New Addition to the Family, rehab advice appreciated - Weber Genesis E-310

[Kyle in Woodstock]

Hello fellow Weber grill addicts,

Years ago, ~2011, I used to be somewhat active on this board. I had to sell all my former glorious Weber grills when I moved into a condo
I'm back to being a home owner and have started building a new family of Webers.

My most recent addition is an E-310 Genesis. I bought it off Craigslist for $100. It needs a lot of work, but the guy did give me two propane tanks. So I feel pretty good about the purchase.

I tried to get as much info from the seller, but he was kind of a weird guy. He bought it from Home Depot years ago. I think this might have been a color exclusive to them; it's a smoke gray looking color. I think it is an E-310 since it came with the porcelain enamel interiors. Does that sound like the right model #? Any idea the year? Is there a way to find the serial number? He didn't have any of the original paperwork.

Looks like the grill lived outside most of it's life The bottom part of the storage area looks like it got rusted pretty badly and the previous owner went crazy with the black paint to cover the rusting.
He also mentioned that the inside of the hood and firebox started to flake, so he used black paint on that too. No idea if it was just basic spray paint or bbq/high temp paint. It doesn't look great, but think I can put some elbow grease into it and make it a good grill to put in the rotation.
Do you guys have any advice on removing the old black paint?
Steel wool and Simple Green, maybe blast it with a pressure washer?
Disassemble and sand the crap out of it?
I already started using some Goo-Gone to get rid of the over-spray off the back of the doors and some of the frame.

These are some "Before" pictures. I will post some progress shots as I start fixing and cleaning her up.

Mechanically, the flavor bars were falling to pieces, so I went ahead and removed those and ordered a SS set from that guy off Ebay that makes the good quality ones.

The crossover bar on the burner has a massive rusty hole in it, so I have to manually light the 3 different burner tubes with the lighter. All 3 burners do work though. Any suggestions on ordering replacement burner tube set?

The seller installed some replacement grates, but the grates don't fit all the way across side to side, so eventually I'll order new ones of those. Do you guys think I should get the SS grates? Weber brand?

The igniter is totally shot and in pieces, so I'll be ordering one of those too, not sure there are any options for that besides Weber.

I attached some pictures, hopefully you can see them. I plan on posting progress pictures as I get it cleaned up.
Looking forward to posting on this site again.

 

[Stefan H]

Weber does make some grill colors exclusive for some stores.
As four your grill not sure the $100 was a good deal. These grills tend to rust in the cabinet. Floor panel, bottom of side panels and the rear panel are prone to rust. if you just need to replace the floor panel you are looking at around $100. The side panels will break the bank however. They run at $250 to $300 each. Back panel is another $100.
But what concerns me most is that you mention that the previous owner painted the inside. Never ever do that. These grill paints will release toxic fumes. You can take an angle grinder with a wire cup brush and get the paint of the cast aluminum parts.
For the lid you can take a razor blade scraper and clean the inside. What the previous owner saw as peeling paint was actually peeling carbon. The guy had no clue what he was doing.

Long story short: if you can get all the paint off the inside and only have to replace the floor panel you should be good. If you need to replace more cabinet parts I would look for a second used grill of the same type in better condition. Make one out of two.

As for outside paint: no one here has found a grey high heat paint which matches the Weber color. I have tried 550F automotive engine paint. But that temp rating was too low. The paint started bubbling. I stripped it all off again and painted all cast aluminum parts with black grill paint.

 

[Bruce]

The paint inside the grill that was peeling was not paint, it was carbonized smoke and grease. First thing you need to do is remove any paint inside the lid or cook box. THat is toxic stuff when heated up. People very commonly think that peeling stuff inside the lid is paint. It is not. The inside of the lid is ceramic and that will shatter, but it wont peel.

Your grill is the first generation of the Genesis E3xx grills. I do think yours is an E310. There should be a sticker inside that has the serial number on it. It should be on the grease tray stand or maybe on the floor of the grill. From that you can easily determine the manufacture date. The first two letters of the serial number will correspond to a year.https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/determine-age-weber-grills-smokers/
But, I am guessing the PO might have spray painted over that sticker. But, your grill is 2007 to 2013 or 2011 (cant remember for sure). Then they had basically the same grill only they moved the knobs to the front of the grill.

