# Just finished CGSP mods!



## fireguy (May 7, 2008)

Today I have been making more mods to the CGSP... thanks to smokinjoe and teeotee for the ideas... well here they are: added 3/4 inch angle accented with the 5/16 stove rope on the front and side. then in the back I rtv siliconed the rope along with a series of pop rivits to make sure it dont come loose (teeotee Thanks). Dont laugh at my metal fabricating skills 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 , but then I cut the slots and holes in the coal grate for a cheap make shift baffle/tunningplate (smokingjoe Thanks). I did not follow those ideas to an exact tee, but close. 
Plan on fireing it up this weekend for a mothers day rib rack smoke... will post my results. thanks again fellas for the info.
heres the pics!!!


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## domn8_ion (May 7, 2008)

Looks good. Let us know how well it helps with heat distribution.


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## waysideranch (May 7, 2008)

Don't be so hard on yourself.  Fab looks fine.  Bet it cooks just fine.


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## smok'n steve (May 7, 2008)

Looks Great!

Can't wait to see how you like it plus the Qview!!

Steve


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## teeotee (May 7, 2008)

Have to say fireguy .... looks good. I like the basket idea on the front edge .... good one 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 . I'm wanting to add a bigger end shelf and front shelf. Now i may have to look at that basket idea for the front.

Look forward to your opinion of how this mod works.


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## fireguy (May 7, 2008)

teeotee, hey bud mine came with the basket... I do love it though. It holds sauces and my sprayer just fine, also my oven mitts dont blow away if i stuff emin the basket. get on chargrillers web site think you can buy one for a bit of nothing. thanks


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## teeotee (May 7, 2008)

Will take a look at chargriller's site.

I notice your lid fits as square as mine does 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





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## capt dan (May 7, 2008)

Nice job on the mods, fireguy! I bet there will be a nice difference!


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## smokin out the neighbors (May 8, 2008)

I toolove the basket idea. Unfortunately, CG doesn't list it on their site. I emailed them with the pic atached to inquire about it. I'll let you know what they say.


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## fireguy (May 8, 2008)

sorry teeotee, I A$$-umed they would have it... they got everything else... sure if you look into it they will get ya one. though there are times that the shelf would be nice for setting platters on, but I have a table right next to mine most times.. let me know what you find out!!


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## kookie (May 8, 2008)

Great looking mods................Nice job.................


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## crockadale (May 8, 2008)

I bet they will be offering one soon...now that you shown them.


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## chargrilled (May 8, 2008)

Great work with the mods. Have you already extended the smoke stack down?? That makes are huge difference in heat. 

If you plan on grilling again all you have to do is lace a full sheet of HD foil through your main chamber ash plate and clean up will be easier also.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Good lookin mods, now that is 2 of you with the exterior flange with rope mod, going to have to get off my a$$ and do something about those side lid gaps ive got!!!!!


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## teeotee (May 8, 2008)

Char, i'm sure firguy will back me up on this. That is really a fairly easy mod to do with minimal tools and an afternoon.

I did check the cg website and found nothing there also. I do have a bunch of wire fencing material hanging around in a shed somewhere. Tempted to make me up a wire rack and hang it underneath the front shelf, best of both worlds 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





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## crewcab4x4 (May 8, 2008)

Good job on the mods. I like the idea of the charcoal tray flipped upside down for the baffle.I have mine raised all the way up but not flipped over, and set a pan of water right beside the firebox opening. It seems to work ok I can usually keep the temp. witihin 10 - 20 deg. from one side to the other.  My chargriller has the basket in the front to. I bought mine at menards all the rest I've seen everywhere else have the shelf in the front. I wanted more shelf space so I made a bigger shelf for the side and replaced the existing one.

Jason


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## tmw611 (May 8, 2008)

I also like the flange idea, and yours looks especially well done Fireguy, awesome job. I sealed mine with the rope using the high temp RTV. It made a huge difference especially in the wind, but it looks like crap. Gaps at the ends were huge. I will be doing the flange mod as I cant have the grill lookin bad. 

BZ!


