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Grill Rebuild

3K views 17 replies 9 participants last post by  Leeann_93 
#1 ·
Time to rebuild the grill my boss gave me back in '14 when they bought a new one.

As it looked the day I brought it home:


And inside:


So I pulled out the cooking grates, ceramic flame-tamers, flame-tamers grid and burners
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Then spent some quality time with Goof Off kitchen cleaner, a scrub brush and a screwdriver
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Pulled the grill out away from the steps and shoveled up the old maple seeds and the worm-filled compost below (it was about 4" deep!). Then I had to come inside for some AC and cold drink time.

About to go back out. I have 3 new electrodes and wires, plus the rack that the burners sit on at the back, to install next. Then new burners, put the cleaned-up flame tamers grid and flame-tamers back in place, then new cooking grates. One new handle to replace the one that has loosened too much to work properly. Then light it all to burn off any remaining cleaner and any coating that came on the new stuff. I replaced the ignitor itself a couple years ago, along with the propane regulator and hose.

Hopefully, I get all of that done before the scheduled thunderstorms, then I'll clean myself up and go get slabs of beef to grill for dinner.
 
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#2 ·
Nice grill! I've got a 3lb brisket in the smoker at the moment, looking forward to that. There's a meat market down the street from us, we hadn't been there in 25+ years. Last time we went it in smelled like a slaughterhouse and had flies EVERYWHERE. We figured things must have changed because they were still around, so we gave them another try. We walked in, someone had something cooking, and it smelled GOOD! we went in for just a brisket, walked out with 5 lbs of chicken and some crab legs too. Looks like they're back on the list of places to go.
 
#3 ·
It was a $750 grill when my boss bought it at Sam's Club over 10 years ago. I couldn't replace it, especially with the rear infrared burner, for less than $1,000 now. It's easier to put $200 into parts than spend that much.

Removed the old burner bracket and cleaned under and behind it
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Then bolted in the new one
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And now for electrode fun...sigh. The first one was a BEAST. It didn't want to come out for nuttin' - of course, it didn't want to work, either
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The other two weren't nearly as difficult
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Then we had a little fun. I had my husband come out to hold the electrodes while I tightened them down from the front - can't do both at the same time. While he was there, I decided it was a good idea to test the new electrodes. Old battery didn't look great, so he went and got a new one. Nothing sparked. Not even an attempt. He didn't believe me about the battery, and turned it over. Not a thing. Stomped his feet, went inside, the 'new' battery was deader'n a doornail. Grabbed another and tested it, came back out and tick-tick-tick-tick instantly.

Put the new burners in place and put the cotter pins in to hold them at the back
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Then the flame-tamers grid and flame-tamers - they were all fine, so I didn't replace those. The ceramic flame-tamers can only be bought in packs of 6 and they ain't cheap. I still have 3 intact spares.
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Bolted the front cover back down and put the handles back on. The new handles aren't right, so I grabbed the one we'd been using on the side burner and it worked better than either the old, messed up one or the new, wrong one. Oops.

Then the new grates. On which I made my second oops. I 'assumed' that if it was listed for my specific grill, it would fit my specific grill. I had 3, the pack of these was 3...um, nope. As you can see, 3 of those plus one old one and I have a little space on either end. I'll eventually get another pack of 3, use 2 of them and put one on the shelf as a spare..maybe. The right side of the grill is the fish side anyway, so that Weber pan is always there anyway.
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The new, wrong handle works on the side burner but is a bit loose, so it'll live in the bin on the right until we need it.
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Turned on the gas at the tank, turned on the gas to #1, click-whooomp! Same for the other 2. Let it get up over 300° for 15 mins to burn off any cleaner and preservative, then shut it down to come inside and clean up, cool down and suck down some liquids.
 
#4 ·
Interesting "Little Black Fridge" with the Combi Lock n' all.
Geez, where do you get your Steaks - Ft Knox ?

Speaking of that Grill - what is that 2-3" tall X 6-8" wide thing above the grill area in back.
And what is the Brand - don't recall seeing one like it.
Have never seen ( or heard of ) battery op'd. starters. ...we don't get out much.

Been using our Weber for 10 years - no prob w/ the one starter it has ( thankfully ).
It is one of the friction/snap/recoil/spark/whachamacalit usuals.

Spreaders, ceramics and gadgets below get the scrub every 2 years. We really lucked out on this one.
After having 642 other ones thruout our marriage.

:shock:

Nice to see a Grill Rebuild - Don't get that much round these here parts.
 
