Pimp my WSM....

[J. Malte Stoeckhert]

[Man, I'm feeling retarded trying to post these pics. Should know better. 'ts been a while... . OK, 3rd attempt to get this right....]

First of all thx for all the great mod suggestions by various users of this forum.

After I got my WSM 22.5 earlier this week, I finally had time to put it together on Friday and Saturday!

Friday evening:

Some serious "out-of-round" condition of the door (and the mid section as I found out later on)

Started fabricating 4 handles for mid section (just some bending):

Attached legs and drilled holes (pilot holes drilled shown) for caster wheels:

Saturday:

Assembled WSM with wheels and 4 handles on mid section:

Installed 2 grommets:

Close up:

Wheels. I'm not happy about the slack of the wheels. I will replace the wheels asap.

Installed "handles" on the lower grate:

Added a washer behind the upper grate holder for better fit:

Inside view with grommets:

Working to improve the fit of the door (I had to work on the mid section, too):

Fire grate setup (sorry for the hardware used):

Close up:

Another close up:

Decided to add holders for grommets in handles on both sides of the door:

Close up:

Another close up:

That's it so far.

To do:

* Replace wheels
* maybe install holder on mid section for grilling/smoking tools
* maybe add holder for Stoker (when I get it, might be not so good an idea with the temp...?)
* maybe add lid holder (see this post)
* attach lid to id section with hinge and add mechanism to lock bottom to mid section (see this post)
* <STRIKE>high heat door mod</STRIKE> (see this post) Will do extra ventillation if high heat is needed. See post link below.
* Nomex Tape Seal (see this post)
* Extra ventillation vent (see this post)

Malte

 

[MKEvenson]

J, the title of your post had me wondering?? The pimps, oh, I mean pics, didn't come through on my end.

Now go cook something!!!!

Mark

 

[J. Malte Stoeckhert]

Pics are up again. This time the right size and rotated properly.

 

[Charles Howse]

VERY nice mods. Gonna do the handles on my lower grate, and possibly wire the ring to the charcoal grate.

Great job.

 

[MKEvenson]

Very nice! Who says we shouldn't reinvent the wheel.

 

[Phil Perrin]

NIce mods! I've done the charcoal grate to the charcoal ring mod myself. I also need to change the wheels on mine. I didn't drill one of the holes straight,and it wobbles. I also used some cheap wheels I had laying around. Gotta get some new ones one of these days!

 

[Jason Nelms]

Wow! You basically took the entire WSM Modifications board and put it into one post. Nice job!

 

[Jason Nelms]

I'm going to ask fairly dumb question...

I just got back from Lowe's looking to buy some grommets similar to the ones installed above. I talked to three people at Lowe's (including the manager) and they all looked at me like I had three eyes when I asked if they carried this. I even went so far as to show them a pic on my iPhone. That said, where can I find the materials? I have no issue with drilling the hole and installing, I just can't find them. Any help would greatly appreciated.

 

[J. Malte Stoeckhert]

Jason

I went to Home Depot in the lamp section,

See post by other member on a different message board:

"Grommets"

These are lamp repair parts.

Malte

 

[Jason Nelms]

Thanks for the info, I'll be headed to Home Depot later today.

 

[marc zol]

I went to Lowes today and found grommets in lamp section. They have a nice package of multiple lengths from 1/2" to 2".

They were in the middle of the isle in our Lowes in Illinois.

 

[Jason Nelms]

Found them at Home Depot a little earlier today. Hopefully I'll get them installed this weekend since I don't have a cook planned at this time, although I'm hoping that might change.