Weber Genesis 1000 Restoration Advice


 
N

Nick-US

New member
Hi everyone,

I purchased a Weber Genesis 1000 off of Craigslist for $30 and want to restore it as best as I can. Now, I am a graduate student in college living in a 1 bedroom apartment so I don't have a lot of space or tools to be using. Also, I'd like to try to restore it for as cheaply as possible, although I'm prepared to purchase some things it needs.

First, I'm going to repaint the frame and clean out the inside of the grill. From what I've read online I can get high temperature spray paint, Easy Off Oven Cleaner, Simple Green, and a wire brush and this should probably do a good job of cleaning the inside of the grill box and repainting the frame and the outside of the box. What I am not familiar with is the best way to disassemble this grill. As you can see in the pictures (album below) the screws are rusted and I'm not exactly sure which ones I should remove. I think I'd like to take the red grill head off, take out the large, deep grill box and remove everything else so that I can just spray paint the frame. The cleaning/repainting should be fairly straightforward. I'm just worried about taking the grill apart and putting it back together.

As for the second part of the process, I need to purchase some parts. I know I need new flavorizer bars so that will be one of the things I'm purchasing. I am not sure if I need new burners or not. Maybe I can just clean them and keep using the ones I have. Also, the knob for the back burner does not turn anymore. I'd like to be able to use all of the burners, so someone said I might have to buy an entire new manifold assembly. I also know I need a new hose that connects to the propane tank. That just about covers it I think. I'd like to avoid purchasing new burners for now, but if they aren't in good shape then I will purchase new ones.

I'm just looking for some advice/guidance on this. Particularly, advice for disassembling the grill and reassembling it as well as some advice on what to do about the burners and also the fact that the knob for the back burner does not turn. I do not know the reason for that. Also keep in mind the limited space and tools I have at my disposal.

Thank you...here is the link to the album I created:

http://imgur.com/gallery/1BttZ/new
 
The single bolt on the left side of the grill box keeps the cook box bolted to the frame. The two bolts on the other side hold the manifold (the thing that controls the gas output) to the cookbox. In order to remove the cookbox from the frame:

1. Remove the manifold. There should be two wing nuts holding the manifold to the cookbox. Remove these, and slide the manifold off of both the cookbox and the burner tubes. Now you can either try to remove the manifold bolts from the cookbox (I've done two of these grills, on the 3000 (very similar to your 1000) the bolts just came out. On a Genesis Silver B, they were rusted to the cookbox. If they are stuck but still work, I'd leave them where they are).

2. Remove the single bolt that holds the cookbox to the frame. Advice here is go slow. GO SLOW! Be patient, you do not want to break this bolt. However, it very well may be totally rusted, in which case there is not a whole lot of choice in the matter. The point is, you want to end up with a use-able hole to reattach the cookbox to the frame. I'd replace this bolt with a new stainless steel bolt from your local hardware store.

Generally speaking, get yourself a can of PB Blaster which is like WD-40 on crack. Spray it on all of the bolts you want to remove and let it penetrate for a day or more if you have the time. If you really have the time, spray it on multiple times a day for a few days and let it penetrate. This will help with bolt removal.

Hope this helps.

Slainte!
 
Yes that absolutely helps the single bolt holding the box to the frame was quite rusted. I'll try some of the blaster as you mentioned and go slow removing it. Thanks for the advice
 
If you can turn the bolt holding the cookbox to the frame from the INSIDE and the whole thing turns (meaning, if you can get it to spin, both the bolt and the nut on the other side) then just bust it off. If it does not spin from inside the cookbox, you're rusted to the cookbox. this is the situation where you'll want to go slow and try to get that bolt out.

Does it spin from inside?
 
Then I'd start with the PB Blaster from the inside. May as well hit it from the outside too; it's no big deal to spray penetrant on a bolt from two sides!

As you start to try to unseize that bolt, you may also wish to apply torch to try to get it to turn.

But first, and patience is NOT my strong suit (see http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?59447-Before-During-and-After-Weber-Genesis-Silver-B ) I'd advise a lot of PB Blaster treatment. Slow wiggles to try to get that bolt moving in there before it breaks off inside the hole, which is exactly what you want to avoid.

It's really hard to drill a steel bolt out of an aluminum hole. The drill wants to eat up that soft aluminum, and you want to eat up that steel bolt, but the aluminum will win.

Good luck, keep us posted!
 
Use a torch to heat the aluminum around the bolt. It wil expand Quicker than the steel in the bolt freeing it up. Don't skimp on the PB Blaster, give it a few shots and plenty of time to work. After heating with the torch use plenty of wiggling to get it free'd up. This hopefully will keep it from breaking. I Had one break off on the frame side of the box, and was able to heat and wiggle what was exposed inside, and the remainder came out with out to much anxiety. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the advice...I went out and got some of the supplies, but couldn't find a torch. I think I'll go out tomorrow or over the weekend and try to find something cheap at a hardware store. Today, I just went to a Walmart. I was able to disassemble everything except the box from the frame. This will obviously take some work. Here are the pictures from my work today:

http://imgur.com/gallery/6RzXj/new

The first two show that rusted bolt that you and THyde were talking about. I sprayed it a number of times today with PB Blaster and will just keep applying it multiple times over the next few days and then try the torch on it. I'm in no rush. How long should I apply the torch to the aluminum?

