I purchased a stainless steel door from Cajun Bandit a few years ago and installed it with a Southco latch on my very old 18.5" WSM. Recently I added gasket material (Nomex) around the edges with the hopes of sealing the door from air leaks. Instead, the door splayed out and flatened. As a result, the two top corners show a visible gap from the WSM body and the door leaks a lot of air. I tried to increase the door curvature by clamping it into a vise and pulling on it but the metal is too thick and springs back to its original flatter shape. A friend has suggested that I clamp the door to a thick plywood form that mirrors the curve of the WSM and heat the door up with a torch. His theory is that this approach will change the door curve to match the WSM.
Any suggestions or comments?
Any suggestions or comments?