26" Gen 2 Performer Quarantine Project

[andrewshrm]

Hi everyone!  This 26" Performer Touch-N-Go has been my quarantine project for the past several weeks.  Hope you enjoy the pictures!



Everything began with the 26" itself, which was purchased on Craigslist for $120 in July of 2019.  It was in immaculate condition except for a small dent on the outer rim which was an easy fix.  Knowing how infrequent the 26's become available I didn't hesitate to buy it.  I already had a 2015 Copper 22" Performer Deluxe and initially planned to convert it to the 26", however I decided it would be worth more to someone as a complete package and so I restored it back to new and sold it on CL.  Thus began non-Performer life with the 26".

I spent several months designing a number of all-wood carts for the 26", but always seemed to have another project that needed more urgent attention, so the 26" remained status quo.  All of that changed this past March when another local seller offered up a Gen 2 Weber Performer Touch-N-Go and was asking only 100 dollars for it.  The grill had belonged to the seller's sister who had recently passed away and it had quite literally never been used.  Everything, save for a small amount of rust on the charcoal grate, was in perfect condition.  He even had an unused 22" rotisserie to go with it along with the sealed manual and warranty card that had never been opened.

With this perfect Gen 2 in-hand, the 26" Performer project jumped back to the front of the project list.  After a thorough disassembly and cleaning of both the 26" and the Gen 2, I ordered the Unknown BBQ kettle brackets which let me do a nice dry-assembly and consider how I would reinstall the lower wire shelf.



For my wire shelf, I did a hybrid solution that used painted aluminum extrusion cross beams bolted together with painted 2x4s.  I think it has a nice beefy look to it and it's probably more durable than the OEM plastic beams.  I used bolt cutters to trim off the front curve and the ends on my wire shelf.  Then I ground the cut ends clean and recoated the wire shelf with Rust-Oleum Professional Gloss Black Enamel.  The shelf is held to the 2x4s with an odd piece of hardware Home Depot calls a "midget strap".  These were also painted gloss black before installing.





With WKC's instructions, cutting the holes for the Touch-N-Go assist didn't prove as difficult as I thought it might be.  The initial cuts on the oblong hole were tricky and griding them to shape was tedious, but all-in it only took about 90 minutes to complete the modification.  I painted the cut lines with Rust-Oleum High Heat Ultra Black to make sure the exposed steel was protected.
http://weberkettleclub.com/blog/2014/04/25/weber-grill-mod-adding-gas-assist/





The final piece to come together was the wood top.  I made mine out of a single eight-foot douglas fir 2x12.  Aluminum extrusions are bolted to the bottom side to hold it together, and the final shape was cut with a jigsaw and finished with a random orbit sander before clear coating.  The most difficult part was trying to drill the holes to mount it to the Gen 2 frame.  I made a drilling template out of 1/8" hardboard and transferred this to the wood top, but things were just slightly out of alignment.  The holes had to be oversized just a bit before it would bolt down.  I used a 1" forstner bit to dill out for 1" oak wood caps to make the mounting bolts completely invisible.





https://www.widgetco.com/oak-wood-floor-plugs-1-inch

New Craycorts arrived just the other day and I've also ordered the XL Slow 'N Sear now that they're being produced again.  Incidentally the Veranda cover for the Weber Summit Grill Center fits pretty well.
https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Accessories-Veranda-Performer-Charcoal/dp/B071NQ93HC/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=veranda+weber+summit+grill+cover&qid=1588363581&sr=8-6



Everything came together great and I'm really happy with the results.  I can't wait to get it dirty this weekend with some baby backs.  Thanks for checking it out!

[randy]

That's fringing sweet!


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[racedvl]

I like where you went with that!  Looks good!

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[Kain]

Wow! I wish I had that. Beautifully done


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[Red_5_Wrangler]

Standing ovation with a mask covered Woooow!
That is pretty!

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[Kneab]

That is perfect.
Now I need to find a roached gen II to steal the frame from and build one myself.

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[WeberKell11]

Turned out grate I really enjoyed the read and all the details.Cheers!

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[inkaddictedchef1]

Grate build and write up!

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[greenweb]

Nicely done! I like how you tied the cross beams to the frames. Cleanest looking design I have seen so far with tubular frame performers.

As for the table, it looks great, but few things I would change up if I was doing mine..... glueing 3 pieces to make it look solid one section table and shortening side overhang ( front and the back side) or flush with the frame will give more sleeker looking table IMO. Overall, very nicely built.

[andrewshrm]

Thank you all!  It had been something I'd been wanting to do for a lot of years.  Appreciate the positive feedback... who knows - might do a RapidSet concrete top for it one day.  Never seen anyone do a concrete top for a Performer but with so many businesses on lock down these days I think I'll just work on getting it dirty first.  Eager for the SNS XL to arrive hopefully in late May.

[brewtownbeatdown]

Grate job!!!   By far the best 26" Performer mod I've seen so far.   


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[qwesthunter]

Grate job!!!   By far the best 26" Performer mod I've seen so far.   


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Nicely done. I went with a granite top for my 26" performer


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[wbenton]

@andrewshrm Can you give me more details on the aluminum extrusion cross beams? I am getting ready to do this and love that solution.

[bamakettles]

Very nice conversion and write-up!   I really like that 26....

[WNC]

Pretty impressive!
Nice work


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