Question on hinge/door spacing on mini

[patrickd26]

Sooooooo close, but yet no bone on having mine completed. I thought I would finish tonight but ran into a problem. When we welded all the hinges on all the doors we didn't account for the stinking gap needed for the seal. So, last week I drop the unit off to get powder coated and it looks great. We put the hardware on this weekend and all the doors shut fine. Today I put the door seals on and it was a crash and burn.

I can NOT get a good seal on the large door because we welded the door hinges so that the entire door was flat against the unit. The small doors were able to compensate and make a decent seal. The only way I can see doing it right is by cutting the hinges off, putting in a proper gap to allow for the seals and then re-welding. What sort of gap should I allow for all around the door so that it seals up nice and square? For clarification, if I put a seal on the hinge side, the door won't shut.

I'm so frustrated, but honestly it was the first things that was somewhat major to go wrong on this project. Just sucks that it was so close to the end! I was hoping to season it tonight, but back to the drawing board.

Any help is much appreciated.

[patrickd26]

I apologize for cluttering this forum. I just found this viewtopic.php?f=56&t=3677&p=51653&hilit=spacing#p51653 and will try it unless someone has a better solution. Thanks, guys!

[mp4]

been there - minus the powder coating. I'd love to see how the powder coat worked out...please send pics.

[Big T]

That's the best way that I know of mounting them. I have done several of them and haven't had any issues.

[Rodcrafter]

That's what I do too.

[Frank_Cox]

the best way to ensure a proper fit is use a metal shim to set in between the door and the front surface of the smoker that is 1/2 the thickness of the gasket material. for instance if using 1/8" thick LavaLock gasket from BBQSmokerSupply.com then use a 16ga shim. if using 1/4" thick then use a piece of 1/8 or 12ga. this will give you the proper crush depth for a proper seal. I usually do this with the smoker on its back but the ratchet strap idea works great also!

[patrickd26]

Thanks for all the input. We're planning to finish it tomorrow night! I'll put some pics up before the weekend. I'm kicking myself for not taking pics along the way, but I thought about it! It just didn't happen. I'll take some detailed photos of things we modified along the way (and why).

I do have one final question and I'm afraid of the answer.... I sandblasted the interior. Doh! Was that bad? Everything looks great, but just feels "sandblasted". lol Looking back, I liked the feel of the original steel. Also, we ended up using 14ga sheets because we had tons of it.

Frank,
Thank you for the plans. We did make a couple of mods, but not because we thought it was a better design than yours. They were actually the result of improvising along the way on mess up's that we had. In the end, I think things look sharp and the powder coat friend really put the final touches on it to make it a show piece. I'll be proud to have it on my patio.

This forum and Frank's plans have been a tremendous help. I plan to stick around a long time to give back everything that was given to me. I apologize that I wasn't a contributor until the final days of my build, but I didn't have much to contribute. However, I've learned tons and very willing to share any knowledge that I gained.

Thank you, gents.

[Rodcrafter]

That's awesome, glad to have you.


Making memories.

[scottyk]

I did some web searching on this subject. I learned there have been quite a few people successfull with using high temp RTV as a gasket as it does not dry that hard. I think they used some sort of wax paper against the cabinet and then just glued the RTV straight to the door. That way you end up with a custom fitted gasket. I have no experience with this "or any other gasket fitting for that matter" so take that into consideration.

I would 100% agree the best and the RIGHT way is cut them off, space them out 1/2 gskt thickness then re-weld. Im just passing along some info that I have read in the past.

[patrickd26]

Here are some photos from tonight. I was really hoping to season it this evening, but it's raining a very windy here in Nebraska. Have a good evening, all.

http://bit.ly/1iVnofd

[forty_creek]

Strong Work Pat!


Drankin, Smokin and Dreamin

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rodcrafter]

Very nice!


Making memories.

[patrickd26]

Thank you, guys. This is a great forum and I'll be around to contribute with any constructive thoughts I have. The only advice I have at this point is that purchasing the plan set will save you $hitload's of time and $$$. That drawing was our compass! Thanks again.

[Big T]

That's the best piece of advice that you can give someone who has never built one. $$ well spent.

[Puff]

Nice work on that baby..... Love the hammered grey color paint, the flat Nomex, removable shelf ...
If anyone wants a little motivation...those pics are IT!

[scottyk]

I cant see the pics but now Im very curious! Can you upload them using photobucket maybe?

[steffec]

Nice work!!! The removable shelf is a nice addition. Have you fired it up yet?

[patrickd26]

I cant see the pics but now Im very curious! Can you upload them using photobucket maybe?

So, can you not see them yet? They should be available yet. If not, maybe I can email?? I'll look at the photobucket as an option.

[scottyk]

I think it is the firewall at my work that will not allow me access to see that website for some reason. If you could email them that would be awesome! crashst78@msn.com

Thanks a ton!

[pawatch]

I couldn't get the pictures to load using an iPad.