Those grills are notorious for rusting inside the cabinet. It is a much bigger problem up north where I live. I suggest you get in there and remove all the painted over rust, hit it will a good rust inhibitor or encapsulator and then paint it up right. Otherwise, it will just keep rusting.

You have a decent candidate for rehabbing there. But you have a lot of work to do as well. As you move along in the process, come back and ask for more specific advice and you will be sure to find your answers here.
Good luck.

 

[Dave in KC]

KTB, glad to see you followed my link.
You will find lots of expert info here.

 

[Dan Leighton]

KT:
I've got 3 of these in our family (one is a spare parts grill). As Bruce pointed out the location and I see in one of your photos (the 2nd one) the builders plate sticker is there, but may have some overspray on it. Just note there are two different igniters for this series grill depending on the year made. If the builders plate is N/G, the manifold may give you a clue. Model year 2007 does not have wings that sit in slots in the frame, but is supported under the gas valves by a crossover bracket. 2008 forward have the wings that ride in the frame slots and the newer style igniter (push button part is identical). There has been a lot of info posted about this series of grills in the forum. Biggest issue is the rust in the bottoms and where the castors go into the tubular frame. Great cooking grills with the E-W burners we call sidewinders. Good luck with the rehab!

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Yes, Dave in KC pointed me back in the direction of TVWBB.... somehow I'd forgotten about this place.

I'm going to give Weber a call. Since the previous owner seemed pretty clueless, it's doubtful he registered the grill. So if I can find the serial #, I might get lucky and get Weber to cover the cost (or at least discount) a few of the replacement pieces. If I do end up having to replace the bottom, back and/or side panels, I might just opt the route of building a custom wood contraption.

Going to take some Simple Green and steel wool to all the spray painted areas and see what I've got to work with. The spray paint came off the doors pretty easily and looks nice. I'll take some pics this week as I get it cleaned.

 

[Dan Leighton]

KT:
Looking at the photos again, I noticed that the igniter is a 2008 or newer, not the 2007 like mine. Your manifold should have wings that sit in the frame rails. Remember to check out the video on how to clean and relube the valves.

 

[Jon Tofte]

Welcome back, KT! Your grill is my personal favorite of the 300 series grills. It carried over the classic Weber layout with left to right (E-W) burners. I especially like that it is a nice alternative color to black. I like black ones, but green, crimson, blue and the smoke gray you have are much less common and look very sharp.

You definitely have your work cut out for you. I agree with those who have warned you to thoroughly wire brush (or sand blast if you are so fortunate) to remove all paint on the inside of the aluminum firebox and side pieces. If the prior owner actually painted the inside of the porcelain, too , then you could try paint stripper which will work a lot easier than razor blade scraping.

You can track down all the parts to restore this grill, but it won't be cheap getting the cabinet like new. This is the Achilles heal of an otherwise really nice grill. Replacing the bottom and back, if necessary, is one thing. However, if yours has severe rust on the legs that can't be fixed, you are now looking at a much bigger expenses. This is because the two sides comprise the main "unibody" structure of the grill. The frame that wraps around on the top to also hold the side tables - much stronger than the later 300s that just has them screwed on and held by clips - has the side pieces welded in. If you can't repair these you are looking at a steep price to replace the entire assembly - potentially on both sides.

I love these old "sidewinders" but you might want to do a careful inventory of what you will need to purchase before investing a lot of time and hard work. It may be more than you really want to spend. There are already Genesis II grills coming up for sale at moderate prices. While these lack the E-W burner configuration, many have open carts with much less proclivity toward rust out - at least we are all hoping! They would also be 12 years newer overall.

 

[Greg M]

You asked about grates too. Most of us on this forum prefer the solid stainless rod grates over the cast iron. The stainless ones just last longer and are easier to maintain.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

I found the info label in the underside area of the grill that had the grill info. Used some white vinegar to clean the info sticker off. Got the serial number and registered it on the Weber website. Looks like the original owner never registered it, so hopefully when I call up Weber they will be able to help me out on some of these parts.

The serial number started with DE, so I think that means it's a 2012. When I registered it with Weber, I put Feb '13 as the purchase date, and it took. Really a shame that a 2012 is in this condition...

The legs all seem rust free, just the bottom panel is very rough. The bottom part of the back side of the doors are a little rusted, but not so bad that they are crumbling or anything.

I do think I'll go ahead and get the SS grates as well.

