Stainless steel bolt stuck in Genesis 1

[Marc Sweetgall]

Hey all,

I've been trying to get a red pre-1994 Genesis 1 back to fighting shape. The grill was my late FIL's and it was used frequently long ago, but it's been mostly unused for a decade. I would love to eventually make it look as good as it did long ago, but in the short term my goal is for it to be usable again. I've spent a lot of time reading Genesis restoration threads here which have given me a ton of great info.

Most of the grill's in fair shape except for the burners which need replacement (the middle one has basically turned to ash). I ordered new burners, but to install them, I need to remove the manifold bolts, which are of course stuck tight. I drilled out one of them based on the advice here and it was relatively easy. But the other bolt was already replaced 10+ years ago with a stainless steel bolt with its head on the outside and that sucker is stuck on tight.

What can someone do to remove a stainless steel bolt that's keeping me from taking off the manifold to replace the burners? I've sprayed it with PB Blaster more times than I can count and my repeated wrench attempts are starting to cause the bolt head to deform. I don't think I have any drill bits capable of cutting a stainless steel bolt.

I'm tempted to cut the flat metal of the manifold, do the burner replacement, then sandwich two pieces of metal around the cut as a sort of splint to hold it together, but that feels like it should be only a last resort.

Is there any other trick I'm missing to free this manifold? Or a way to replace the burners without removing the manifold on a Genesis 1?

Thanks!

 

[Steve Hoch]

Hi Marc, welcome to the forum. A trick that I have used to loosen stubborn bolts from these old cook boxes is a plumbers torch. If you heat up the metal surrounding the bolt with a torch it may loosen it up enough to get it out. If you can remove the burner tubes without removing the manifold then you can probably reinstall new burner tubes as well. I don't know because I've never tried it that way. Good luck, and let us know what happens.

 

[Bruce]

I would try the suggestions by Steve above. Make sure you are using a six point socket on the nut.
If that doesn't work, I would refrain from cutting the manifold bracket unless you have access to welding equipment to weld it back together. A "splint" doesn't sound like a viable remedy to me. If the nut gets rounded off, try a pair of vice grips. If you wind up twisting the nut and bolt off, then you can work on getting the rest of the bolt out of the cook box using some gentle persuasion or drilling it out. This would entail removing the cook box entirely from the grill frame. You may find a similar problem with the bolt holding the cook box on the left side.
One word of caution. Do not try to remove the bolts holding the left ends of the burner tubes in place. Those are not meant to be removed. They will likely twist off and fixing that issue is tough. I don't think you can really remove the burners without at least loosening the manifold without damaging the burners. That is by design. Weber doesn't want the burners falling out during normal use such as when wheeling the grill around or transporting it.

I normally use a 1/4" impact to remove the manifold bolts and rarely have it not work. But with your nut rounding off, that might not work. Again, always use a six point socket on the nut...that helps greatly in preventing the nut from rounding off.

 

[LMichaels]

On those stuck bolts like that the impact is a good way to give it a try. Combine with heat and good penetrating oil and I think you will win

 

[John G (Boston)]

Getting the bolt out is the best bet. But if it eventually breaks off and you need to drill you should be able to do so using good cutting oil and by running the drill slow. If it goes too fast it will overheat and ruin the bit. I've been able to drill stainless successfully by using good oil, going slowly, and by drilling a little at a time (to allow cooling). Metal cutting bits can be found at ACE hardware and good cutting oil at a plumbing supply house (thread cutting oil).

I don't know exactly when the change was made but earlier Genesis grills had threaded cookboxes at the manifold bolt locations and used thumbscrews with washers to secure the manifold. Later (1000 and newer grills) used stainless bolts with stainless wing nuts (on the outside). If you have a threaded cookbox, and the threads are ruined, you can always convert to the later style using stainless through-bolts (heads on the inside) and stainless wing nuts on the outside.

What Bruce said is very important. Do not try to remove the little screws at the left side of the burner tubes. The burners are supposed to be a sliding fit at those points. You may need to use a big screwdriver or little prybar to nudge the old tubes out from under the screws. Clean up the gap under the screw heads a little and the new tubes should slide right back in, under the screws.