I'm an outdoor cooking nut, and a huge Weber fan. Currently on my deck you will find
o A pre-2004 Weber Performer
o A brand new Ace Weber SA-E 330 with the heavy steel grates (I prefer them to cast iron) and the Crafted rack with the griddle insert
o A Weber Q2000, also from Ace--this gets the most use, actually
o A Pit Barrel Cooker, it's simply the easiest thing I've found to smoke with
o A Pit Boss 36" griddle
I had a Weber original Genesis Silver B for about 20 years, but I strayed from Weber to a Saber Infrared for the last 8 years or so, and I hated the thing. Gave that away and got the Genesis II SA-E-330. Given how they last, it is likely the last gas grill I'll ever buy. Did a spatchcocked chicken on it last night, love it.
I'm going to use your tips here to restore the bowl of the Performer. If I can snag a new Weber 22" on sale at Target at the end of the season, I may gift the Performer to someone to restore. You can still get the 5 lb gas bottles at Ace, and the igniter may still work on it, I don't know. But Weber still sells all the parts for it. I put new small casters on it this past weekend.
Cheers,
John
P.S. The new Weber found here:
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/grills-and-smokers/gas-grills/8037939?x429=true&x429=true&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=0073aba31d7c19a58850cf1639f693b1&gclsrc=ds&gclsrc=ds