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## chargrilled (May 8, 2008)

tee, I agree as from both this post and yours the baby angle is bolted up so now it's just down to motivation!!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I also agree about the rack suspended off the existing front shelf, I dont know what I would do without that shelf!!!


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## fireguy (May 8, 2008)

thanks guys!!! 

Chargrilled- I have done the stack extension mod, and a coal basket mod, along with a couple thermos... they are in another thread... but Ill stick em below so you can see em if ya wanted to.
Teeotee- your right about easy... it only took me a few hours and that included running to menards for the supplies. I do like your idea about the basket under the tray... there have been a few times it would been handy to have a tray on the front. 

hell, im to excited to wait to the weekend, so im gonna do a trial run and throw some deer burgers on this afternoon. I hope it goes well, the other day.... pre mods I had a heck of a time staying cool enough. i only immagine it will be harder now, though it is a bit cooler and windy, well see!!!


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## fireguy (May 9, 2008)

well fired it up to see yesterday... everything worked well... the only thing is it is so much more efficiant that ill have to cut my wood down i think... instead of tbs....it looked like a locomotive blowing wicked heavy blue smoke out...didnt change anything else as far as wood or amt... do you think using smalled chunks will bring me back to the tbs, guess well see tommarow.


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## teeotee (May 9, 2008)

The one time i've used mine since adding the lip i had to have the sfb vent closed otherwise temp just kept climbing. Read on here somewhere yesterday that good airflow is needed to prevent white smoke which was the problem i had, unless i used one chunk at a time. I did notice that the meat i done had smoke flavor just not as much as i would of liked. 

I'm thinking use less charcoal and stick with a couple of chunks of wood and maybe vent 1/4 open, shall see how that works.


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## teeotee (May 9, 2008)

That shelf is real handy isn't it. Just not big enough sometimes. I'm thinking if bottles etc are in a basket thenwould leave more room for beer cans etc ..... 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






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## smok'n steve (May 9, 2008)

Maybe not enough air?  It could be that because of the lower stack and the baffle that some airflow is being choked----maybe your extension is a bit too low or maybe you need to add more vent holes in the firebox?  I am sort of guessing here, but Let me know what happens:-)


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## fireguy (May 9, 2008)

have been pondering the air flow all day..... thought about removing the stack and seein what happens...also thought it might help with maintaining a lower temp... since it is sealed up so tight..but im new to this smoker and have no clue.


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## smok'n steve (May 10, 2008)

Try removing the stack mod first just to see if it makes a difference.  I think its the easiest thing to do without fabs.  If there is a major change, then maybe try a shorter stack mod extension?  Keep in mind, I have never had your style smoker, but I do like to play with fire---no pun intended there fireguy:-)

Steve


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## fireguy (May 10, 2008)

ok been going for a few hours now. all is good.. maintaining 225 give er take 10 deg. For the sake of experimenting I left the stack on and dropped my baffle to the bottom of the smoke chamber....it seems to be working good. have used much less coal and much less wood to achive temps and proper smoke flow of the tbs. hate to experiment with the smoker while my 1st try at rack ribs, but seems good so far. we will se how it goes and if I need more air flow, thought tapping a few holes in bottom of chamber will help, and shouldnt have to worry about wind as much as I did with the major gap that used to be around the lid.thanks guys


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## teeotee (May 10, 2008)

Hey Fireguy, been thinking about the airflow thing. I remembered a link i got from WD. Copied this from that site. I'm wondering if adding a second vent just below the top of the sfb would help or would it not be worth the effort !!! I know you can get the dampers from CG but would have to cut out the holes in the sfb. 

Something to mull over for a while methinks 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





*Raised Stool Grate

*The drawing below depicts a smaller amount of air flowing through the burning wood and the larger portion blows over the wood increasing the rate of burning. In this case the rate of combustion can be easily controlled by adjusting the air supply under the fire.





* Raised stool grate*

*The link is http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/smokehouse-firebox.htm*

*PS hope the ribs turned out great. *


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## fireguy (May 11, 2008)

t-o-t, that looks very interesting.... illl do some thinking on that.... it looks like a good possability and makes perfect sense... Thanks a million.


