Suggestions for Stainless Steel Hardware for grill restoration

[AHymel]

Hello all!

Been learning a lot from this forum for the last 6 months or so, waiting to move into space with enough room to do a restore of my own. Two weeks ago, I gained a garage, and yesterday, after a few hours with rusty nuts and bolts, got my redtop Genesis 1000 from 1993 completely disassembled. Next comes the cleaning, paint, and reassembly. Literally every single thing I have done and each piece of equipment I have purchased I learned of through this site, so a HUGE thank you for making my shopping list easy and efficient.

With that said, I have never gone to a store and bought loose hardware such as nuts, bolts, and washers. With that said, any advice on that, or is it truly that easy? Do I just walk in with my rusted ones and match them as best I can with stainless steel ones? Are there different types of ss? Is there a kit that I should buy that would have all the needed pieces included, or snag them all individually? I live near a Harbor Freight and saw this set (see the first picture). Anyone used this pack? It seems to have many of the sizes and pieces I need, so wanted to ask. Maybe I just keep it for some future restorations?

Thanks in advance!

Also, just because I'm here, I also attached a few pics of the grill I'm restoring. Paid $40 for it off craigslist and after yesterday I can now say from first-hand-experience that these old Webers are some of the best-made pieces of equipment I've ever seen. Excited to get it fired up.

 

[JohnS NJ]

that is zinc plated. You want stainless steel. I would suggest you do so searches on threads from other restos. But the best way to know what bolts you will need is to search for the manual for that grill. It will tell you want you need.

 

[Jeff MA]

Ahymel,
Most older Weber's use 1/4" by 20 thread bolts, which is a coarse thread bolt.

The only difference is the length on them. Best to measure yours and match to original length.

Jeff

 

[AHymel]

that is zinc plated. You want stainless steel. I would suggest you do so searches on threads from other restos. But the best way to know what bolts you will need is to search for the manual for that grill. It will tell you want you need.

Thanks! That makes total sense. Ill find that manual and go from there! SS seems to be the consensus

Ahymel,
Most older Weber's use 1/4" by 20 thread bolts, which is a coarse thread bolt.

The only difference is the length on them. Best to measure yours and match to original length.

Jeff

Thanks! Sure enough, when I opened the manual, all of them are 1/4"-20. Thanks again!

 

[CharlesG]

I got a lot of my fasteners from Fastenal and Ace hardware. I went to Ace first and got what I could, then finished up buying what I needed online through Fastenal. For example you can get the exact length Clovis pin for the lid in 304 Stainless through Fastenal. Ace only had the select a length version with a lot of holes.

 

[Jon Tofte]

Another good choice is Marsh Fasteners. They have a good selection of 316 marine grade stainless which is held out as having superior corrosion resistance than even 304 stainless. They have many of the basic sizes needed for a Weber grill in both 304 and 316 grades.

 

[DrewZ]

If you really want your head to spin with options, try McMaster-Carr. For my Genesis Junior build, I went with their "Super-Corrosion-Resistant 316 Stainless" nuts and bolts. Probably overkill, but at the time I ordered, I was still traumatized from wrestling a Happy Cooker kettle with hardware so badly rusted that I had to shear bolts and cut off bolt heads.

 

[Bob Walters]

Buying bolts and nuts in very small quantities is expensive. Sometimes a hobbyist has no choice, but do yourself a favor and look on Amazon for a stainless screw assortment. You can expect to spend between 10 and 30 bucks, depending on quantity and size. Many of the kits are metric, but that's just fine in places where you need both a nut and a bolt. Of course, if you need a nut to fit an existing bolt which can't be switched to metric, you need the correct SAE size. But generally speaking you'll find that the selection and pricing on metric SS hardware kits is more attractive and usually a metric size will work just fine in place of an SAE bolt/nut when it comes to holding two parts together.
Pick the kind of head you need/want along with the correct drive type.

 

[TonyS T-Bone]

I agree with DrewZ; I have bought a lot of rehab hardware from McMaster - nuts, bolts, washers, z-bars, axle rod, etc. Buy hardware in bulk and keep organized in a compartmentalized box. Order all you'll need at once to save on shipping.

BTW, just cruising through the McM catalog is a solid hour of entertainment!

 

[AHymel]

Thanks for the replies! I just ordered all the needed supplies from Marsh Fasteners! Excited to get these in and start assembly!