I have had this grill for about 12 years and since I've switched over to cooking on my kettle the spirit has gone unused for a few years. I'm going to be replacing the burners and heat defusers as they are all rusted through but what can I do about the lid? I was going to with Wire wheel and strip the existing paint and red spay with high temp paint but any other suggestions?
by Mrbusses
3 Comments
That isn’t paint, it’s carbon buildup. Weber don’t paint their lids and I would highly recommend not painting unless you want to taste paint chemicals for the rest of the grills life. As for the carbon buildup, I use a plastic decorating scraper when it’s cool.
Looks like we have similar circumstances.
Had my Spirit since 2011 and used it MAYBE 20 times. My kettle was bought before it, also in 2011, and it’s been used hundreds of times. I now have a second copper colored kettle and use both frequently.
My spirit went about 4-5 years idle, rotting away until I brought her back into action as an overflow/quick dinner grill. Normal deep cleaning and I had to replace the igniter. The grates were rusted so I cleaned and scrubbed the hell out of them and “seasoned” them similar to a cast iron pan a few times. Came back to life quite easily.
Unfortunately, the bottom of the cabinet is rotted out due to unseen grass clippings buildup and neglect on my part. Weber no longer sells the parts to fix it. Still works fine but I’ve decided to buy a new one and give this one away to a friend who wants it as is.
Scrape off the flaking carbon, remove grates/burner tents, use a narrow putty knife, scrap all the gunk into the removable pan, dump pan. Scrape clean and oil the shit outta the grates, fire it up and cook on.