Welcome to the group Jeremy!
I've made a few mods to my CG, and I've got to tell you there is a point of excess. When it don't pay off.
I've got the two therms, lip seal, chimney extension, temporary baffle/tuning plates.
Tried this and that, but when you get down to the nitty gritty, the CG is a COS (cheap offset smoker).
I too, added the 2 therms as I was assembling it. $80.00 bucks down the drain. LOL
No matter WHAT you do, you are never going to get consistent temps all the way across this unit with the thin metal. It does happen! But the moon and stars have to be aligned right.
I think the best mods with the most payoff, was the lip sealing and chimney extension.
Now that I've bad mouthed all of our smokers, I will say I really enjoy using mine. Yes it takes more fuel, more fussing tending it, and it doesn't hold heat for crap. But then neither did any of my campfire cooking. The fun is in the tending for me.
I've never used mine as a grill yet, and my step son has never used his as a smoker. LOL It works either way, but I think it is better suited as a grill for large group parties.
But hey! We got what we got, and we can make it work. That's all that counts. Right?