New from NorCal with a recent free gas grill in need of restoration


 
I'm kind of confused about something. You ran into serious frame rust that might be beyond repair, and have seen other stuff that lead you to conclude that " I'm just going to put it back together so that I can use it this summer. I can see why the previous owner left it behind when moving out. I feel that come fall, I'll look for a better condition unit to rebuild anyway."


Why sink anymore serious money into it with RCPlaner parts and the like ? Slap it together on the cheap to make it useable then dispose of it later or keep on hand for donor parts. If you must, grab some cheap grates/bars off of Ebay. Save the money to fight another day.
 
Those thing can always be swapped over to the new grill. If it's just that crossmember to left of the firebox there are methods people have come up with to fix it.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
Those thing can always be swapped over to the new grill. If it's just that crossmember to left of the firebox there are methods people have come up with to fix it.
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Sure, if he finds a new grill that the parts fit on and they need those parts. To me, that just doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be like me hollering at RC and buying some flavorizers and grates for a Genny 1-5000 then hoping one pops up on CL. Cart before the horse as it were.
 
DaveW said:
Sure, if he finds a new grill that the parts fit on and they need those parts. To me, that just doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be like me hollering at RC and buying some flavorizers and grates for a Genny 1-5000 then hoping one pops up on CL. Cart before the horse as it were.
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By going with RC grates/bars/z-bars, I'll either a) move the parts to a better frame condition grill when I find one with a better frame, or b) I repair the frame by welding in a new section. I'm just trying to avoid this refurb going on into the summer when I'd like to use the grill (I have no other grill to use). The two issues that could push the timeline are the frame member replacement and trying for perfection. I'll see my father-in-law next week about the frame, and it might not be an issue to just weld it up before the spare parts even arrive anyway. End of April, I really want to have it all working.

A last step will be the RC order, so I can still switch to cheaper grates/bars etc if the earlier steps are not meeting my expectations. I don't want to spend $300 making a $100 grill.

Oh a positive note, I got 30 mins this morning to do some scraping, and things are going well. Also sold $175 worth of stuff on eBay, so my PayPal is brimming with project funds :)
 
Xavier G said:
Those are OEM Weber parts from Weber mothership. Some of the items didn't show up on their website as orderable but when I called customer service they hooked me up. Came as one big box with a bunch of individual part numbered boxes inside.



5Q9zAso.jpg
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Thanks, I had just assumed they'd be more expensive. I'll order soon.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
Steven, this is what you need for the pan holder rails
www.grillparts.com/weber/genesis.asp?product_id=97783

I'm not saying buy it from them, but I find that website has good prices. If yours are steel, I'd replace them. If they are just heavily oxidized aluminum like mine I'd keep them. If you reuse the screws make sure and use some anti-seize compound before putting them back in. Some people find them seized up and impossible to remove without drilling them out
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I have to check, one is steel for sure, the other may be alloy. Someone has replaced some parts on this grill, as the burners look better than I'd expect, and had perfectly clean stainless washers mounting them. It may be that one pan holder was replaced (or maybe that they had the grill positioned so that one side was more in the rain.

I'll just replace them both though.

Thanks
 
"I too was inspired by Jeff's hardware (pun) and wanted to do it up right."

Xavier,
Aw shucks...been a while since anyone has admired my hardware...:o

Jeff
 
DaveW said:
Sure, if he finds a new grill that the parts fit on and they need those parts. To me, that just doesn't make a lot of sense. It would be like me hollering at RC and buying some flavorizers and grates for a Genny 1-5000 then hoping one pops up on CL. Cart before the horse as it were.
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Good point. The 1 - 5000s are harder to find. Around here silver b's are all over craiglist and facebook marketplace.
 
Steven Savarese said:
By going with RC grates/bars/z-bars, I'll either a) move the parts to a better frame condition grill when I find one with a better frame, or b) I repair the frame by welding in a new section. I'm just trying to avoid this refurb going on into the summer when I'd like to use the grill (I have no other grill to use). The two issues that could push the timeline are the frame member replacement and trying for perfection. I'll see my father-in-law next week about the frame, and it might not be an issue to just weld it up before the spare parts even arrive anyway. End of April, I really want to have it all working.

A last step will be the RC order, so I can still switch to cheaper grates/bars etc if the earlier steps are not meeting my expectations. I don't want to spend $300 making a $100 grill.

Oh a positive note, I got 30 mins this morning to do some scraping, and things are going well. Also sold $175 worth of stuff on eBay, so my PayPal is brimming with project funds :)
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I guess I just see things a bit differently. First thing I'd do is hold off on everything else until you find out about the frame, as that really is the deal breaker. If you can't get it fixed for cheap, clean the grill up enough to use while you look for the next project. Also, while many parts are interchangeable across grill lines and generations, not all of them are. Or maybe parts that you need on this grill might be fine on the next one you come across. Like the pan holders for example. I've probably refurb'ed around 20 Webers and I think I've replaced the pan holders a grand total of twice.
 
DaveW said:
I guess I just see things a bit differently. First thing I'd do is hold off on everything else until you find out about the frame, as that really is the deal breaker. If you can't get it fixed for cheap, clean the grill up enough to use while you look for the next project. Also, while many parts are interchangeable across grill lines and generations, not all of them are. Or maybe parts that you need on this grill might be fine on the next one you come across. Like the pan holders for example. I've probably refurb'ed around 20 Webers and I think I've replaced the pan holders a grand total of twice.
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Thanks for the input, all good points. The frame repair was rushed today and didn't really work so well (my last welding class was 15 years ago, and I guess Ive got a total of about 6 hours of MIG experience ... ). It'll do for now though. I've got some basic parts arriving Friday, and if I can get the firebox and lid ends painted this week, then I'll be re-assembling and ordering grates/bars.

