Removing MAK 2 Star Hood

sschorr

Member
Folks,

In some very old threads, the issue of removing the hood to clean the carbon (black flakes) build-up is mentioned. Several stated that removing the hood is "easy", taking just minutes. Well, I've had the expected build-up of black flakes starting to fall off the inside of the hood and sides. However, I do not find it easy to put the hood back on. Since it requires aligning the hood, a large washer and the inside hole and nut, I find it hard to hold the hood in the correct alignment particularly since the hood must be in the open position.

Has someone found an easy way to hold the hood, align the it with the holes, hold the washer and then insert the bolt? I do not have a third arm/hand to help - my wife is smart and won't try helping hold it while I curse my way through the process.

Help? Or just suck it up?
 

MAK DADDY

Moderator
At the factory we place the lid on the grill in the closed position, then slide the bushing in from the opening using a wrench (or anything skinny) to hold it up until it aligns with the hole in the lid enough to get the screw to go through. After this is done on both sides carefully open the hood an loosely install the nuts. Then you can move all parts into the final position aligning the bushings so they snap into the hole in both the lid and the back hood. Then tighten the nut the rest of the way (don't need to over tighten the nut as it self locks).

Hope this helps :)
 

TentHunter

Moderator
At the factory we place the lid on the grill in the closed position, then slide the bushing in from the opening using a wrench (or anything skinny) to hold it up until it aligns with the hole in the lid enough to get the screw to go through. After this is done on both sides carefully open the hood an loosely install the nuts. Then you can move all parts into the final position aligning the bushings so they snap into the hole in both the lid and the back hood. Then tighten the nut the rest of the way (don't need to over tighten the nut as it self locks).

Hope this helps :)

Now THAT is some useful info! Thanks MAK Daddy!
 

sschorr

Member
Wow Bob! Thanks for the fast response! Tell your support folks they can ignore my email about this now. Gonna give this a whirl today.
 

sschorr

Member
Just to follow-up: Did the removal and cleaning inside and out of both the chamber and the movable hood. Placing the hood back in the closed position really made all the difference. I used a long allen key to roughly hold the bushing in place on one side. Carefully slid the bolt through bushing on the other side just holding the bushing with my fingers to align it. Be sure to push the bolt in as far as possible and get the bushing fully aligned with the hood and body holes. Then did the other side bolt. Very carefully and slowly open the hood so that the bolts do not slide out. Put the nut loosely on one side, wiggling the bolt to get the bushing firmly seated, then do the other side. Tighten and away you go! Maybe 10 minutes to replace it as I was being very careful to not have the bolts wiggle out before putting the nut on.

MAK might consider a slightly longer bolt, but not a big deal.
 
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