I recently had a dedicated natural gas line for a grill installed at my house, so of course I had to find a NG Weber Genesis to compliment it. I have been cooking on a Weber Genesis E-310 LP for around 6 years, and it is in superb condition, so I did not want to tear it apart to convert it to NG. While hunting on Facebook and Craigslist, I found a Weber Genesis Platinum C in need of a restoration, and figured it would be a great candidate to restore and convert to NG. The floor of the cabinet was completely rusted out, but the side panels and stainless doors were in surprisingly good shape. It was a tough decision to remove the cabinet entirely, but I really like the look of the older open cart Genesis with wood slats, so I paid homage by incorporating a similar base into my restoration. This was my first ever grill restoration, and this forum and its members have been an invaluable source, so thanks! I am quite happy with the final result, though I spent way more on it than I care to admit, and could have easily bought a brand new Genesis with warranty from one of the big box stores, but I really like the vintage look and stainless steel cart so I do not regret it one bit. Anyway, below is a little write up of my restoration, and some pictures.
I disassembled the entire grill, removed the cabinet and cleaned everything up. I used a combination of simple green, #000 and #0000 stainless steel wool and bar keeper's friend on all the stainless pieces. Next, I cleaned up the inside of the firebox using my angle grinder and painted the outside of the firebox and the end caps using VHT high heat paint. I then fabbed up a new base using 1" aluminum square tubing from Lowes, caster nut inserts (thanks for the idea Bruce!) stainless steel brackets and hardwood oak. (I ordered 2" stainless steel brackets from Amazon, measured the spacing and predrilled the aluminum tubing. I then flipped the base over and screwed the hardwood oak to the brackets from underneath using stainless steel screws). I replaced the LP manifold with a NG manifold direct from Weber, and ordered a 3/8" quick disconnect NG hose from MB Sturgis. I sourced the NG orifice for the side burner too. I also replaced the thermometer, crossover igniter, stainless steel burners, drip tray and catch pan with Weber parts. I replaced the newer Weber wheels that came on the grill with some older Weber 8" wheels as I liked the way they look more. Lastly, I purchased new grates and flavorizer bars from "rcplanebuyer" (I was so impressed with the quality, I ordered a second set for my LP E-310 before gifting it to my father).
FYI, when I first fired up the grill, she was burning a little too hot (500* with all 3 burners on low). I checked my NG pressure at my meter with my manometer and obtained a reading of 8" WC. Though, Weber claims their NG manifolds are designed to work at 7" WC (it does not seem that this is the rule), I installed a Maxitrol adjustable regulator in line on my grill NG line and adjusted it down to 4.5" WC. Temps are now very, very similar to my old LP E-310. All in all, I would call it a success!
And for the pictures (sorry I do not have pictures of everything, but I should have done a better job documenting the restoration):
I disassembled the entire grill, removed the cabinet and cleaned everything up. I used a combination of simple green, #000 and #0000 stainless steel wool and bar keeper's friend on all the stainless pieces. Next, I cleaned up the inside of the firebox using my angle grinder and painted the outside of the firebox and the end caps using VHT high heat paint. I then fabbed up a new base using 1" aluminum square tubing from Lowes, caster nut inserts (thanks for the idea Bruce!) stainless steel brackets and hardwood oak. (I ordered 2" stainless steel brackets from Amazon, measured the spacing and predrilled the aluminum tubing. I then flipped the base over and screwed the hardwood oak to the brackets from underneath using stainless steel screws). I replaced the LP manifold with a NG manifold direct from Weber, and ordered a 3/8" quick disconnect NG hose from MB Sturgis. I sourced the NG orifice for the side burner too. I also replaced the thermometer, crossover igniter, stainless steel burners, drip tray and catch pan with Weber parts. I replaced the newer Weber wheels that came on the grill with some older Weber 8" wheels as I liked the way they look more. Lastly, I purchased new grates and flavorizer bars from "rcplanebuyer" (I was so impressed with the quality, I ordered a second set for my LP E-310 before gifting it to my father).
FYI, when I first fired up the grill, she was burning a little too hot (500* with all 3 burners on low). I checked my NG pressure at my meter with my manometer and obtained a reading of 8" WC. Though, Weber claims their NG manifolds are designed to work at 7" WC (it does not seem that this is the rule), I installed a Maxitrol adjustable regulator in line on my grill NG line and adjusted it down to 4.5" WC. Temps are now very, very similar to my old LP E-310. All in all, I would call it a success!
And for the pictures (sorry I do not have pictures of everything, but I should have done a better job documenting the restoration):