Also, I know I already said I'm going to buy flavorizer bars, but after taking things apart I think I'm also just going to purchase a new manifold and burner tubes. I have a wooden table for the left side of the grill that the previous owner custom made, but I'm thinking of eventually buying a swing up table. But probably now right away. I think once I get the box off the frame, I can then spray paint the frame, clean/paint the box, paint the hood, and install the new manifold and burners and this should be in really good condition. The hardest part I think is going to be patient in removing that bolt. Otherwise, the disassembly today was fairly straightforward for beginner like me.
 
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Nick, everyone is a beginner their first time!

LOTS of applause for taking your time and putting PB on that bolt that's rusted to the frame. Good job. You're more patient than I am, and will probably get that bolt out, unlike me. BobW is masterful with this stuff, as he got his out and I didn't. Anything he says, I'd say listen to.

You talked about replacing the manifold .... the manifold, in my mind, is a crucial go-no-go part. It's like a hundred bucks, and you can always find a used grill with the same manifold on CL for like 50 or less. I'd advise against replacing the manifold. Take it off. Clean it. Inspect it. If it's OK, don't waste your money.

Good luck, and keep the pictures coming!

Tim
 
Just saw your pictures of that seized bolt: Sommana Batch! I'm not sure if you know who Roman Maronie is but that Ice Hole is in there for keeps!

Make sure you curse a lot. Cursing helps with every project like this. Use your creativity. Come up with new combos. Seriously, curse a lot!

Also, taking breaks when you get stuck helps a lot too.

Basically, curse as much as you can, take as many breaks as you can, and one day it will get done!
 
Just saw your picture of the frame bolt. My last one looked the same. Tried to remove it without any PB or heat first, and it snapped off at the box immediately with very little force. I was then able to get some vice grips on what was left inside the box, apply PB blaster several times and let it work, then heat with a torch and wiggled back an forth using the vice grips. Came out in just a minuet or so. Replaced it with stainless hardware and some anti seize. Just use the PB, heat and gently work it back and forth with very short movements at first till it lossens up more and more. I never found a nut on the inside, just rust very much like your picture
 
Thanks for both your advice and words of encouragement. I'll make sure to swear quite a bit while getting that bolt out. I'm going to work on it again today. Probably try to clean out the inside of the hood and will apply some more PB Blaster and get a torch and see if I can loosen it out. I watched some videos on Youtube and it seems straightforward I think I should be able to do it. I would love to be able to start on painting the frame/hood and even cleaning out the box later today.

EDIT: So I've been working on it today and here is the good/bad news:

Good News: I spray painted the hood and managed to remove the box from the frame

Bad News: I broke off the rusty bolt. The only reason I was able to remove the box from the frame was because I managed to break off so much of the bolt that I simply hit the box and it fell out of the frame

Here are the pictures from the work I did:

http://imgur.com/gallery/4pdAX/new

I'm not sure how to get that rusty bolt out of there. Also..there is some rust on the frame. I'm not sure if I should do anything about this or if anything can even be done. I'd like to paint the frame though so I'm not sure if I can't do anything about the rust should I just spray paint over it? Is there anything I can do to prevent or slow further rusting?

I'm also going to be cleaning and inspecting the manifold this afternoon. I'm not sure what I'm looking for though. I just know the knob for the back burner never turned.
 
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Hey Nick, a couple of things, just from my recent experience:

The nuts inside the hood will come out. Again, PB Blaster and patience help a lot, but they will come out. They seem hard because they want to turn the round bolt head on the outside part of the box, but again use PB Blaster and if absolutely necessary you can jam a very small spade head screwdriver into the gap between that round part of the bolt on the outside and the end cap, if you know what I mean. Help hold that bolt in place while you remove the nut from the inside. They are hollow nuts, and they will come out.

Second, you may wish to take a good high resolution picture of the label on the underside of your control panel. This label contains information about your grill, and since you are going to such lengths to restore it, you may also be interested in preserving that information. Once you start scrubbing that control panel cover, sometimes that information gets wet and the numbers will wash off the label.

Finally, the bolt you are dealing with holding the cookbox to the frame is like the one on the Genesis Silver C I just finished up, but it is unlike the one that was present in the Genesis 3000 I've JUST finished a bunch of work on. The GSC had no nut, like yours. The 3000 had a nut inside, so I didn't care if I broke the bolt because I knew it was spinning and therefore would come out. You've got the other problem; nowhere for the bolt to go but break inside the box. I hope you get it out!

Good luck!
 
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