I will just leave this here


 
John, the problem with these older Summits is that the cook boxes have fatal flaws in them. There are ceramic panels in the cook box where the burners come through into the cook box. Those panels are very prone to having the ceramic crack and let in corrosives that eventually eat up the panels rendering the grills very dangerous to use. Weber and no one else makes these parts any longer. There are a couple people on here working on fixes or complete custom replacements for the affected parts but they are custom and not readily available to the average person. The other parts such as flavorizer bars and burners are getting harder to find and much more expensive than the Genesis versions.
For the average person who wants to rehab one of these grills, it usually becomes a money pit and source of frustration to rehab them.
 
John_NJ said:
Is a 1st Gen summit like this worth $75?

Not to flip, but for personal use.

Just asking for future reference, since I am not currently in the market.

I do like the idea of refurbishing these classic old Weber grills to give as gifts to friends and family.
Click to expand...
John,

In my book it is certainly worth $75. Bruce is right that these are no cake walks to refurbish. More complex than an old Genesis, and many parts are no longer available new. However, you can get burners, flavorizer bars and a few other basics. As far as the firebox - the Achilles heal of this otherwise great grill - I am looking forward to testing my stainless-steel, reinforcement plate solution. I believe it will work, and the total cost is not out bounds for a grill that originally had an asking price of $2,400 for the 4-burner and $3,000 for the 6-burner (about $4,500 to $5,600 today). You could reinforce an existing firebox for $100 to $150 for one of those grills.

As I disassembled the 4-burner Summit I bought from Larry (@LMichaels), I was struck again and again how Weber in most areas went all out on this special grill. It is much more rugged and heavy than the old Genesis, which themselves were certainly very solid grills. I estimate that the 4-burner Summit has well over 20 POUNDS of stainless steel - and that's REAL 304 stainless, not the cheap junk you see out front of the big box stores.

So, if you are up to some challenges and willing to spend more than you would on a Genesis with the identical cooking area, I say go for it! :coolkettle:

tvwbb.com

2nd Chance for a True Weber Classic: A 1998 1st Generation Summit 450

This thread will probably die down and get revived as I try hard to carve out even a little time here and there to work on the 1st generation Summit I bought from @LMichaels. Yes, those of you who have been on TVWBB for some time probably know the problematic story behind this grill. While...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
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Jon Tofte said:
John,

In my book it is certainly worth $75. Bruce is right that these are no cake walks to refurbish. More complex than an old Genesis, and many parts are no longer available new. However, you can get burners, flavorizer bars and a few other basics. As far as the firebox - the Achilles heal of this otherwise great grill - I am looking forward to testing my stainless-steel, reinforcement plate solution. I believe it will work, and the total cost is not out bounds for a grill that originally had an asking price of $2,400 for the 4-burner and $3,000 for the 6-burner (about $4,500 to $5,600 today). You could reinforce an existing firebox for $100 to $150 for one of those grills.

As I disassembled the 4-burner Summit I bought from Larry (@LMichaels), I was struck again and again how Weber in most areas went all out on this special grill. It is much more rugged and heavy than the old Genesis, which themselves were certainly very solid grills. I estimate that the 4-burner Summit has well over 20 POUNDS of stainless steel - and that's REAL 304 stainless, not the cheap junk you see out front of the big box stores.

So, if you are up to some challenges and willing to spend more than you would on a Genesis with the identical cooking area, I say go for it! :coolkettle:

tvwbb.com

2nd Chance for a True Weber Classic: A 1998 1st Generation Summit 450

This thread will probably die down and get revived as I try hard to carve out even a little time here and there to work on the 1st generation Summit I bought from @LMichaels. Yes, those of you who have been on TVWBB for some time probably know the problematic story behind this grill. While...
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
Click to expand...
Thanks Jon- I have been following your refurb thread for a while.

Hopefully that first gen summit finds a good home.

These grills need to be saved in my opinion.
 
Don’t worry about that, John! It is already in its home as this one will be a lifetime keeper. Not saying I won’t try to rescue another one, but this one will be my dream ultimate Weber. Lookin forward to its post-restoration maiden voyage with some nice steaks😎.

Now that I have a firebox fix (still needs testing), I am less intimidated about restoring another one, but they do require a lot more work if you are going to do a “frame off” restore. And as old as these are, that’s pretty much a necessity.
 
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