I did cook on it before the paint to try it out and in freezing cold wind I was able to hold 248 degree for over 10 hours. Cooked two pork butts and they came out great.
It got warm enough to paint so here is the finished smoker.
Very nice smoker! Question though... Could you explain or show (pics ARE worth a 1000 words!) the heat transfer from your firebox to the CC? In one of the pics it looks as if your "baffle" between the CC & FB has a gap around it to allow heat/smoke to rise to your food. Is this the case? I am very interested in this part of the design. THANKS!