Weber FT400

[Jon Tofte]

Maybe not everyone has seen this period ad from Weber in Australia:

Thread '1997/98 Weber Flat Top ad from Australia'

Aug 23, 2014

TVWBB member Stephen R sent me this Australian ad about old Weber Flat-Top gas grills, circa 1997/98. These grills came out in 1997 in the US, they usually take about a year to get down to Australia, so the 97/98 date is an educated guess.

It's a hoodless grill and you can choose to cook on a griddle, a grate, and interestingly they use the cover from a Weber Go-Anywhere grill to cover what's called "the barbecue pot" for deep-frying, stir-frying, or steaming. The chassis and controls appear to be based on the Weber Summit in the U.S.

• Chris Allingham
• Replies: 5
• Forum: Old Weber Catalogs, Brochures, Ads, Videos, Etc

 

[Mike-GA]

It's a shame about the big dent in the control panel because it's otherwise in almost perfect shape.View attachment 119403

IDK but maybe a pro such as at a car body shop has tools that could straighten out the bend. Then maybe you could touch up with enamel paint like Testors model paint.

 

[Steve Hoch]

I was surprised to find that the manifold was only held on with this clip. I'm assuming that there was at least one on the other side too?

 

[Steve Hoch]

I started cleaning up some parts, I'll do the burner tubes and flavorizer bars next.

 

[LMichaels]

Yes there is supposed to be 2 of those clips. Really it's an ingenious design for ease of maintenance

 

[Steve Hoch]

Yes there is supposed to be 2 of those clips. Really it's an ingenious design for ease of maintenance

Yeah, that's what I thought. If anyone has an extra one let me know.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Two out of the three tool hooks were bent up pretty bad so I straightened them out best I could and cleaned them.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Knobs and igniters cleaned up like new with just Windex.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

Yeah, that's what I thought. If anyone has an extra one let me know.

Maybe @Paul Warner would have parts or know of a place to look.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Super big shame about this dent in the control panel because it looks pretty much new otherwise.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

Looks like the parts you do have are cleaning up nicely. How about the grates?

 

[Steve Hoch]

Maybe @Paul Warner would have parts or know of a place to look.

If you can still buy one I'll find it, I just haven't looked yet.

 

[Steve Hoch]

This panel has a nice scratch all along it. I might try and wet sand it out if I decide to refinish the badge.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Looks like the parts you do have are cleaning up nicely. How about the grates?

They're in good shape, just dirty. I haven't gotten to those yet.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

Looks like the manifold clip #92174 is still available and it looks like there's one on each end in the diagram.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Looks like the manifold clip #92174 is still available.

Yeah I was just looking too, nobody has it in stock though. I'll have to call Weber and see if they have it.

 

[LMichaels]

Steve I bet if you keep an eye on FB Marketplace or what have you someone will be dumping a 1st gen Summit with likely some decent parts you can use like that control panel. There is good commonality between the full on Summit and the flat top

 

[Steve Hoch]

Steve I bet if you keep an eye on FB Marketplace or what have you someone will be dumping a 1st gen Summit with likely some decent parts you can use like that control panel. There is good commonality between the full on Summit and the flat top

I will definitely keep that in mind. At this point I'm doing this for my buddy who thinks he wants to keep this grill. Whatever it needs is going to be on his dime so I'll see how much it bothers him.

 

[Josh Dekubber]

I will definitely keep that in mind. At this point I'm doing this for my buddy who thinks he wants to keep this grill. Whatever it needs is going to be on his dime so I'll see how much it bothers him.

Nice of you to give him a hand with it.

 

[Steve Hoch]

Nice of you to give him a hand with it.

Even though I don't like it much, I'm enjoying working on it just for the experience. Besides, he helps me with my projects all the time. I'm still going to try and get the grates out of it, I don't think he'll care if I give him a brand new set of stamped stainless steel ones.