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## watermelonslim (May 21, 2008)

Excellent mods!

I'm the guy with zero fab skills that needs to seal up his Chargriller before buying a Stoker...

So I need some 3/4" angle, some 5/16" stove rope, some RTV silicone (what the heck is RTV silicone?), and some pop rivits...

How do you attach pop rivits? Is the tool cheap/easy for a first timer to use?


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## snowsmoker (May 21, 2008)

Rivits are easy to use, but you need to drill pilot holes for the rivits to go through. The tool is simple to use but im not sure how much they are, probably 20$ or so. The RTV silicone, all the RTV stands for is room temperature vulcanizing (it drys at room temp) but you want to make sure its rated for high heat. I used some on my smoker, its good for temps up to 500 degs. The rope Im not sure where to get but the angle iron you can get at any hardware store. Hope that helps!


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## watermelonslim (May 22, 2008)

I think I will give this a shot this weekend (if I can find all the stuff)...


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## watermelonslim (May 22, 2008)

Quick question:
How much of a gap do you leave on the back (of the side rails)? I don't think the (sides) angle iron goes all the way back, does it? Not sure how long I would need before the lid can't open/close...


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## fireguy (May 23, 2008)

I left about 1/2 inch.....as long as you can open and close the lid w/o the lid hinge coming into contact with the angle youl be good..... hold it up there or clamp it on and raise or lower the lid to see if  ou have clearance.. youll prob want to clamp or have someone help hold the angle while you drill and rivet the ends, just to ensure thay dont move on ya.. then come back and do the rivitsalong the rest of te angle.... by the way teeotee bolted his with good success, if that might be better for you?? good luck and make sure to post your results.


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## fireguy (May 23, 2008)

oh ya... to find where to mount the angle... since the lid prob dont close square...I closed the lid and layed the gasket on top of the angle...raised up to come in contact with the lid, one side at a time... then marked with a pencil for a refrence... just to make sure it was sealed up square with lid and not the bottom portion of the smoke chamber.and you should be able to buy the gasket at menards... its just high heat stove gasket, an i think any thickness will work for ya.. good lluck


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## fireguy (Jul 16, 2008)

Finally added another damper to see if it would help with my smoke. it did!!! TBS is easy to achieve... now I am having a hell of a time getting the temps down. I added the upper damper for those who dont have a cgsp.

TOT....great idea for air flow, now I just gotta experiment on temps... thanks


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## 1894 (Jul 16, 2008)

Nice job cutting that out FG , looks like it came from the factory like that


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## jbchoice1 (Jul 16, 2008)

looks real good.  great job.


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## smokin out the neighbors (Jul 22, 2008)

Hey FG, That's a great idea. How about som fab detail so I can do one too?


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## teeotee (Jul 22, 2008)

FG ....you done a fine job there, looks real good . Points for good looking mod.This looks like a mod i need to get done once i get the time. Have hardly had a chance to smoke anything this summer let alone play with mods.
Edit ... did you get the new damper form chargriller or is it a fabricated one ?


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## fireguy (Jul 22, 2008)

thanks guys... ok, I just used the extra baffle that came for the side of the smoke barrel ( lucky i didnt throw it out in assembly
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





 ). Found my center point, where I wanted to mount it... then held the baffle to the sfb and traced around the inside holes of the baffle... then cut most of the patern out with a dremel and a few metal discs. ( dremel is a bit week but it worked in the end)... followed up my cuts using a jig saw were the dremel could quite cut it...drilled a hole for mounting.. then painted the sfb where cut to prevent any rusting... mounted baffle with a bolt, 2 washers, and a nut. It was really pretty simple, if you have a few tools. oh when done had to tweek the baffle a bit to get it to fully close.( bending the handle/flange thing on the baffle.

Have used it a few times with "grate" success.. hehe.. it does change the way my smoker preformed so im relearning my smoker again. But It has done one thing for sure... the TBS is back. pre mod I had a few times where I could only get that bellowy thick white smoke no matter what I did... thanks to TOTs idea we are back in the game... thanks and sorry I didnt take pics of the mod till done.


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