Spirit 700 restored

[Ryan P MKE]

As my shelter at home project, I cleaned and upgraded an old Spirit 700. I got it for free as the person had a new hand-me-down from their dad. So I suspect this thing is at least 20 years old and came with 20 years of grime on it!

Thanks to all of you who shared advice on here, and especially to NickF for the manifold w valves!

 

[Ryan P MKE]

Done!

 

[Bruce]

Well done. I bet that grill outlasts the one the other guy got from his dad.

 

[Jon Tofte]

Wow! Very cool!

You don't see one of those every day. The 700 a little bit reminds me of the old Studebaker Scottsman. (Look it up and you will see what I mean.) But with all your nice upgrades you have raised the bar really high. It ought to give you many years of great service and a lot of enjoyment. You probably have the classiest 700 out there!

 

[Jeff MA]

Nice job on that Weber 700 restore Ryan.

My first Weber was also a 700 Spirit. Bought it when I purchase my Home back in 1999. I restored mine and it currently resides with a good friend at his Home.

You can read my story here-

Weber Spirit 700

When I was moving my pics over from Photobucket to Imgur recently I noticed that I hadn't shared any of the pics with you guys about the first Weber I purchased brand new, my Weber Spirit 700. The year was 1999 and my Wife and I had just moved from our apartment into our first (and still...

tvwbb.com

Jeff

 

[LMichaels]

Nice job on that grill. I wonder if they called it the Scotsman because it was cheap?

 

[Richard in NS]

Very Nice Ryan! Makes me want all the more to get started on my 3000.

 

[Ryan P MKE]

Nice job on that Weber 700 restore Ryan.

My first Weber was also a 700 Spirit. Bought it when I purchase my Home back in 1999. I restored mine and it currently resides with a good friend at his Home.

You can read my story here-

Weber Spirit 700

When I was moving my pics over from Photobucket to Imgur recently I noticed that I hadn't shared any of the pics with you guys about the first Weber I purchased brand new, my Weber Spirit 700. The year was 1999 and my Wife and I had just moved from our apartment into our first (and still...

tvwbb.com

Jeff

Jeff, your post was super useful and inspiring - I consulted it frequently as I worked on this over the last couple months. Thanks for being so detailed, too, it helped!

Wow! Very cool!

You don't see one of those every day. The 700 a little bit reminds me of the old Studebaker Scottsman. (Look it up and you will see what I mean.) But with all your nice upgrades you have raised the bar really high. It ought to give you many years of great service and a lot of enjoyment. You probably have the classiest 700 out there!

Definitely a spartan baseline, but I decided that I could spend some money on stainless steel since I got the grill for free. Helps that the firebox and top seem like they’re the core of the genesis series, as parts are compatible. Not sure that I’ll ever repeat the experience, as it took much more time than I expected, but I’m pretty dang pleased with the result.

 

[Bruce]

Yah, that lid should be interchangeable with any Silver/Gold B/C or Genesis 1000-5000 grill

 

[Jon Tofte]

Nice job on that grill. I wonder if they called it the Scotsman because it was cheap?

The Scotsman (I spelled it wrong before) was a try by Studebaker to offer a full-size car at a low price by building it with absolutely no frills or luxuries. It was the the ultimate "stripped down" price-leader car. By then struggling Studebaker's standards, it was actually a marketing success.

Dream Car for Cheapskates: The 1957 Studebaker Scotsman

In 1957, Studebaker managed to offer the lowest-priced car in America by cutting the standard equipment to the bone—even the hubcaps were painted. Here’s the unlikely tale of the Champi…

www.macsmotorcitygarage.com

I certainly didn't mean my comparison to be negative. It is just that the 700 seems to me to have been a similar effort on Weber's part to offer a full-size, 3-burner grill at a more competitive price. Ryan has taken that base model, made the outside look like new, clean and simple, and then loaded it inside with high-end equipment. I guess you could now call his a "sleeper" grill, if you want to keep the car comparison going. Under the hood is the heart of a high-end performance machine!