Wolf $10K Built-In Grill Restore


 
Bruce,
Well, I think I showed my son that he was wrong after we installed the belt and it worked fine. When I told him what that might have cost, he seemed to realize that maybe I had done a good thing. But my accountant life has not granted me the skills to go a lot further, so I think letting the dealer do a thorough (I hope) job is probably worth it at this point.

Larry,
My John Deere was bought at a John Deere dealer (so I wouldn't have to hang my head when I came in for service). But, mine is definitely just homeowner grade. Your Kubota sounds like a professional version and built like a tank!
 
Jon Tofte said:
My John Deere was bought at a John Deere dealer (so I wouldn't have to hang my head when I came in for service). But, mine is definitely just homeowner grade. Your Kubota sounds like a professional version and built like a tank!
Click to expand...
Yeah for sure. I could have never afforded to buy the thing new LOL. I think they're in the $10k range now. I get parts like filters and such at my local dealer here in Cherry Valley so I don't think I would have any shame in enlisting them to do work on it. It's more of a "pride" thing for me. Up to now with smaller machines it has not been too hard to do things like pull the deck, or even a whole engine. As even the little 2 banger water cooled that little Honda had only weighed in at about 90lb. Pretty easily handled. Ahh, well maybe tomorrow AM I will go out and fire that bad boy up and get my diesel vibra massage :D
 
Our trees have been dropping some leaves but are still mostly full of green leaves. I have a lot :cautious: of mulching left to do before I call John Deere to pick mine up. We have only had one morning get down tp the upper 30s so far. Still too warm for real fall I guess. But not much longer.
 
Joe Anshien said:
For $24 you can have 8 new igniters. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WVV77Y2/?tag=tvwb-20 I also replaced the electronics also as the old ones were very weak even with new batteries.
Here is a pic of how I mounted them. Just bend the bracket that usually slides onto the top of the burner tube around the plate.View attachment 39329
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for the info Joe. I ordered them and installed tonight. While I am hearing a faint snapping in the igniter, I don't seem to be getting any kind of spark on the electrodes. Is there a grounding wire I am missing?
 
JojoTexas said:
Thank you so much for the info Joe. I ordered them and installed tonight. While I am hearing a faint snapping in the igniter, I don't seem to be getting any kind of spark on the electrodes. Is there a grounding wire I am missing?
Click to expand...
We are away till Sunday, but I tested each one individually with a piezio push button wired with the center wire connected to the igniter and the side ground of the button held against the stainless steel. I got them all to spark then hooked then up to the electronic igniter button and tested again. When they did not work well I replaced the original electronic modules and everything sparked great.
 
Man that’s a killer resto you’ve been working on! I’ve been wanting an older Wolf outdoor grill and just so happened my boss wanted me to come by his house and pick up his old grill so I can scrap it at the metal yard. Well….I get there and I freak out cause it’s his old Wolf outdoor grill! I get it back to the shop and of course the igniters don’t work but I manually lit all the burners and they were in good shape. I’ve got some major cleaning to do but it’s in great shape! I’ll post more pics as I go but I’ve got a ways to go before mine looks like yours!
 

Attachments

  • 046B7643-3363-4374-8872-B2169345E0BA.jpeg
    046B7643-3363-4374-8872-B2169345E0BA.jpeg
    129.3 KB · Views: 40
DRosen said:
Man that’s a killer resto you’ve been working on! I’ve been wanting an older Wolf outdoor grill and just so happened my boss wanted me to come by his house and pick up his old grill so I can scrap it at the metal yard. Well….I get there and I freak out cause it’s his old Wolf outdoor grill! I get it back to the shop and of course the igniters don’t work but I manually lit all the burners and they were in good shape. I’ve got some major cleaning to do but it’s in great shape! I’ll post more pics as I go but I’ve got a ways to go before mine looks like yours!
Click to expand...
That is the exact one I have. You're gonna LOVE it
 
Those Wolves sure are nice! I'm glad I'm not much of a stainless fan or else I might try to find one. I'll just stick with the Genesis though, it's been good to me and the stainless is on the inside :)
 
DRosen said:
Man that’s a killer resto you’ve been working on! I’ve been wanting an older Wolf outdoor grill and just so happened my boss wanted me to come by his house and pick up his old grill so I can scrap it at the metal yard. Well….I get there and I freak out cause it’s his old Wolf outdoor grill! I get it back to the shop and of course the igniters don’t work but I manually lit all the burners and they were in good shape. I’ve got some major cleaning to do but it’s in great shape! I’ll post more pics as I go but I’ve got a ways to go before mine looks like yours!
Click to expand...
Congrats! Make sure to update us with pictures of your restore. Also check out how I use inexpensive Weber igniters to replace the very expensive Wolf ones.
 
New guy here!

Sorry to wake up an older thread.

I found this forum because of this Wolf restoration thread (yes I know this is a Weber forum, I am considering buying a Weber kettle to replace the long gone one we had...)

@Joe Anshien thanks for posting this thread! Your cleanup and polishing is amazing.

I have a Wolf BBQ362-2 LP. We bought this new around 2003-2004 time frame. I don't recall the exact price but think it was around $3k.

It has 6 burners, the infrared, is mounted on a cart, has 2 side burners and a fold up side tray. We also have the original green grill cover but the zipper is broken. The original Gleason-Avery rotisserie motor died about 2 years ago, so I now use a a OneGrill 4PM08 and replacement spit.

The original cast iron grates are long gone. They were originally porcelain/ceramic coated. When the coating started to chip, I sandblasted them clean, seasoned them and continued to use them till they finally died. After that, I used a piece of expanded metal as the grate, and finally made my own grates of A36 steel. One day, I will make new ones but use 304SS as the rods and maybe tighten up the rod spacing (which works perfect for hot dogs). The grate design uses 1" bar stock at each end and drilled to receive the rods. The rods float and only the end rods are welded to the bar to minimize distortion from welding. I made the grate in halves to reduce weight.

