This Old (New?) Grill

[TomRc]

A couple of holy grail items as we near the finish line on this grill. First up is a brand new #48968012 drip tray. These are getting harder and harder to find in decent condition as the years go by and I’ve only managed to come across 2 NOS ones in the entire time that I’ve been rehabbing grills. Another rarity is a brand new set of Dave Santana (RCplanebuyer) grates. It’s been more than a year since Dave stopped offering grates and they truly are the gold standard. It wouldn’t be right to go this deep into a project without using his flavor bars as well as shown.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

Very nice Tom!!

 

[Jon Tofte]

Yesterday was all about the Weber Grill Out handle light. Part #9057. I had a mahogany handle made for this grill but called an option for the 9057 at the last moment. These handles still pop up as NOS from time to time on the secondary market and I’ve managed to accumulate a half a dozen of them in the shop. I retrofit the incandescent lamps with ultra-bright white LED bulbs whenever I pull a fresh handle off the shelf. I also use Lithium batteries on every occasion when I do. On an item like a grill handle where things might get put away for long periods of time, Lithium batteries offer the benefit of not leaking and forming the nasty white powder on the component contacts when they fail. To me, the extra money is well spent to avoid that nastiness and potential damage to the light. You can see the LED light bulb part numbers and a pic of the LED vs incandescent lamps for reference.

Tom,
I have I think 5 of those myself and do the same on the lights. Those things use 'C' batteries. What do you do for Lithium batteries? I helped my friend replace his handle because when I sold him my Skyline he didn't even realize it had a handle light! Regular batteries left out (in a porch with a roof) in the Florida humidity - you know what happened!

I haven't seen where you can buy Lithium C batteries, although I have seen some kind of adapter. Not sure how that would work in the handle light.
Look forward to your recommendations.

 

[Jon Tofte]

That's going to be one real beauty of a grill!

 

[Bruce]

Jon, I am pretty sure you can get C cell Lithium batteries on Amazon, but they are not Energizer or any recognizable brand. Not sure if that would be better than name brand alkaline though.

 

[TomRc]

Tom,
I have I think 5 of those myself and do the same on the lights. Those things use 'C' batteries. What do you do for Lithium batteries? I helped my friend replace his handle because when I sold him my Skyline he didn't even realize it had a handle light! Regular batteries left out (in a porch with a roof) in the Florida humidity - you know what happened!

I haven't seen where you can buy Lithium C batteries, although I have seen some kind of adapter. Not sure how that would work in the handle light.
Look forward to your recommendations.

The chief resource officer (the wife) has returned from camp and provided the following pic of what she bought. Ordered from Amazon. Apparently, they’re rechargeable which is news to me. She knows I prefer Lithium for everything but we keep a tackle box of batteries in the upstairs hall closet of the house rather than out in the shop. When I finish swapping over to the LED bulbs, rather than track debris through from the shop, I pass the handle light in to her and she returns me a working handle on my next trip in. If you hadn’t asked the question, I would’ve never known that name brand “C” lithium batteries aren’t really a thing. I was also not aware that we’re paying $43 for 8 of them! Needless to say, I’ve been unknowingly underpricing the handles as adders while doing this. I’m not sure I’m wild about an off-brand lithium battery in the first place, so we may have to rethink our choice of “C” batteries (or our pricing) for out the door projects with Grill Out Handle Lights going forward.

 

[R Chin]

How about using Sanyo Eneloop AA NiMH batteries with an AA to C adapter?
They are low self discharge (LSD) and have about 2000mah capacity - should be plenty with LED bulbs
Also much easier to find a charger for NiMH than lithium

 

[TomRc]

A few more OEM parts to document as we near the finish line on “The Judge”, the grill by which all of my other projects will now be judged. #80632 swinging warm-up basket, #7513 warming rack, #987101 axle cap nuts, and the nearly impossible to find NOS #92515 bezel / #92510 switch pairing. While not genuine Weber parts, the #00120 control knobs are a very close match and a regular fixture on my 13 bar projects. Also pictured are my mahogany slats finished with genuine beeswax and Dave Santana stainless z-bars / rod brackets.
The grill is essentially done except for a @Jon Tofte reproduction tank scale. I like to make sure I have both a full tank and an empty tank along with my 3’ wooden ruler on hand to swap back and forth as I install the decal and set the scale adjustment tensioner. I find the combination of the reference measurements along with the 2 tanks helps me to place and set things as optimally as possible.
This project has turned into quite the cash cow. I flew right past $1000 in costs long ago and will probably be closer to $1500 for the final tally. Using genuine Weber parts is never cheap to begin with and I’ve paid well over retail on some of the harder to find items over the years. I’ll check back in with some final beauty shots when I get it out in the sunshine (hopefully next weekend) but they’re really not that important. This project has always been about documenting the components rather than a “look at what I did” final reveal.

 

[LMichaels]

A few more OEM parts to document as we near the finish line on “The Judge”, the grill by which all of my other projects will now be judged. #80632 swinging warm-up basket, #7513 warming rack, #987101 axle cap nuts, and the nearly impossible to find NOS #92515 bezel / #92510 switch pairing. While not genuine Weber parts, the #00120 control knobs are a very close match and a regular fixture on my 13 bar projects. Also pictured are my mahogany slats finished with genuine beeswax and Dave Santana stainless z-bars / rod brackets.
The grill is essentially done except for a @Jon Tofte reproduction tank scale. I like to make sure I have both a full tank and an empty tank along with my 3’ wooden ruler on hand to swap back and forth as I install the decal and set the scale adjustment tensioner. I find the combination of the reference measurements along with the 2 tanks helps me to place and set things as optimally as possible.
This project has turned into quite the cash cow. I flew right past $1000 in costs long ago and will probably be closer to $1500 for the final tally. Using genuine Weber parts is never cheap to begin with and I’ve paid well over retail on some of the harder to find items over the years. I’ll check back in with some final beauty shots when I get it out in the sunshine (hopefully next weekend) but they’re really not that important. This project has always been about documenting the components rather than a “look at what I did” final reveal.

Wow that is quite the collection. Amazing the dedication