Grill rehab

My wife got me a grill for my birthday in 2006.  It's seen better days.  I made quick look at grills on Home Depot's site.  They all cost a lot more than I wanted to spend on one.  So I thought I'd just buy parts and replace them.

About the only thing salvageable inside was the grill rack itself.  I remember replacing it along with the heat shield several years ago.

The front of the grill didn't look too bad.

The back was in need of some paint.

The warming tray was completely rusted and even missing in places.  It went in the trash. 

I thought I might be able to save the heat shield, but it wasn't worth it.

The burner itself was rusted and had holes in it.  This is what prompted the rehab in the first place.

I started by removing all of the parts pictured above.  There was all kinds of nasty chunks of carbon and other burned stuff.  I hosed it out good with the garden hose.

Just about everything came out of there.  There were only a few minor spots that had to be scraped with a wire brush.

I ordered a new burner from Amazon.  It required some minor assembly.

Installing the burner was easy!  The knobs control valves that are attached to short pipes.  Those pipes slide right into the the lines on the new burner.  They are held in place with cotter pins.

I checked Home Depot for a new heat shield.  They had 3 different ones in stock and they were all 18" long.  That wouldn't work for a 26" grill.  So I had to go to Lowes.  They had a heat shield that would work for me.  (I'd add a link, but I can't find what I bought on their web site.  It was $12.99.)

I got a new warming rack from Amazon and a new push button ignitor (for ~$10 at Lowes).

The last thing I did was paint the exterior of the grill with some high temperature spray paint.

Back

Front

Here it is fired up and working.

I didn't light it up for very long.  The paint had only been dry for an hour.  I want to wait longer than that before using it. 

I don't know about the new ignitor.  It didn't light the grill the first few times I attempted to use it.  So I had to re-adjust it several times before it finally worked.  When I tried it again later I almost lost my eyebrows.  So the verdict is still out.  I may just continue to light the thing with a lighter.  We've been doing that ever since the last ignitor quit working a few years ago.

In total I spent around $80.  I could have done it for a lot less by just replacing the burner.  But I figure if I'm going do do something, I might as well do it right.  I still spent less than I would have on a new grill, and with any luck these updates will last us another 3-5 years or more. 

 I have a feeling that we'll be using it again real soon.