#5 ·
If my husband knew how heavy that m____f_______ thing was, he wouldn't have asked for it (it was on a Kmart or Sears loading dock to go away). I don't know why he did, since it's so heavy it's never moving from there, anything wood on it has exploded and anything not painted or stainless has rusted.

You're going to have to point to or circle what you're asking about. Not a clue.

Yes, the main burners and rear infrared burner have electronic ignition. The side burner is turn and pop.

This grill has lasted better than anything else we've had, which is partly why I rebuilt it. I love that grill and really can't afford to replace it. I love the infrared burner with the rotisserie, too. The rotisserie pieces are stored below.
 
#6 ·
That is one helluva grill! I get why you decided to rebuild it. We've had a few Char-broils, our first was a Charm-glow that I repaired by using old license plates to make new control panel brackets. I don't see us ever buying another one of those since we found a new Lotus Grill at a thrift store for $10. It is smaller, but it still holds 8 or 9 burgers on the 14" grill. It really is ready in 4 minutes, and really does stay cool on the outside.

 
#7 ·
I had a Char-Broil 2 grills back. Another hand-me-down. Not rebuildable because mostly what rusted out was the frame. The burners, too, but the frame did it in.

I don't remember what the next one was, but our goddaughter has it now. I put burners and stuff in it before I gave it to them and they still have it. I got that one at Lowe's. I do remember that it was a beeeyotch to put together.

This one is actually worth keeping and rebuilding, and a good deal of the parts are easily availble from a few places. The one I use most is CLAgrills.com - family company in Arkansas. They're really nice and have parts that other places just don't.
 
#11 ·
Mr_Roboto said:
Gotta say that's a high end lookin grill. Another member of the free grill club here, picked a gasser up off a forumer and have a weber kettle that serves fire pit duty as my charcoal grill.
We had Weber kettles growing up - actually, we had 2. One my parents got when they moved from LI to CT in '67, then the one that replaced that one when it finally rusted out in '91. Tough suckers. My dad didn't believe in lighter fluid; we never had any. We had one plug-in charcoal starter ring until about the same time as the first Weber died, then one more with the second one. Dad didn't like the taste of the starter fluid on the meat, not that anyone else could taste it but him, so he refused to use it. Plus he said it was dangerous :D
 
#12 ·
Took the van to Sam's Club after work today to get TP and PT - I haven't bought either since early Jan and we finally opened the last pack of TP and the second-to-last roll of PT last night. While there, I picked up a 3-pack of Angus monster ribeyes.

I'm one of those people that likes a bit of char on the outside but the inside to be somewhere right in the middle of Medium Rare and Medium.

I nailed it....

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#13 ·
I have to say something here: I read your post yesterday and although it was interesting I was not really into it at first. Well this morning I took a load of yard debri to the dump and just around the corner from my house there was a grill sitting on the side of the street. I went to the dump thinking I will check it out on the way back through. But I had other errands to run so i went another way from the dump into town to do what I had to do and forgot all about that grill. I came home got ready to work on my van a bit and logged on here first. There was your story in my face so I remembered the grill down the street jumped into the truck and went and grabbed it. Thanks to your story! Its a char broil 2 just like you one had but all that is wrong with it is the very bottom sheet metal has a few rust holes in it. the rest is just fine. I will get some pics of it before and after clean up later this week. Mark
 
#15 ·
Leeann_93 said:
While there, I picked up a 3-pack of Angus monster ribeyes.

I'm one of those people that likes a bit of char on the outside but the inside to be somewhere right in the middle of Medium Rare and Medium.

I nailed it....

View attachment 1

noper that's more to rare. I'd eat it! looks great!!

I BOUGHT a grill at the thrift store cuz it was the old model with the all aluminum body. Everything is replace-able and aluminum don't rust. well spent 15$
 
#17 ·
Leeann_93 said:
Wiley said:
Oh, a "Grill". Here I thought we were gonna fiberglass some broken Chevy grills. :lol:

Just in time for the 4th!
That's a grille :lol:
at first I thought Leeann had misspelled grille. I was looking forward to some neat custom van work. but, hey, barbeque is important too!
 
#18 ·
The other two cast iron grates came in today, so I installed them and grilled our dinner. Ribeye for me, tuna steak for him.

I'm allergic to shellfish (yes, and I live in MD), so fish get grilled only on the right-hand burner. Everything else goes on the left and middle.

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Now I just need to get 4 new knobs to match the one on the left-hand burner and I'll be all done with the rebuild. For now.
 
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