I recall seeing a pic of the two side by side, but I just picked up a new JJ through a Target clearance. Since I have both the old and the new now, I thought I would do a quick photo comparison for the crew.
Side by side the old JJ towers over the new. The bowl is quite a bit deeper.
The old had two side vents, which are above the charcoal grate, while the new has one larger vent on the bottom. I think the consensus is that the bottom vent creates better air flow. Also, because of the way the vents are set up, the old has no ash tray and the new has a removable ash tray.
Here's where you'll see a bit of difference. The distance from the charcoal grate to the cooking grate is a good bit higher on the old due to the deeper bowl.
Old
New
On the old the vents are riveted...
on the new screw on (not a fan).
Finally, the cooking grates are not the same size. On the old JJ, the grate was a little bigger. On the new, it's the same size as the typical 18", making it easier to get replacements. I actually like that fact regarding the new. Also, this means the new will fit my 18" Craycorts which I intend to use in this guy.
This picture shows the new grate underneath the old JJ grate, both in the old JJ. Notice that a new grate sits too low in the old JJ.
So now that I have my new JJ as a cooker, I think I'll leave my old JJ as an un-used looker. For the new one, I've got a wood handle on order from Brian (by the way, he made the handle for the old) and a Weber lid temp gauge from Stu ("G"). So thanks for that!
Hope you guys enjoyed the comparison.