Charcoal Grill Conversion With Pallet Side Tables

I have a great #mikehacks for your summer grilling!

Last year, I made an Instructable that showed you how to replace broken side tables on a grill.
( https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Grill-Side-Ta... )

There were just two unexpected problems with the grill.
1. Gas grilling lacks the smokey flavor of charcoal grilling... it just doesn't compare.
2. I forgot to SEAL the wood with a protective finish.... as you can imagine the wood ended up horribly warped.

This time around, I plan to remedy those problems by converting this gas grill into a Charcoal grilling machine, and adding a couple of fine looking side tables made from up-cycled pallet wood.

What you'll need:
-Grill to convert
-Pallet wood
-saw
-drill / bits
-screws
-pliers
-screwdriver
-hammer
-a right angle ruler

Flip the grill over and remove anything related to the gas part of the grill. Pipes, tubing, metal, burner, ignition wire, etc. You'll need the screwdriver, pliers, and possibly the hammer for this part. See the picture notes for more details.

You can't have huge holes in the bottom of your charcoal grill.. you'll start a fire! Patch it up with metal that was just removed from the grill. In this case, use the upper part of the gas burner. It's a perfect fit!

The grill was pretty filthy... so I took this opportunity to clean it up! Be sure to rinse off all the residue.

We need a couple of side tables to go with this conversion!

pick the pallet wood of your choice. (be sure to remove all the nails) The pieces I chose were 3.5" wide, and I cut them down to 18" in length. (it just looked right) I ended up with eight 18" X 3.5" boards. I also cut down some scrap wood to make four 14" X 1" boards. The table dimensions are 18" X 14". The boards will be joined with two 14" X 1" along the top and bottom.

I wanted the tables to fit tightly around the metal bars already in place. The distance between the outer ends of the bars was 14.25" I needed to screw the boards together in such a way that there was 14.25" of space between the two 1"pieces.

I put the boards together, then marked 2" from the bottom. I then marked 14.25" from the first mark. The 1" boards will be screwed on just outside of these lines.

Make pilot holes with your drill, then join together with screws from the top side.

Once you're finished, repeat the previous steps for the other side table.

Sand down the tables, and then add a protective finish to keep them from getting ruined in bad weather.

Now Get Grilling!

I'll be sure to post pics of the grill in action soon enough.

I entered this instructable into the Summer #Mikehacks contest. Please take a quick moment to vote for me.Thanks!