I recently bought a 2005 Genesis Platinum B for personal use. The bottom of the cabinet was toast as many are. But it came with a cover and an almost full tank. All this for $50. After looking around at some of the builds here, I decided I would refresh it and convert this to an open frame griller. This is my version of down-converting a Platinum to a Platinum/Gold (my term) model.
First step when I got it home was to check to see if it fired up. The seller said that it needed new burners. Well, it did fire up. The burners were in good shape and only needed some wire wheel work. I noticed that the crossover tube had some rusted-away sections so I found one for cheap $ on ereplacementparts.com. I guess this is not uncommon. The flavorizer bars also had some rusted-away sections so purchased a set of SS replacements. Unfortunately, I bought the wrong, longer ones so instead of returning the, I just cut them to the proper length.
I removed and disassembled the heat box. The aluminum box and side covers were wire wheeled and sanded down to bare metal and then painted with Rustoleum Ultra Heat paint.
The igniter was showing a fair amount of rust too. Sections were missing so I fashioned a new cover that fit over the original cover and tack-welded it in place. I don’t know how long it will last, at least it works for now.
As with all of these conversions, I had to do something with the frame. It needed something to stabilize the two end pieces together. After looking around for various alternatives, I settled on using a piece of aluminum angle that I had been given years ago. I cut it to length and cut a piece to fit the ends. I tig-welded it (my 1st attempt at aluminum TIG welding I might add) together and drilled a hole in the ends. Then measured the SS legs and drilled them through. I purchased some SS bolts and bolted the pieces in place. It is so much more stable now.
The frame extensions that support the shelves have a device placed inside to secure them to the main frame. Unfortunately, all 4 of mine had the spot welds fail. I decided to pop-rivet the devices to the extensions. They serve their function, but there is some motion left. If I were to do it again I would plug weld them instead of pop riveting.
Next up was finding a rack that would fit. Based on another suggestion by someone here, I found a gray Closetmaid shelf at my local Home Depot that fit the job almost perfectly when cut to length. Another $13 spent if I include the gray plastic caps to fit the cut ends. The gray also looks good against the aluminum and SS frame pieces it is supported on. I say almost because the aluminum frame rails that I added were about 1/16” too sort for perfection. I ended up cutting the end small wires in order to fit between the legs. The front didn’t seem to have a problem. I guess the closet shelves are not made as consistently as a machinist would. Looking back now, I could have just added a spacer to spread the rear legs that 1/16”. Oh well.
I wire-brushed the remains of some grilling and some rust from the SS grill grates. Loose pieces were tack welded back in place. They were then given a seasoning with Peanut oil twice.
I think the Weber warming racks were chrome plated steel as there was deep, deep rust on these. I sandblasted them down to clean metal and gave them a 2x seasoning like the grill grates. I hope this will control the rusting. I doubt that I will use them, but they will be available if I ever do want to use them.
The last thing to deal with was the tank scale. If I left it in its original location, the curvature of the tank would hang-up on the bottom frame rail. Some of these conversion add a second frame rail and mount the tank bumpers on them. I decided to just lower the tank using an adapter. The bumpers were relocated from the side panel, now gone, to the original frame rail. I think this will work perfectly thru the full range of LP in the tank.
That is my story. All in all, I think the clean-up/conversion was a success. I have yet to sacrifice a cow on it.
P.S. I have most of the parts removed listed in the Buy section if anyone is interested in them.
First step when I got it home was to check to see if it fired up. The seller said that it needed new burners. Well, it did fire up. The burners were in good shape and only needed some wire wheel work. I noticed that the crossover tube had some rusted-away sections so I found one for cheap $ on ereplacementparts.com. I guess this is not uncommon. The flavorizer bars also had some rusted-away sections so purchased a set of SS replacements. Unfortunately, I bought the wrong, longer ones so instead of returning the, I just cut them to the proper length.
I removed and disassembled the heat box. The aluminum box and side covers were wire wheeled and sanded down to bare metal and then painted with Rustoleum Ultra Heat paint.
The igniter was showing a fair amount of rust too. Sections were missing so I fashioned a new cover that fit over the original cover and tack-welded it in place. I don’t know how long it will last, at least it works for now.
As with all of these conversions, I had to do something with the frame. It needed something to stabilize the two end pieces together. After looking around for various alternatives, I settled on using a piece of aluminum angle that I had been given years ago. I cut it to length and cut a piece to fit the ends. I tig-welded it (my 1st attempt at aluminum TIG welding I might add) together and drilled a hole in the ends. Then measured the SS legs and drilled them through. I purchased some SS bolts and bolted the pieces in place. It is so much more stable now.
The frame extensions that support the shelves have a device placed inside to secure them to the main frame. Unfortunately, all 4 of mine had the spot welds fail. I decided to pop-rivet the devices to the extensions. They serve their function, but there is some motion left. If I were to do it again I would plug weld them instead of pop riveting.
Next up was finding a rack that would fit. Based on another suggestion by someone here, I found a gray Closetmaid shelf at my local Home Depot that fit the job almost perfectly when cut to length. Another $13 spent if I include the gray plastic caps to fit the cut ends. The gray also looks good against the aluminum and SS frame pieces it is supported on. I say almost because the aluminum frame rails that I added were about 1/16” too sort for perfection. I ended up cutting the end small wires in order to fit between the legs. The front didn’t seem to have a problem. I guess the closet shelves are not made as consistently as a machinist would. Looking back now, I could have just added a spacer to spread the rear legs that 1/16”. Oh well.
I wire-brushed the remains of some grilling and some rust from the SS grill grates. Loose pieces were tack welded back in place. They were then given a seasoning with Peanut oil twice.
I think the Weber warming racks were chrome plated steel as there was deep, deep rust on these. I sandblasted them down to clean metal and gave them a 2x seasoning like the grill grates. I hope this will control the rusting. I doubt that I will use them, but they will be available if I ever do want to use them.
The last thing to deal with was the tank scale. If I left it in its original location, the curvature of the tank would hang-up on the bottom frame rail. Some of these conversion add a second frame rail and mount the tank bumpers on them. I decided to just lower the tank using an adapter. The bumpers were relocated from the side panel, now gone, to the original frame rail. I think this will work perfectly thru the full range of LP in the tank.
That is my story. All in all, I think the clean-up/conversion was a success. I have yet to sacrifice a cow on it.
P.S. I have most of the parts removed listed in the Buy section if anyone is interested in them.
. It's never meant as a criticism or anything.
