Finally put mine together

When it finally warmed up a little here, I was determined to finally put my little guy together. There's only one beer in the picture, but it was about a three beer job (9 if you include the 6 pack I gave a friend for cutting out the bottom of the pot).


I previously had installed the bolt on the bottom vent a few months ago but decided today was the day to upgrade the ash catcher. Couldn't find a regular pie pan, but Walmart had a bakeware set for $5 that included two of these cake pans as well as a few other pans I can use around the house.


Thermometer mounted on the front along with outside hardware.


Screws might be a little too long.


Ready for paint.


After a few coats (I used an old Smokey Joe to hold it up).


All Finished. Well, sorta. There are a few more mods I want to make to it, but it's cook-worthy now!


Getting ready for the trial run along with my buddy's electric.


I also placed hardware for a rack right near the top in case I want to throw some wings or something else on as well. As for future plans, I'm planning on building a charcoal basket for it as well as making a bottom vent cover to keep the ashes from clogging it. I've also noticed the lid hanger with the u-bolt that others have done and have decided to do that as well. This was a great way to spend the afternoon and I'm excited to keep upgrading it as needed. Having this thing around means having amazing BBQ much more accessible while living in an apartment!

I like the all black look.

Very nice build! I like the blacked out handle, very nice.

Since the grates fit so perfectly inside and perch on the nuts themselves I chopped off all the protruding mounting bolts flush with an angle grinder.

George L said:

Very nice build! I like the blacked out handle, very nice.

Since the grates fit so perfectly inside and perch on the nuts themselves I chopped off all the protruding mounting bolts flush with an angle grinder.

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George, I think that's probably what I'll be doing this weekend. I'm kinda limited for tools, but my buddy has a Dremel so I'll probably snag that and cut the rest of the screws down. I also saw someone on here cut just the remaining part of the side of a grate down to fit it below the lip to hold a water pan. I think I'll be doing that as well so that it'll free up the grate that sits on top of the lip. Thanks for the suggestion!

Nice work. Hopefully I can finish mine this weekend.

Kevin, where did you get the pot from, and what kind is it. I am thinking of building one of these. i recently got back into charcoal. I have the 22.5 which is great for parties. I am trying to build one of these for smaller cooks.

Thanks in advance.

Matt I said:

Kevin, where did you get the pot from, and what kind is it. I am thinking of building one of these. i recently got back into charcoal. I have the 22.5 which is great for parties. I am trying to build one of these for smaller cooks.

Thanks in advance.

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Matt,
I got it from Walmart. It's the IMUSA brand that a lot of people on here have talked about. I got pretty lucky finding mine, but it sounds like some have been ordering from Amazon. Good luck with yours!