Again, all the comments are greatly appreciated.

Any thoughts on covers? I bought one from grillstuff.com for my Performer and it's been great. I originally bought a "King Kong" cover from Amazon that didn't even fit the grill. I do miss having the Weber logo on the cover.

 

[Dan Leighton]

KT:
I hope you were able to read the numbers on the tag as well. The numbers determine the year, not always the letter on the Genesis series. The sidewinders were made in that style from 2007 thru 2010 with the enclosed base cabinet. From 2011 forward including the Genesis II, the Genesis grills had front controls, not the side valves. Looking at Ereplacements.com, I think you have a 2009 grill since steel grey was available that year only. Number should be 83741001 or something very close to that.

 

[Jon Tofte]

I myself like the new style Weber covers which are soft and don’t harden into brittle, cracking shells. Some don’t agree. The one designed for the Genesis II three-burner will also fit your grill.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

KT:
I hope you were able to read the numbers on the tag as well. The numbers determine the year, not always the letter on the Genesis series. The sidewinders were made in that style from 2007 thru 2010 with the enclosed base cabinet. From 2011 forward including the Genesis II, the Genesis grills had front controls, not the side valves. Looking at Ereplacements.com, I think you have a 2009 grill since steel grey was available that year only. Number should be 83741001 or something very close to that.

Wow, you know a lot about these grills. I checked and without giving my exact number, it does start with 8374. So that means it's a 2009 then?

I myself like the new style Weber covers which are soft and don’t harden into brittle, cracking shells. Some don’t agree. The one designed for the Genesis II three-burner will also fit your grill.

Thank you sir, I'll look into that style. I'm very familiar with the old style hard cracking cover. Glad to hear of a new design.

 

[Dan Leighton]

KT:
Boy do I feel dumb! I just noticed that you already had a sidewinder before, so you know about how great they are. Mine was originally a black LP E-310. In 2007 when I got it, I got a LP manifold which is a lot cheaper for fuel. Two years ago, I bought a used sideburner and got that hooked up with brass fittings making it a E-320. I bought and fixed up a forest green 2007 LP E-320 for our last Christmas which he uses frequently. This summer I picked up a 2007 LP all blue which was the color I always wanted. That one is our mutual parts grill. Only thing I'm using are the blue hood, doors, and SS grates. The rest is in storage for parts. Yes, your grey grill is a 2009 since that was the only year that color was available in the Genesis E-300 series. I found out about the different manifold and igniter changes in 2008 in discussions with a TVWBB member who was converting from LP to NG. That was quite a learning process with a lot of help from Bruce, L Michaels, and Jon. Good luck with the rehab and happy grilling!

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

KT:
Boy do I feel dumb! I just noticed that you already had a sidewinder before, so you know about how great they are. Mine was originally a black LP E-310. In 2007 when I got it, I got a LP manifold which is a lot cheaper for fuel. Two years ago, I bought a used sideburner and got that hooked up with brass fittings making it a E-320. I bought and fixed up a forest green 2007 LP E-320 for our last Christmas which he uses frequently. This summer I picked up a 2007 LP all blue which was the color I always wanted. That one is our mutual parts grill. Only thing I'm using are the blue hood, doors, and SS grates. The rest is in storage for parts. Yes, your grey grill is a 2009 since that was the only year that color was available in the Genesis E-300 series. I found out about the different manifold and igniter changes in 2008 in discussions with a TVWBB member who was converting from LP to NG. That was quite a learning process with a lot of help from Bruce, L Michaels, and Jon. Good luck with the rehab and happy grilling!

My last 310 was a Copper EP-310 in near mint condition. I bought it from a recently divorced lady. It had so very minor paint chipping on the firebox and Weber sent her a brand new firebox, so she gave that to me as well and a tank and Weber cover. Only paid $200 for it, such a steal. Life happened and I had to downsize and sell my entire fleet of grills, so I don't have those anymore.

That's cool about the LP to NG conversion. I don't have a NG hookup at my house. Never thought about having a line installed so I've always had LP.

I just called Weber about my "new to me" E-310. The lady was nice is sending me a free burner tube set covered under warranty. She didn't need pictures or anything. I took another look at my side and rear panels this morning and they don't look bad at all. It's just the bottom panel. Weber lady said she could order me a bottom panel for $93. I'm going to wait on ordering that until I've had time to strip down the grill and see what's all underneath that black spray paint before dropping that kind of money.

