New 26 owner has a few fix 'er up questions

[addicted-to-smoke]

Thrilled to have a new machine but need to fix a couple issues first. Any suggestions are welcome.

The front leg has a loose screw holding it in, leg sockets are dandy,




The front leg is loose enough that the triangle almost falls out of it. And that wobbly front leg contributes to a gangster lean. In this shot, the perspective is tilted about 1/2 degree to the right but the left lean is obvious,



I'm wondering if the usual wear at the bottom of an uncovered front leg (you can see the previous owner added a crutch tip) also made the leg shorter? I'm very tempted to attach something to the bottom of the leg ... think threaded bar or adjustable heim joint ... to pull it back toward the rear of the triangle, using the triangle as a fulcrum if you get my meaning. That way, I wouldn't be dependent upon shoving something into the leg socket and hoping that was enough to locate the leg properly.


The lid handle has been squashed a little and maybe rejiggered. How best to re-straighten? It "works OK" but is off on two axis, leaning to one side and also leaning down one side, and one "arm" is wavy.

The gray area underneath isn't an indention but rather, seemingly the onset of "black fade". It's not smooth/glossy like the rest is. (I do not have any reason to suspect a paint job coverup.)








Minor issue I'm not too concerned about, some charcoal must have landed on a wheel. Rolls just fine.




The charcoal grate is sturdy and still contacts the straps OK but has sank. Is there a decent way to heat it up and flatten, or would that just weaken it? I'm not opposed to running it upside down either. The cooking grate is wonderful, so I got lucky there.




Lastly, the One Touch mechanism is rusty. Today, I couldn't budge the lever, the sweeps are full open and don't contact the bottom of the bowl very well ... so it may be able to be salvaged enough but I'll still want to try to take it apart if only to be able to adjust the sweeps. I don't really want to cook on it until I can do that.

So do the newer 26's "H" style, part# 80810 sweeps replace the older kind? At some point I might also want to install an ash bucket if I can do the hose clamp method.

Thanks for looking.

[Troy]

for your handle, you could try bending by hand.
i've fixed smooshed handles with some wood and a rubber mallet. You probably won't get it perfect without losing porcelain though

To fix the whore'd out front leg hole where the triangle connects, cut apart a soda can into a flat rectangle of aluminum. Wrap it around a wooden dowel that just barely fits inside the leg.

Drill a new hole in aluminum, spread on some glue (rubber cement, jb weld, whatever you have), insert into leg until the hole is aligned and use the dowel to make sure it's pressed firmly to the inside of the leg.

The ash can is a bigger challenge. The leg sockets are further apart on the 26 - so the ash ring doesn't mount to the leg sockets. Modern 26" grills have special brackets just for holding the ring.

[1buckie]

That is FABULOUS !!!!!

The gray area may be the ever-so-slightly-flat place where water could pool a bit?


With the front leg, a possible set of procedure might be:

Pull the leg & flare out the top / socket end first (broom handle or other right-sized implement) so it fills out the socket & keeps it from wobbling around.....

Pop the crutch tip off, add in a short piece of tubing same diameter into the bottom of the tip so it stops where the leg is allowed to sink to......at that point you can also see if it's scraped to an odd angle from being dragged across pavement,etc. (what we used to call "Drag Queens" here at WKC)
You could file it to fit the small piece in the bottom of the tip, if so inclined......

Bit bigger screw in the holding point of the socket, seein' as how there'as already one there it couldn't hurt to just do that for extra gumption?

Not real sure about the sweep size......I remember something about that, but what?   Brian might know this..... @zavod44

[Troy]

i think i misread the part about the front leg. my coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

you can always make a new front leg. I believe the tubing is available, and from what I remember, 1" shower rod tubing is the perfect fit. (please confirm before spending money)

[toolhead]

@addicted-to-smoke

Ive bent the handle slowly by hand...you may lose porcelain pending what typenof mess it is.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Back when the deal went down, my agent-dad was also offered the opportunity to buy some extras. Paid $10 for a used Weber chimney and the Warming Rack that appears down in the triangle in these pix.

The seller also offered a red Teleflora "Weber" grill and an apron for $25. Not bad but I declined. My dad bought them anyway and didn't tell me.

Well guess what? I was just now gifted those extras!

[mike.stavlund]

@addicted-to-smoke I'm afraid I'm not much help on the technical side, but I just want to state for the record that this is a beautiful flat-top.  That profile shot makes me smile.  Congrats on this acquisition. 

[Bob BQ]

A 22 ash sweep will work with no problem.

You may want to consider attaching a 22 charcoal grate to your 26 charcoal grate, to prevent further degradation.  Flat top 26 charcoal grates are hard to replace; @LightningBoldtz can testify to that.

I had asked about an ash bucket when i acquired my flat top... i think @zavod44 said that he used one of the older ring/bucket set ups with the ash bar... it maybe had spun around when usinfg the sweeps? Haven't located a spare ash ring/bucket to try it with yet.

[JayCee]

I gently stood on my grate and got it back into shape. Worked well but did it slowly.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Nice that all I need is a standard 7444 ash sweep ... neither ereplacements.com nor Weber cross reference that as being the same thing, or compatible.

They also show a #63046 which is priced a little differently from the #80810, neither of which looks like Weber's long part number, #307444 (for the common "7444") That's the kind of non-information that annoys me.

And thanks also Troy about the ash bucket. The earlier thread here from a couple years ago mentioned the parts being the same for 22 and new 26 but didn't explain why it wouldn't work for an old 26. Just looked at the illustration on the schematic and can see the extra tabs on the bowl for that.

[Uncle JJ]

What an awesome grill.  I must find one.