Jeff MA
TVWBB All-Star
When I was moving my pics over from Photobucket to Imgur recently I noticed that I hadn't shared any of the pics with you guys about the first Weber I purchased brand new, my Weber Spirit 700.
The year was 1999 and my Wife and I had just moved from our apartment into our first (and still current) Home. I knew I had to get a grill for all the parties/celebration we would be having so I had been eyeing the Webers Genesis 1000 at the time but even with my Family discount at Aubuchon Hardware it was still a pretty penny, especially after I just signed my life away on a 30 year mortgage.
There I spotted her sitting in the store next to the Genesis, a Weber 700 Spirit. Hmmmm...interesting.
33,000 btu VS 36,000 on the Genesis...no big deal.
Thermoplastic shelves VS the real wood shelves of the Genesis, probably a good thing here in New England with it sitting out all Winter.
They both had that awesome red lid.
But the main reason was it was over $150 cheaper than the Genesis.
SOLD!!
I took it Home and for the next 17 years we cooked everything on that fine grill and it was a intricate part of our Family. We had 3 children and it went from Birthday Parties to School graduations to Pool parties and never missed a beat.
Heck we even used it as our primary cooking device when we had the Ice storm of 2008 here in New England and lost power for close to a week....bad, bad memories of that storm.
If any one inanimate object could be considered a Family member it would be our Weber Spirit 700.
I replaced several items in those almost two decades of use, several igniters and thermometers, one set of porcelain grates, two grill covers, and one set of flavorizer bars before I wised up and bought some rcplanebuyer SS ones.
It got totally cleaned and washed at the end of each season and one year, I think I actually waxed it
It was finally starting to show it age and one of the frame supports was loose and rusted.
We couldn't have this!
So I began my first (and definitely not last), tear down of a Weber grill:
My poor Picnic Bench is now a Weber restoration table-
I brought it to my buddy at work to weld the lower frame support, this is before I found out about the square tube nut fix.
Cleaning up the lid-
Much better-
Emblem before-
After-
Lid and emblem cleaned up-
Firebox painted-
The year was 1999 and my Wife and I had just moved from our apartment into our first (and still current) Home. I knew I had to get a grill for all the parties/celebration we would be having so I had been eyeing the Webers Genesis 1000 at the time but even with my Family discount at Aubuchon Hardware it was still a pretty penny, especially after I just signed my life away on a 30 year mortgage.
There I spotted her sitting in the store next to the Genesis, a Weber 700 Spirit. Hmmmm...interesting.
33,000 btu VS 36,000 on the Genesis...no big deal.
Thermoplastic shelves VS the real wood shelves of the Genesis, probably a good thing here in New England with it sitting out all Winter.
They both had that awesome red lid.
But the main reason was it was over $150 cheaper than the Genesis.
SOLD!!
I took it Home and for the next 17 years we cooked everything on that fine grill and it was a intricate part of our Family. We had 3 children and it went from Birthday Parties to School graduations to Pool parties and never missed a beat.
Heck we even used it as our primary cooking device when we had the Ice storm of 2008 here in New England and lost power for close to a week....bad, bad memories of that storm.
If any one inanimate object could be considered a Family member it would be our Weber Spirit 700.
I replaced several items in those almost two decades of use, several igniters and thermometers, one set of porcelain grates, two grill covers, and one set of flavorizer bars before I wised up and bought some rcplanebuyer SS ones.
It got totally cleaned and washed at the end of each season and one year, I think I actually waxed it
It was finally starting to show it age and one of the frame supports was loose and rusted.
We couldn't have this!
So I began my first (and definitely not last), tear down of a Weber grill:
My poor Picnic Bench is now a Weber restoration table-
I brought it to my buddy at work to weld the lower frame support, this is before I found out about the square tube nut fix.
Cleaning up the lid-
Much better-
Emblem before-
After-
Lid and emblem cleaned up-
Firebox painted-
Last edited:
