Weber Summit B4 Restoration
- Thread starter Sam-TX
- Start date
Propane manifold came in. We. Are. In. Business.
Spent probably more time than necessary adjusting the flame grates so the flames are nice and nice. Not sure what to go for here.... some internet set 1-1.5" clean blue flames. The leftmost burner seems to be a bit lower than the rest.
One thing I want to do is find a way to mate a literal drip can to the catch. I don't know why we ever stopped doing this, but I'm not quite willing to go in with the angle grinder until I have an idea for what I want to achieve. Ideally I want something that can accept large and small cans (small can pictured) without actually drilling the can. Easy install and removal. The spacing of the thin steel bars is just slightly too wide that I can press fit a can in there.
Spent probably more time than necessary adjusting the flame grates so the flames are nice and nice. Not sure what to go for here.... some internet set 1-1.5" clean blue flames. The leftmost burner seems to be a bit lower than the rest.
One thing I want to do is find a way to mate a literal drip can to the catch. I don't know why we ever stopped doing this, but I'm not quite willing to go in with the angle grinder until I have an idea for what I want to achieve. Ideally I want something that can accept large and small cans (small can pictured) without actually drilling the can. Easy install and removal. The spacing of the thin steel bars is just slightly too wide that I can press fit a can in there.
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
That's an interesting idea, but is there a reason you don't want to go with the regular Weber (or non-OEM) tray and bargain-priced replaceable foil trays?
I use these for my own grills. They are better than the Weber ones in my opinion and are reasonably priced in bulk:
I use these for my own grills. They are better than the Weber ones in my opinion and are reasonably priced in bulk:
Whatever happened to Drip "Cans"
Thinking back as a young child, I remember we had a grill with a literal drip can, like one of those aluminum cans for corn or whatever. That thing never leaked, broke, or corroded, was always available, and dirt cheap. Now in modern 2023 we have these, for $1.40 each. A can of sweet corn...
tvwbb.com
It's truly ridiculous. A can is not only higher quality, ubiquitous, cheaper, and comes with free food; it also has a liner inside so it won't corrode out.
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I do get your motivation, and I agree that it has merits. I myself just haven't minded using the disposable foil trays.
That link takes you back to a crazy project I once did restoring a little old Sunbeam grill that utilized the soup can method. It had clips specifically designed for that, but I am guessing that grill went back to the 1980s. I had fun wedging in a too-large burner from a Broilmaster and then opening up the orifices to where the little cast aluminum grill would do 0 to 600 in a little over 5 minutes. I called my crazy muscle grill "The Judge!"
That link takes you back to a crazy project I once did restoring a little old Sunbeam grill that utilized the soup can method. It had clips specifically designed for that, but I am guessing that grill went back to the 1980s. I had fun wedging in a too-large burner from a Broilmaster and then opening up the orifices to where the little cast aluminum grill would do 0 to 600 in a little over 5 minutes. I called my crazy muscle grill "The Judge!"
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I'd ordered David's flavor bars a while back, but didn't want to dick with the grill unnecessarily. Since I had the grill in the garage anyway, I finally got around to welding them together and installing them.
I've never welded anything before, but the results aren't as terrible as I was expecting. This was the perfect "project" to get my feet wet I guess.
The last things I need to do are: 1. find another screw for the metal front gauge indicator thing, the left one is missing. Get the screw to mount the rotisserie attachment thing, and finally paint the lid and the plastic pieces.
I've never welded anything before, but the results aren't as terrible as I was expecting. This was the perfect "project" to get my feet wet I guess.
The last things I need to do are: 1. find another screw for the metal front gauge indicator thing, the left one is missing. Get the screw to mount the rotisserie attachment thing, and finally paint the lid and the plastic pieces.
Thanks Bruce! I thought about going in with a flap disc, but in the end I just decided to throw it back together. It got late tonight and I did a lot of running around. I will not lie, I found welding incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. No waiting for glue to harden, and sparks are cool af.
Now I can finally focus on grilling and getting to know the grill. The size is perfect, if not a tiny bit too big. The extra tables set this grill apart from all other grills in any price class. Fantastic.
Yeah, and it really sours the value proposition.... Apparently shipping becomes prohibitively expensive if they come pre-assembled. Weber OEM bars are $300. I spent all day running around getting the welding equipment (hood, wire, I had a ****ty harbor freight welder someone gave me b/c it was so ****ty), and then sweated getting everything aligned right. It was good getting my feet wet, but I'd recommend the Weber OEM bars to anyone else. It was a lot of work, not worth the expense and time given the $180 savings vs OEM.
No dice, not for the crossbar. You could run it w/o the cross burner bar I guess.
Something else I noticed, the crossbar isn't perfectly centered above the cross burners. Even if you have the welding equipment, it's still a bit of work getting everything aligned perfectly. The burners are 6.25" apart. Bah; to be honest I would simply pay up for the Weber OEM. My understanding is they are also 14-gauge steel.
Weber 9896, $225 at grillspot as of writing
Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
OHHHH. I thought maybe they were not normally welded together. I cannot imagine that he sells many of them that way. No knock on him, because the cost to ship them is determined a great deal by size of the package. But not a lot of potential buyers have access to a welder or want to pay to have it done.
Jon Tofte
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Dave Santana is a great friend to us who restore and love Weber grills. I think this particular part is just one that his operating cost, the issues with shipping, etc. conspire against him. He is a businessman and not a charity, but he is NOT a price gouger.
These are tricky grills to restore. Looks like we all learned a lesson about what to do about this important part. $225 isn't cheap, but not an insane price for the special design. My older Summit has regular flavorizer bars, but they offer minimal protection to the crossover tubes. I think that Weber felt that an improvement was needed and incorporated the special horizontal bars on these 2nd generation Summits. It unfortunately added a lot to the long-term maintenance cost to keep them.
These are tricky grills to restore. Looks like we all learned a lesson about what to do about this important part. $225 isn't cheap, but not an insane price for the special design. My older Summit has regular flavorizer bars, but they offer minimal protection to the crossover tubes. I think that Weber felt that an improvement was needed and incorporated the special horizontal bars on these 2nd generation Summits. It unfortunately added a lot to the long-term maintenance cost to keep them.
Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Sam, did you use stainless steel wire when welding those? If not, it will likely rust at the welds, but I doubt that would cause them to fail any time soon.
No knock on him. Shipping pre-welded parts is prohibitively expensive. He let me know as much, and didn't hide it in any way. I'm just saying, given that equation, and now having done it myself, it's better to order directly from Weber. If the flavor bars don't require welding or can be shipped pre-welded, order directly from him.
I believe so, but I'm not sure. I went to Lowe's and grabbed whatever was quickly available.... I was frustrated because the person I had loaned the welder to lost the spool I had already purchased
Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
Well, the SS is more of a specialty wire. If you just grabbed the "quickly available" wire, it was probably plain steel wire, and likely flux core. No big deal.
There are some great youtube videos that you might want to watch to get some great tips from to get you up to speed faster.
There are some great youtube videos that you might want to watch to get some great tips from to get you up to speed faster.
Oh my god trust me I've gone down a rabbit hole of welding and toyed with buying a $2k multi-purpose welder from a reputable company. I then pinched myself and got back to my senses. I'll probably do this over again whenever it starts to fail, but honestly only two of those bars need to be welded to hold the crossbar up. Regardless, then I can grab some SS wire.
Bruce
TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
NO NO No need to spend a bunch of money to do what typically needs to be done around the house. A Harbor Freight MIG welder, a helmet, gloves, and maybe a gas setup is all that is required for most driveway projects. I bought a used Lincoln MIG with a helmet for $150. I added an Argon gas setup and a harbor freight cart. Does all I need for well under $500. It isn't like I am building 16 foot trailers in my driveway.
My son is a welder so I can bounce stuff off him whenever I want to. But it is virtually impossible to get him to come over and actually SHOW me how to do something. I guess he gets enough of it at work.
My son is a welder so I can bounce stuff off him whenever I want to. But it is virtually impossible to get him to come over and actually SHOW me how to do something. I guess he gets enough of it at work.
Well in all honesty this is the first time I've ever needed a welder...
But *you* have a nice Lincoln and not a cheapo harbor-freight