Someone had commented (maybe not this thread) about how they had two donor grills when they did their rebuild, and that meant they didn't need to buy many parts. I think I'd shoot for that next time. I'll grab any free or $20 genesis grills that come up on CL/garage sales and set them aside. My preference is to stick to the older genesis grills, so hopefully some of the parts of this grill can be kept.
 
Steven Savarese said:
1996 bottle swapped for a 2005 bottle that I think has been re-certified?

Interesting that it's also had a respray it seems too.

Not exactly a ''new'' bottle, but an empty 20 year old bottle with the old knob on it was turned into a full 11 year old bottle with the current style valve.

This is the re-cert I guess? Done in 2015? Or is this something different? The bottle, if it is an 05, doesnt have to get tested until next year ..
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Summary:

The grill is done and working. I cleaned the sides/firebox as best I could with simple green, brushes and then I followed some advice on here and de-greased with brake cleaner before paining. It's flaking already, and some of the heavily corroded areas look a bit bad. I'm really not worried though, as the grill works perfectly fine and will last me a while. It's got RCPlaner grates and bars. The bars are stupidly heavy. After seeing them, I could have gone cheaper on the bars, but it's done now.





As for a donor for a better frame, one listed earlier is down to $39, a 3 burner with a red lid. Another has popped up though, which has the extra burner and two bottles (empty).

$79 with two bottles.




$39, no bottle and missing a grate





I'll see how I feel about going and getting this grill, it may have already sold. The extra $40 gets me two bottles (taking me to four) and a grill that is more complete + the bigger cart. I'm assuming that I can remove the side burner, plug the manifold hole and create some working space there with a side tray ... maybe even put another folding tray off there. The plan would be to take my time and make one nicer grill, and put all the lesser parts together to have one to sell with one of the bottles etc (as I do not want to have to store two gas grills that are functionally the same).

Thoughts? Crimson $79 one a Genesis 2000?

Lessons Learnt:

-I didn't appreciate that the cost of a BlueRhino/Amerigas swap-a-bottle varies from outlet to outlet. I went to Home Depot, it was $22 (+tax I think). Walmart have them too, and are $15. Exact same thing. My 2006 bottle will go to Walmart to be swapped once it's out. My 2013 will be refilled at the local gas station or u-haul.
-Razor blade scraper is the way to go for the underside of the lid. The only reason I didn't clean it perfectly, is because I wasted two hours with plastic scrapers and putty knives before moving to the razor blade. By that point I just wanted it done.
-A water blaster/pressure washer would have helped with initial clean up, and ideally one with heat, i.e. a steam cleaner one. Maybe next time I'd go to a car wash and put some coins in.
-Wire wheels on a grinder are awesome for the inside of the fire box. I just didn't care about getting it perfect. I just wanted it to work now.

Thanks all,
 
Did you ever wind up with a donor frame?? IF you did or do I might be in the market for either of those hoods and live near you relatively. Good luck
 
That frame doesn't look all that bad to me. Just hit the inside of that left crossmember the box bolts onto with some rust converter and roll with it.
 
Reggie G said:
Did you ever wind up with a donor frame?? IF you did or do I might be in the market for either of those hoods and live near you relatively. Good luck
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A busy week last week, so I missed out on the crimson 2000(?) grill. It definitely seemed like the better deal of the two options in my price range. I'm chasing up the red one now, but it's been advertised for so long, I'm not sure how much luck I'll have. Having some time to think about it, my longterm goal is the wider grill (2000 series and up?) with two fold out tables etc, and not a 1000 series grill. So unless a 1000 series donor is cheap/free, I'm happy enough to wait out another 2000 and be ready to snatch it up.

As for a spare lid, I will keep you posted, but my plan if I do get the red one, would still be to fit all the left over parts to make one workable grill to sell, and keeping the best parts to make a grill to last me a couple of decades.

Thanks.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
That frame doesn't look all that bad to me. Just hit the inside of that left crossmember the box bolts onto with some rust converter and roll with it.
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The rust on that left hand side is a section about 5 inches long and half the section is gone. As well as looking for a donor grill with a better frame (and I agree, my grill will last five years before I have to sort this if needed), I'm going to look for a piece of the RHS to just replace the whole section. By that time, my welding should have improved to passable :)

Thanks everyone though, off to buy some chicken to grill for tonight, it's meant to be nearly 80F later this afternoon, so really glad the grill is working.
 
Reggie G said:
Did you ever wind up with a donor frame?? IF you did or do I might be in the market for either of those hoods and live near you relatively. Good luck
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The $39 one is still there, probably collect it Monday. If it goes over the weekend, then I'm not worried, as there's a $50 one a little more out of the way from me which is in better condition and includes a bottle. I'll update next week if I get it and have spare parts.

Thanks
 
I wonder if the Silver B and C frames would be compatible? Those other 2 grills look good enough to restore on their own! Your's is looking pretty damn good though. Nice work on it so far!
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I wonder if the Silver B and C frames would be compatible? Those other 2 grills look good enough to restore on their own! Your's is looking pretty damn good though. Nice work on it so far!
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I ll likely know more here in about a month I am looking at putting one of my 13 bar boxes in a newer frame or vise verse
 
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