the middle.
 
I'm not fortunate to have any of the older Weber grills and I'm not a rehabber but it seems to me that until I saw these pics the control knobs were aligned with the burner tubes. Is that correct, or not? Is this the only version whose knobs are not on the same plane as the burners?
 
Jon Tofte said:
It is a Genesis Jr. (originally called the XX and XXi). I think they are very cool and not sure they deserve the poor cooker rap. That one could hopefully be brought back to look really nice again. You might have to fabricate some parts, but there are ways.

That bracket you refer to is the one that was used on the very oldest Webers. It is a true Weber part. Hard to find those, now.

This is mine, thanks to the kindness of @Bruce and his sister getting it ultimately to me all the way from Minneapolis and delivering at last year's TVWBB Upper Midwest Meet. This one even had the owner's manual, rotisserie, and Weber special cover. It is unrestored and essentially all OEM - pretty good for over 25 years old! You can see that mine has that bracket in place and still working. They just put it on backwards when installed on the right side. Most of them, of course, were used on the left side on 80s Genesis grill where you don't see the exposed bolt on the front.

View attachment 56200
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Jon, that's a beautiful, original grill. The problem with those is that you can't get burner tubes for them? I think I remember reading that here. BTW: my buddy is working on recreating the wooden handles for the Jr's if anyone is interested.
 
They CAN be made by shortening regular Genesis ones and then welding shut. I think more than one person here has done that, maybe one with help from Dave Santana "rcplanebuyer". There was someone trying to sell some extras he had made a year or so ago. If you search for that you might find him and discover he still has them.

EDIT: Here is someone who did that and I believe the guy who was offering some for sale:

tvwbb.com

Genesis Jr burners

My Dad has an original 1980’s era “Redhead” that the burners were shot. Couldn’t find replacements as you all know. I decided to buy the closest possible length & just modify them. Took the 27” 7507’s, cut 3-3/4” out, welded back together. I can assist others out there that may need same...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
BFletcher said:
I'm not fortunate to have any of the older Weber grills and I'm not a rehabber but it seems to me that until I saw these pics the control knobs were aligned with the burner tubes. Is that correct, or not? Is this the only version whose knobs are not on the same plane as the burners?
Click to expand...
Not exactly sure what you mean. On the Jr. the two control knobs are positioned the same way/height as the ones on a Genesis 1000. There is just not middle burner (and the tubes are shorter).
 
That Jr. looks to have seen better days. The frame will need to be welded or bolted back together and some dummy painted the lid so expect to spend hours with a razor blade to find the original finish probably somewhat faded.
 
Joe, I have salvaged a couple grills where the PO had painted the lid. Generally, it is simply rattle can paint and is easily removed with paint thinner.

But, yah, there is usually a reason people paint the lids. It might be in rough shape under the paint. But, I am not sure that was even painted. The hack job on the frame is regrettable, but it can probably be salvaged. The wood might even be salvageable.
 
Joe Anshien said:
That Jr. looks to have seen better days. The frame will need to be welded or bolted back together and some dummy painted the lid so expect to spend hours with a razor blade to find the original finish probably somewhat faded.
Click to expand...
I didn't look closely enough at this one. On the other hand, these grills are over 30 years old (my post was wrong; mine is over 35 years old!) If you have an affection for these really old Webers, you can't expect to find many that are unmolested and intact like the one @Bruce helped me get. So, frame repair, stripping off hood paint, and even fabricating parts can all go into the equation. These are not "flip" grills but rather ones that someone crazy like me sees similarly to old classic cars.

p.s. I once got an old Genesis where someone had painted the hood FLAT black. I tried removing with 0000 steel wool, a slow and tedious process.

Maroon Hood Getting Paint Off.jpeg

@LMichaels wisely told me to use paint stripper. The paint pretty much washed right off:cool:. Underneath the flat black horror show was a gorgeous, very intact maroon hood! Go figure.

Maroon Hood AFTER.jpeg
 
Good info. I should have used paint stripper, dam. That looks great. Ya just gotta wonder about what whent through someone's mind when they do stupid stuff.
 
I had a guy that painted one flat black as well. In the add, he said it was a black lid painted blue, but most of the paint had fell off still showing some of the blue. I could tell it was actually a blue lid painted black and asked the guy to confirm it. He replied that "NO, the lid was originally black and painted blue". I picked up the grill and sure enough, a pretty blue lid under black paint. Sometimes they do stupid stuff and don't even remember the stupid stuff they do.

tvwbb.com

Paint for genesis enamel lid (not endcaps)?

Hi everyone, I've scoured posts on rehabbing, but few people seem to need to paint the enamel part of the genesis lid. If there is already a thread on this, I'd appreciate being pointed in that direction! Anyway: I obtained a G2000 in pretty good condition, except that someone painted the...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
John G (Boston) said:
This cute little grill is for sale in CT. Sadly, the frame looks tired. Does anyone know what it is? Did they make a Spirit series way back when they made the Genesis 1, 2, 3? Note the control panel. It does not have the "outdoor use" warning and also does not have the Celsius temperatures. I'm thinking this is quite old. The last thing I need is an other grill but I like the looks of this so much that I might just snag it.

An other interesting note is that the "home made" swing up table bracket looks very similar, if not exactly the same as, the one on the old Genesis 2 that Hank stripped (and I am continuing to strip). Now I'm wondering if these brackets were made by Weber? Has anyone else seen such a bracket?

-John (Boston)
Click to expand...
I’ll bet that bracket was one made by Ed Young hardware as a replacement for the original 33001 plastic part
A few months ago they showed 5 in stock but now they say they have a substitute and to contact them
 

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