 

[Dan Leighton]

KT:
If you don't need to move the grill, you can take the bottom right out by taking the 6 bolts out of the lower frame panels (L&R) and rear. Before you do that there are 2 philips screws on the left frame which will release the drip pan holder. That will come out with the bottom. There are two more screws on the bottom to take that pan holder off. Also gives you a chance to check out the lower frames easier. Just don't move the grill since that bottom piece ties everything together.

 

[Kyle in Woodstock]

KT:
If you don't need to move the grill, you can take the bottom right out by taking the 6 bolts out of the lower frame panels (L&R) and rear. Before you do that there are 2 philips screws on the left frame which will release the drip pan holder. That will come out with the bottom. There are two more screws on the bottom to take that pan holder off. Also gives you a chance to check out the lower frames easier. Just don't move the grill since that bottom piece ties everything together.

Thanks for the tip, right now it's just parked in the garage.

I took a closer look at the grill tonight. Rust problem is bigger than I thought. Bottom pan is going to need to be replaced with something.
I cleaned it lightly with some Simple Green and a brush, black paint came off pretty easily and I found a coat of blue paint....so strange. Guess old owner used that as a primer/1st coat. Either way, from the looks of it I don't think the bottom piece is salvageable.

The inside of the doors came clean with a rag and some Goo Gone.

The outside of the right panel doesn't look too bad

Left panel is worse than I thought, but think I can work with it. Pretty decent rust in the bottom right corner.

Back outside panel is ok looking. You can see some more of that blue paint...

I spent a few seconds looking at the inside of the hood too. Sprayed it with Simple Green and used a straight razor on it, lots of build up there... Do you guys think I would be ok to use one of those wire wheel brush attachments on a drill to clean the sides and underneath the hood? Same with the firebox. Or would that be too harsh? Feel like steel wool might not do the trick on these areas.

A little regret is starting to kick in on this purchase, but I still think I can get this one going again.

 

[Bruce]

Do not use anything like a wire wheel on the porcelain hood, inside or outside. Really, I would not worry about the insides of the grill that much unless you are trying remove paint that the previous owner used on the inside. The peeling stuff under the hood is just carbonized grease and smoke.
But if you really want to clean up the inside of the cook box, then a 4" angle grinder and a wire cup brush will do a great job. Or you can use grill cleaner and a household SS brillo pad. But, after a few cooks, it is will be greasy and dirty again anyway, so why bother? There are better areas to concentrate your efforts.

Check this "HOW TO" for cleaning the inside of the lid: https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?78902-HOW-TO-Clean-The-Inside-Of-A-Weber-Genesis-Gas-Grill-Lid

 

[Jon Tofte]

KT, For the aluminum firebox and hood side pieces you can definitely wire brush. I recommend you get a cheap grinder at Harbor Freight and use a cup brush. It will go a lot quicker than a drill/brush which you can save for the tight spots. Do NOT use that on your hood! If your hood has a plain porcelain interior I would use paint stripper and a razor scraper to get all that stuff off. With some hard work it will come out looking virtually new.

What you are encountering is pretty much what I was talking about earlier. But, hey, if you are up to the challenge and plan to keep - not flip - this grill, it can be done. Looks to me like you might get by with just a new bottom piece and some serious rust treatment on the rest. POR-15 is messy and a little difficult to work with, but for key components like the bottom of your frame legs it may be your best solution. Eastwood Rust Encapsulater is another great product. I am thinking POR because you can lay it on a little thicker to build some extra strength into the damaged metal. It dries very hard, but it won’t replace metal that is already gone.

Good luck! If you are committed to this one, then give it your best and figure on setbacks and that it will cost more than it is worth to someone else - but hopefully still worthwhile to you. In the end that is what will matter.

 

[Dan Leighton]

KT:
Bruce & Jon have a lot of experience with rust techniques, but I would get that bottom out of there to see exactly you have on the frames, especially that square tube on the left front where the caster goes. That is going to need some real pro-active treatment. With some of the rust-encapsulators and help from Jon & Bruce, you may be able to get some more life out of that bottom too. Won't look pretty, but it will be out of sight. Main thing is to stop the rust from getting worse. There is a lot on this subject on the forum with preferred brands of rust products.