Finally rehabbed my SS Performer

[OoPEZoO]

About 2 months ago, I managed to pick up a slightly ragged out Performer http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/weber-kettles-accessories/two-performers-before-noon/msg100285/#msg100285.

I didn't realize how bad it was until I got it home and disassembled. Long story short, I have been working on it on and off when I had time and finally have a functional grill again.

I think the pics in that thread show the extent of the rust pretty well. Basically the two bent sheet metal cross pieces were completely shot.  Now, I could have done the easy thing and called Weber, spent $70, and bought a new upper frame piece, but what fun would that be?  . Instead, I headed to our machine shop at work and talked my buddy into bending me new pieces out of 16AWG steel. It took a couple of tries, but we finally got the angles right. 


Once I had the bent sheet metal pieces, I went about cutting the old ones completely out.  The I began trimming and welding the new ones in.




Next, I sanded everything down and gave the frame a good shot of primer


Followed by a few coats of paint. I used Satin Black. If I do another, I will use Gloss Black. The satin looks ok, but it isn't right.


The final welds are far from perfect, but they are more than sufficient.


Then I sanded down the rest of the frame.  Followed by more primer, paint, new star nuts in the lower cross members and then Reassembly


I spent a few other random evenings stripping down the bowl and cleaning all the parts with oven cleaner, razor blades, and then finally soapy water and steel wool.  I also replaced all of the standard hardware with stainless steel. I reassembled everything yesterday afternoon. The only thing I was missing was propane. I needed a 20lb tank filled anyway, so I headed to a small local hardware store. They filled my regular tank, but said they didn't have the connector needed for the small 5# tank. On a whim, I dragged it along around the building with my big tank. While the guy was filling it, I showed him the connector and he started digging through a box of connectors.....EUREKA!   There it was, the mythical quick disconnect filling adapter. The guy gave it a whirl and managed to put almost a gallon of propane into the tank. To top it off, he didn't know how to ring it up, so he just said it was on the house. Sweet!  So I got home from having the tank filled and put everything together.



It's not the nicest or cleanest SS, but it's mine and I put a lot of time and effort into making it usable again.  So I'm very happy with it.  I'm still having some issues with the gas assist. It will light on the first try every time, but it is a weak flame that sounds like it is in the tube and not blowing out of the burner tube. One time it will burn hot and seem to be ok, the next time I can put my bare hand directly on the charcoal grate while the flame is burning. Everything is clear and clean, so I'm guessing I need to look into replacing the regulator. Not a big deal. I'll look into it next time I stop at the hardware store.

[Idahawk]

Nice work on the frame !


Your burner tube may need a good cleaning on the inside or your regulator could be going. I'll see if I have an extra you can have .

  Did you use a high heat paint and primer for the frame ?

[5280Jeff]

Great job! That's a sharp looking grill! Now get cookin on that bad boy.

[salad]

Nice!  I keep saying I'm going to do this to one of mine but I can't seem to motivate.  Maybe this will get me off my ass.

[Bman]

I'm still having some issues with the gas assist. It will light on the first try every time, but it is a weak flame that sounds like it is in the tube and not blowing out of the burner tube. One time it will burn hot and seem to be ok, the next time I can put my bare hand directly on the charcoal grate while the flame is burning.

First - GREAT job on the restore.  While I didn't have to re-invent the wheel replacing sheet metal, I did the entire sand/primer/paint aspect so I can appreciate the time investment you made into this Performer.  Looks sharp and it should serve you well for a long time.

There's a few things to try with your flame issue.  Just to the left of the regulator is the in-line shut off valve.  If you're having a weak flame, turn the in-line valve off, wait a couple seconds, turn it back on and hit the ignition button.  Or turn both valves off and with the inline valve off, turn the gas tank completely on then the inline valve on.  I have to fiddle with my Blue SS like this, but not really the Red SS.  Not sure if it's the OPD valve or the regulator as I haven't tried switching things up.  Give it a whirl and see what you come up with.

[Idahawk]

Nice Bman , did not know that little trick on the reg !

[Winz]

Awesome job on the restore!  Your time and effort clearly show in the results - a great looking SS performer that was likely headed to the scrap heap without your intervention.  "rescue, restore, respect" clearly shown in your project.

Winz

[Weber MD]

Another grill given a second life.  Well done OoPEZoO and thanks for sharing.

[Peaspurple]

Looks good pez!

[coldkettle]

Looks like fun!

I love the smell of a evening cook...

[Ted B]

Nicely done!  The one I did was similar but not quite as extensive. Luckily I didn't have to do any fabbing or welding.

[jcnaz]

Where did you get your star nuts?

[OoPEZoO]

Thanks everyone.  It was fun, yet also frustrating. I made a lot of mistakes that cost me more time/energy than if I did it right the first time. That being said, it was still a rewarding experience.  I really need to replace the lower cross members as well.  I inserted new star nuts into the old tubes, but the tubes are so rusted out, that I'm not sure how long they will last. I'm also considering a project to remake the end frame pieces to raise the height of the table top a few inches. I'm 6'2" and the current table top is very low. Also, I would like to able to put a full size chimney on the lower rack without laying it on its side.  We'll see how ambitious I get

Chad.....thanks for the heads up on the process with the valves. I'll play with it this week and see if I can get repeatable results.

[OoPEZoO]

Where did you get your star nuts?

I have a bicycle shop within walking distance to my house. They had them in stock for $2 a piece. The only catch was that they were metric instead of standard. So those bottom 4 bolts are metric. If I make new lower supports, I will order the proper standard ones from McMastercarr.com

[mike.stavlund]

Great work, Pez!  Don't sell yourself short-- that is a first-rate rehab!  And a ton of work, I know.