Rehab of a 1988 Weber Genesis Junior


 
Phil Robert

Phil Robert

New member
Hi guys.
I'm a passive member for a while now and found a lot of helpful information here.
I'm a huge Weber-Fan and restoring Weber Grills for a while now. No matter if it is a Kettle, Q model , a Genesis Silver/Gold/Platinum, Genesis 1 or a Model from the latest series....
Yes, I'm kind of Weber addicted...

I've seen a lot of Weber grills over the years, but I've only seen one Genesis Junior online in a reasonable distance.
And I was lucky to get it at a very fair price. 🙃
As this is the first rehab I've documented, I thought you'll like it!

The Junior was in a really good shape, especially for its 33 years.
Only small pieces of rust, the wood wasn't rotten and neither the grillchamber or the lid had any damage!

Before:
20210221_092533957_iOS (Groß).jpg
20210226_104342781_iOS (Groß).jpg
20210221_112413370_iOS (Groß).jpg
20210227_140805793_iOS (Groß).jpg

After:
20210513_135742649_iOS (Groß).jpg
20210513_141131095_iOS (Groß).jpg
20210513_141009156_iOS (Groß).jpg
_20210513_141658176_iOS (Groß).jpg
deckel_1.jpg
deckel2.jpg
wanne1.jpg
wanne2.jpg

20210513_134350360_iOS (Groß).jpg
flavorizer.jpg
20210513_135558811_iOS (Groß).jpg
123.jpg
20210513_135601789_iOS (Groß).jpg
20210305_071630386_iOS.jpg20210320_101308497_iOS (Groß).jpg

20210513_135621638_iOS (Groß).jpg


What did I do?
1) pickup and disambling :)
2) all aluminium parts had been sandblasted and spraypainted with high temperature color. (As I don't like the dull surface, I used HT clear coat as a finisher...)
3) The wood was sanded and painted with a thin-layer varnish 3 times.
4) I've cleaned the flavorizer bars and grill-grates and the bottom tray as well.
5) As the burner tubes are not available anymore, I gave the old ones a "rehab" as well. (Sandpaper 120-320. steel wool for the finishing)
6) The entire frame was sanblasted and powder coated!
7) All screws had been cleaned and spraypainted
8) The only spare parts I needed were basically a few new screws, igniter kit, a 3d-printed wheel-cover (in progress) and I'm still looking for a manifold bracket (will probably have to do a custom one myself)...

PS: Yes I know the tool holders are not installed correctly in the picture, but I was so excited to finish the project :love:


Greetings from good old Germany!
 
Last edited:
Wow, that looks fantastic! You went all out on that. It looks like a museum piece :coolkettle: .

If you actually plan to cook on it, I would be sure to do a LONG burn-off. Most of us here are not in favor of painting the inside of the grill because of potential fumes. That grill looks too nice to ever use again, so if you just plan to enjoy looking at it, you are fine.

I can help you with a replacement decal for the fuel gauge. Send me a private message if you need one.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Wow, that looks fantastic! You went all out on that. It looks like a museum piece :coolkettle: .

If you actually plan to cook on it, I would be sure to do a LONG burn-off. Most of us here are not in favor of painting the inside of the grill because of potential fumes. That grill looks too nice to ever use again, so if you just plan to enjoy looking at it, you are fine.

I can help you with a replacement decal for the fuel gauge. Send me a private message if you need one.
Click to expand...
Hey thanks!
The grill is not painted on the inside, only sandblasted. So it's bare aluminium.
And the oldie had been heatet up to it's limit for more than an hour!
I'm not planning to use it ever again 🙈
Happy to only look at it, while I'm grilling on my other Weber grills ;-)
I'll drop you a PM in a second
 
Last edited:
Love it. Looks a whole lot like mine.
Making me consider getting the box blasted now.
Where are you at in Germany?
I spent almost 4 years in the Mannheim/Heidelburg area.
 
Dave in KC said:
Love it. Looks a whole lot like mine.
Making me consider getting the box blasted now.
Where are you at in Germany?
I spent almost 4 years in the Mannheim/Heidelburg area.
Click to expand...
Hey Dave,
I can highly recommend it... But do bear in mind, after seeing your "classic grill" in such a clean condition, it will break your heart to grill on it again :cool:

I worked in Mannheim a couple years ago, not one of the "nicest" cities in Germany. Heidelberg is much nicer!
I'm living close to Switzerland, next to the Lake Constance!
 
Nice grill to start with and you did an awesome job restoring it. But like I have said before, it isn't complete until there is a 1.5 lb ribeye cooking on it.

I was stationed in Augsburg twice in the late 80's and early 90's. I was over there when the wall went down.
 
Bruce said:
Nice grill to start with and you did an awesome job restoring it. But like I have said before, it isn't complete until there is a 1.5 lb ribeye cooking on it.

I was stationed in Augsburg twice in the late 80's and early 90's. I was over there when the wall went down.
Click to expand...
It wasn't my first and won't be the last one... :cool:
If I restore a grill it's usually either for friends or family. I leave it to them to complete the restauration with a proper peace of meat!
The only thing I ask for is to be on the all-inclusive guests-list, when they do the first BBQ.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Very nice work! While I can appreciate the “museum” thinking about them, I stil think that the grills want to be used not simply adored.
Click to expand...
Thnx
In general I'd totally agree with you :)
Grills are made for grilling.
And all of my previous finished projects have new happy owners, doing (more or less) exactly what a grill is made for!
But this time I decided to make an exception! ;)
 
Great restore! I love my Genesis Jr it's a great little grill!
I was stationed in Schweinfurt in the early 80's and traveled around Bavaria as much as time would allow.
qIKR2eXl.jpg
 
Ron De Hoogh said:
Great restore! I love my Genesis Jr it's a great little grill!
I was stationed in Schweinfurt in the early 80's and traveled around Bavaria as much as time would allow.
qIKR2eXl.jpg
Click to expand...
I love this Model :)
From what I can see you've exchanged the wheels with the newer version.
Is there a source in the US where you can still buy the old wheels with the little black edges?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top