Tips for painting firebox and sides of lid?

[jdefran]

I am restoring a Genesis 3000 and need to paint exterior of firebox and sides of lid. Is it necessary to remove all the paint or can I just hit it with a wire brush (cup brush on angle grinder) to get the loose/flaking stuff?

For the lid, do you recommend removing side pieces or mask the lid well and paint while attached?

[swamprb]

Its a powder coat finish, so try to get as much as you can off. I don't worry too much about the firebox because most of it is hidden in the frame.

But the lid sides I remove them and sandblast for a better finish. The lid is kind of the focal point of the grill. 

[jjmoss1]

I would recommend sanding down the lid sides as best you can.  I don't have a sandblaster, so i had to use elbow grease, and was able to get down to bare metal in most spots.  It came out pretty well, but not perfect.  The areas where I wasn't able to get Down to bare metal look kinda crappy, but luckily there's not many of those. 

What paint do you plan on using?  I used rust-oleum ultra high heat, and would not recommend.   It looked great when I first put it on, but it's already coming off around the edges just one month after application.  Also, the cover sticks to the four corners of the top and has pulled off the new paint already.  The paint in this area also gets tacky like it isn't totally dry and smears off.  Very disappointing.

Should I have used primer?  Or is there a finish that I can apply on top of the paint to better protect it?  If not, does anyone have another high heat paint they would recommend? 

[LightningBoldtz]

Whenever I paint these I always hit it with a coat of flat black, then I go over it with glossy black, seems to hold very well.

[jjmoss1]

Whenever I paint these I always hit it with a coat of flat black, then I go over it with glossy black, seems to hold very well.

Thanks, is there a specific brand of paint that you find works well?

[LightningBoldtz]

I tend to use the Rust-o-Leum High heat black paint.

Flat black is about 3 bux a can and gloss is about 7.

[jjmoss1]

Hi LightningBoldtz, just a follow up to the previous discussion.  The high heat rustoleum that I used continues to rub off.  I'm already down to bare metal in a lot of places along the edges of the lid sides.  I also notice that, when looking at pictures of old Genesis's for sale on Craigslist,there are almost always large bare spots on the lid sides.  So I guess my question is: is this phenomena common, and just a function of the metal used to make the lid sides?  In other words, is it pointless for me to obsess about finding a paint that won't rub off?  If I know that no matter what, I'm just going to have to repaint these things every couple years, then I can accept it, and will stop worrying about it.  Thanks!

[LightningBoldtz]

I usually do a base coat of flat, this will expose more of the lose areas where the power coating is weak, I will then go over it with the gloss and I think that is more tacky but it seems to set better. 

[OGlenn]

I've also used the flat as  the first coat, then using the semi-gloss as the finishing coats, with decent results. I use my gasser primarily for burning off gunk in cast iron pieces, so I crank the heat for long periods, with the paint lasting a couple years before I start seeing it flake off in a couple spots. Last fall, I started using the Rustoleum BBQ paint (1200 degrees, just like the high heat) in the 1QT can on some of my gasser restores. I found it at Lowe's, about $16 for the quart. It is more like a satin finish than the semi-gloss finish of the spray paint, which I like. It goes on very easily with a foam roller and an angled brush. I've painted 4 gassers (lid sides and outside of the firebox) so far with the one can, and still have enough left for at least one more - not nearly as much waste as the spray can. I also try to bake on the finish by heating and cooling the box and lid a few times, gradually increasing the temps. I do this after the paint has had enough time to dry, usually a couple of days later. I honestly don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better....

I don't think any paint will last indefinitely, but with the ease of using a roller and brush when necessary, I think the BBQ paint is a pretty good way to keep your grill looking good.

[LightningBoldtz]

I've also used the flat as  the first coat, then using the semi-gloss as the finishing coats, with decent results. I use my gasser primarily for burning off gunk in cast iron pieces, so I crank the heat for long periods, with the paint lasting a couple years before I start seeing it flake off in a couple spots. Last fall, I started using the Rustoleum BBQ paint (1200 degrees, just like the high heat) in the 1QT can on some of my gasser restores. I found it at Lowe's, about $16 for the quart. It is more like a satin finish than the semi-gloss finish of the spray paint, which I like. It goes on very easily with a foam roller and an angled brush. I've painted 4 gassers (lid sides and outside of the firebox) so far with the one can, and still have enough left for at least one more - not nearly as much waste as the spray can. I also try to bake on the finish by heating and cooling the box and lid a few times, gradually increasing the temps. I do this after the paint has had enough time to dry, usually a couple of days later. I honestly don't know if it helps, but it makes me feel better....

I don't think any paint will last indefinitely, but with the ease of using a roller and brush when necessary, I think the BBQ paint is a pretty good way to keep your grill looking good.

Good suggestion, I think I am going to adopt this, the cans don't seem to last nearly as long as I would like them to.