It's been raining every day here for 2 weeks straight, making any resto efforts a challenge. But I think I'm done, for now anyway. First of all thanks to everyone here and at TVWBB for the info and tips. They saved me countless hours of work and research. I am no restoration guru by any stretch of the imagination, so it was all very helpful. And I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
I started by taking all of the wood off and numbering each piece. Then it all got a light sanding and a coat of Olympic Maximum Stain and Sealant in One. I wanted something that would be somewhat weatherproof so my cold beer wouldn't leave a ring. This fits the bill and I really like the color.
The metal brackets that hold the wood all had some rust bubbles under the paint, so I took a razor scrapper to them and exposed everything. I put these parts in some EvapoRust overnight and it dod a pretty good job. I the endcaps off the hood and lightly sanded them with 400 grit, and removed and cleaned the thermometer.
I kept taking parts off the frame until it was completely stripped. I hadn't noticed all of the subterranean rust bubbles under the paint before on the frame, so that added an extra hour or so exposing and scrapping those parts. In hindsight I wish I would have sanded and feathered the good paint to bare metal edges better as they show up some after the repaint. I hit the exposed parts with a Rustoleum product that neutralizes rust, then sprayed the entire cart with their HH Ultra, which was the same thing I used on the end caps. Everything got 2-3 coats.
For the fire box I was going to use Rustoleum HH (1200*) flat, but then I saw they have a 2000* flat with a 'no peel' guarantee. Sounded perfect so I gave it a try. So far so good.
I cleaned up some rust spots on the control panel and hit them with the neutralizer paint, then 0000'd the overspray off. I put everything back together and was damn happy to not have any leftover screws! Oh yeah, I painted all of the hardware too.
Once I had it all together I hooked the tank back up, hit the ignitor, and nothing. Damn, it worked before. I guess it's going to be stick lighters for a while. At least the burners still work.
I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I was originally going to paint the fire box HHU too, but I like the contrast I get with the flat. I've bought and put in the recommended SS flavorizer bars. Forgot a pic but you know what they look like. All that's left is to probably improve the cook grates with something different, and find a decent cover.
I upgraded my phone/camera recently so I went a little crazy playing with the portrait setting. Here's the finished pics. It's still raining but it let up for 10 minutes and I took some quickly. So here is my 1987 Weber Genesis II, bought for $75 at the estate sale of the deceased former mayor of Winter Garden, FL.
If you look closely you can see the rain beading up, mission accomplished.
Topic: Updated 5/23: My 1st Weber Gasser, help with ID - Finished Pics added (Read 9401 times)