I need to fix my igniters. Mine are the rotary type. I also have the old non-louvered flavorizer bars that @LMichaels said he has in one of his threads. Larry - do you have a restoration thread on yours?

Nice forum you have here!
Grill (Large).JPGBefore and After Blast Cabinet.jpgAfter.jpgPork Ribs.JPG
 
Very interesting grates, but yah, I bet they are heavy. How are the plain steel grates holding up for you? Are they rusting at all?
 
No thread as when I acquired it I had not heard of this forum. Honestly when I saw the cost of new igniters and sparkers from Wolf, I tore that all out. I just stick a link lighter in there. Maybe one day if I get real motivated I will figure something else out. I need to get new heat tents as the originals are beginning to disintegrate along the lower edges. I had been in contact a while ago with Dave Santana who'd made me a set of beautiful grates (3/8" 304SS with quite tight (quite a bit tighter than normal) spacing so veg and such do not fall through anymore and to more closely approximate the original CI grates it had.
Now I rarely use the grill since becoming a Pellet Head. It's only tasks are if I need it for a very large gathering (though my Z Grill 1100 2b is even larger internally and in many ways is much easier to cook with. Pizza is the other thing it's used for and a rotisserie cook. But again, thanks to the 2 pellet grills I find myself not even craving rotisserie cooking anymore.
So quite honestly it's become more of a space hog on my deck LOL than what it was back when it was used on an almost daily basis for all kinds of cooking.
It's harder to maintain than my pellet grills, uses lots more fuel as well. LOL Honestly it's been a pretty good grill, but pellets have stolen the huge majority of my cooking duties.
It gets so little use I would actually consider selling it if I knew it was not gonna be scrapped or stripped and put to good use and could at least recoup the cost of those grates I bought from Dave.
But it is a "beast". It gets fearsomely hot (if burning the hair off your arms is your thing) LOL. But it's also VERY hard to control. It's low is VERY low to almost useless, med setting is meh and high it blast furnace output. And is very difficult to work between those 3 "hard" settings it has.
Sometimes I just take the cover off and shine it up and put the cover back on :D
 
Bruce said:
Very interesting grates, but yah, I bet they are heavy. How are the plain steel grates holding up for you? Are they rusting at all?
Click to expand...
The grates are now around 4+ years old. They have held up quite well but are starting to show their age with some minor rust and spalling flaking. I have quite a bit of excess of the 1" bar stock left as I had to buy a full 20' stick! Next time I will buy 304SS 3/8" rod (for the build I had bought 3 20' sticks of 3/8" A36).
 
LMichaels said:
No thread as when I acquired it I had not heard of this forum. Honestly when I saw the cost of new igniters and sparkers from Wolf, I tore that all out. I just stick a link lighter in there. Maybe one day if I get real motivated I will figure something else out. I need to get new heat tents as the originals are beginning to disintegrate along the lower edges. I had been in contact a while ago with Dave Santana who'd made me a set of beautiful grates (3/8" 304SS with quite tight (quite a bit tighter than normal) spacing so veg and such do not fall through anymore and to more closely approximate the original CI grates it had.
Now I rarely use the grill since becoming a Pellet Head. It's only tasks are if I need it for a very large gathering (though my Z Grill 1100 2b is even larger internally and in many ways is much easier to cook with. Pizza is the other thing it's used for and a rotisserie cook. But again, thanks to the 2 pellet grills I find myself not even craving rotisserie cooking anymore.
So quite honestly it's become more of a space hog on my deck LOL than what it was back when it was used on an almost daily basis for all kinds of cooking.
It's harder to maintain than my pellet grills, uses lots more fuel as well. LOL Honestly it's been a pretty good grill, but pellets have stolen the huge majority of my cooking duties.
It gets so little use I would actually consider selling it if I knew it was not gonna be scrapped or stripped and put to good use and could at least recoup the cost of those grates I bought from Dave.
But it is a "beast". It gets fearsomely hot (if burning the hair off your arms is your thing) LOL. But it's also VERY hard to control. It's low is VERY low to almost useless, med setting is meh and high it blast furnace output. And is very difficult to work between those 3 "hard" settings it has.
Sometimes I just take the cover off and shine it up and put the cover back on :D
Click to expand...
I use this Harbor Freight torch to ignite the grill.
www.harborfreight.com

Electric Start Propane Torch

Amazing deals on this Electric Start Propane Torch at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com

The grill is a beast. We use it for burgers, dogs, beer can chicken, and the rotisserie. For smoking I also am a pellet head with a Rectec RT1250 (pork butts, brisket, smoked chickens).

I have been really looking into the Weber kettles. We got one as a wedding present 30+ years ago but it had a weld failure at one of the legs; didn't survive a move, and was tossed. I think I want the Vortex and the grate with the center hole. Watching too much YouTube of chicken wings. We really like wings. I have a Napoleon basket I use on the Wolf rotisserie which does an excellent job but is a royal PIA to clean.

One day I want to fix the igniters on this Wolf grill. The Wolf parts are mostly unavailable and the ones on Ebay are spendy. I think I have cross linked what I need to alternate ones. Project for another day at present.
 
I wonder if some Weber ones with the ceramic guards would be adaptable to the Wolf.
 
Why the need for a blow torch to simply light the grill? My long stick lighters don't even have butane in them anymore. I simply rely on the spark. They work fine. But, what I really want to do is make some type of crossover tube system for it so I only need to light one or 2 times not 6
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top