Restore e-310 or buy new?


 
T

Tom Reed

TVWBB Member
Hi, newer to the forum but not to grill rehabbing.

Recently traded with a scrapper to score a north/south e-310 for some scrap metal I had to take in anyways. Lucky for me it had never been registered and I was able to get a brand new cookbox and lid for it for free. The frame is in good shape and the cabinet only has a little surface rust. I’ve been cobbling together parts from Craigslist and marketplace so that my free grill didn’t turn into a money pit. I am currently in $60 and have a functioning propane grill minus the electronic ignition.

The only problem is, I would much rather have a natural gas grill than propane. I have a gas hookup that I have used for years with my Genesis 1000 and have loved not having to swap tanks all of the time. By the time I get a new igniter and a NG manifold and hose I would be at around $200, but I can use or sell the grill now at a much lower price point. I was taking a look at true value and the new Genesis II caught my eye. Am I better off flipping this grill and going for a new one or just sucking up the cost and moving forward with the e-310?
 
Goin from LP to NG is easier (note not "easy") easier than the other way. The other way pretty much no way other than a whole new manifold (in most cases)
 
Tom,
Welcome to TVWBB!

If you do some searches you will find tons of threads about LP to NG conversions. I am not experienced with that other than changing manifolds, so I will let you see what others say.

On the grill, if you have the money to spend I would rather have an open cart Genesis II than a 300. But, like some others here, I would even more rather have a well restored early Genesis. For that money you could buy one already restored or do it yourself with the finest stainless grates and flavorizer bars and have $ to spare for a lot of steaks 🥩! More importantly you would have a solid classic grill that you will enjoy for a lot longer than any 300 or II.
 
I get the NG vs LP, I have a E/W E320 NG and love it, the tank never runs out. With our charcoal ban it's our only grill along with my restored 1998 genesis 2000 I bought new that we can use.
To Jon's point if you live in a high humidity area the cabinets will self destruct before your eyes. Here in AZ that's not an issue my 12 year old E320 cabinet looks like the day it was made. But the E/W E3XX all have cast aluminum fire boxes which is a big plus.
I guess if you like the N/S burners your options are limited to a latter model E3XX or a Gen II. But Ng in either case is the way to go.
 
Purely money-wise, the restoration/conversion will be cheaper bit may not work 100% perfectly. On the other hand, you could put in the igniter, clean it up to look good and sell it for a decent price and put that toward what you want. You might also take a look at the Spirit line if you can get by with a slightly smaller cook surface. They are as big as your 1000 and quite a bit cheaper than the Genesis.
 
What's wrong with the 1000? Are you trying to have NS burners? I understand that, otherwise if it were me, I would keep the 1000.

For me, the east west burners took a little time to get used to, but once I did (and found out about rotisserie cooking) I don't want NS any more.
 
THyde said:
What's wrong with the 1000? Are you trying to have NS burners? I understand that, otherwise if it were me, I would keep the 1000.

For me, the east west burners took a little time to get used to, but once I did (and found out about rotisserie cooking) I don't want NS any more.
Click to expand...
Nothing is wrong with the 1000. I intend to keep it long term. I love it for longer cooks, roasts, etc. It is actually my parents grill that I grew up with and restored for use at my own home. I even have a stockpile of parts I’ve picked over time to keep it going for the long haul.

The desire for another grill is something I think most people would be familiar with here, additional cook space for parties, etc. I also have a genesis 300 sidewinder I garbage picked but the frame and cart need major repairs to be viable, and again it’s propane and not NG.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Tom,
Welcome to TVWBB!

If you do some searches you will find tons of threads about LP to NG conversions. I am not experienced with that other than changing manifolds, so I will let you see what others say.

On the grill, if you have the money to spend I would rather have an open cart Genesis II than a 300. But, like some others here, I would even more rather have a well restored early Genesis. For that money you could buy one already restored or do it yourself with the finest stainless grates and flavorizer bars and have $ to spare for a lot of steaks 🥩! More importantly you would have a solid classic grill that you will enjoy for a lot longer than any 300 or II.
Click to expand...
I’ve already got a classic 1000 and a stockpile of parts to keep it going for the long haul. Love that grill, it is my parents old grill that I grew up using and they owned for over 20 years before giving it to me in 2013. Of course when I went to wheel it to the backyard the frame basically crumbled which set me off on my first trip down the grill restoration rabbit hole.

I do a lot of “curbside rescue” and have been fortunate to come into a lot of grills lately. This is more if it’s worth it to put the money into this one or flip it towards a Genesis II that would be my extra cooking space/main grill due to faster heating, etc.
 
OK, very cool! I think you scored a lot of points with the whole "keep the 1000" angle, and even with your stockpile of parts. Of course, I have extra flavorizers and burner tubes. Maybe some casters. I think I could dig out a side table mechanism, and maybe a Z bar. OK, OK I have extra grates, just in case. Oh, yeah, and a couple boxes of wooden slats, to play it safe. Just in case, a spare big drip pan. Well, if I'm being honest, a whole box of knobs, handles, and a stainless steel axle that I'm totally putting on soon. FINE, I have an entire extra grill too just in case I need its propane manifold. At least I don't have a problem.

As far as the north south grills, I must politely exit because I haven't had any other Weber gas grills besides "thousands" and once I had a Silver B. But they were all East West so I am completely unfamiliar with Weber's NS grills. They do have some pretty fancy knobs. As far as propane to NG, I'm sure you've seen the endless information here. I'm one of those people who just swaps the whole manifold. I'm not sure how easy the NS grill manifolds are to come by, nor do I know how expensive they are new. But I do know that hooking up to NG is thousands of times better than using propane.

I feel like a super old person rejecting new stuff. Where's my pills? My programs are coming on!
 
Rich Dahl said:
I get the NG vs LP, I have a E/W E320 NG and love it, the tank never runs out. With our charcoal ban it's our only grill along with my restored 1998 genesis 2000 I bought new that we can use.
To Jon's point if you live in a high humidity area the cabinets will self destruct before your eyes. Here in AZ that's not an issue my 12 year old E320 cabinet looks like the day it was made. But the E/W E3XX all have cast aluminum fire boxes which is a big plus.
I guess if you like the N/S burners your options are limited to a latter model E3XX or a Gen II. But Ng in either case is the way to go.
Click to expand...
Are the Genesis II no longer cast aluminum? That would be a huge bummer.

What it comes down to is I've really never owned a new Weber product other than a Spirit 200 I was given in 2014. I passed that on to my brother-in-law when I found the Genesis e-310 as I figured it would become my N/S grill. Beyond that Spirit, everything has been hand me downs or curb finds. It's amazing how long of a lifespan these products can have with some TLC.
 
Tom Reed said:
Are the Genesis II no longer cast aluminum? That would be a huge bummer.

What it comes down to is I've really never owned a new Weber product other than a Spirit 200 I was given in 2014. I passed that on to my brother-in-law when I found the Genesis e-310 as I figured it would become my N/S grill. Beyond that Spirit, everything has been hand me downs or curb finds. It's amazing how long of a lifespan these products can have with some TLC.
Click to expand...
I've never really paid attention to the Gen IIs. I remember someone saying they still were cast aluminum but much thinner than the earlier gens.
 
Update: I was lucky enough to score a Genesis II natural gas for around $300. Still under warranty and never registered! Bought a new ignition module for the e-310 and am giving it to my parents to use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top