Gravity feed charcoal freezer build

[tim king]

I recently acquired a massive double wide commercial fridge that has been converted into a smoker. The previous owner removed the cooler unit from the top and flipped the unit upside down. It had a gas burner with a wood chip pan in the bottom for heat and smoke. The guy used it for several years this way. I picked it up for almost nothing and I want to convert it to run on charcoal. Ideally I would like to build a gravity feed system on the inside of one side of the unit and put racks in the other side. I have lots of 1/8”, 1/4”, and 3/8” steel plate laying around to use for the fire box ash pan area and the charcoal chute. My goal is to, more or less, copy the Stumps gravity feed smoker and instead of having the charcoal drop in the top it will have a door on the side of the unit. I was not planning on isolating the firebox and charcoal chute from the cool chamber do you guys think this will cause problems? Will it become too hot inside and be impossible to regulate the heat? I plan to run my flame boss to control the smoker temp.

 

[Chasdev]

I'm no expert but how can the thin metal handle firebox temps and stay intact?

 

[tim king]

I'm no expert but how can the thin metal handle firebox temps and stay intact?

I intend to build the firebox out of 3/8” plate and place it inside the fridge cabinet. So the heat of the fire will be contained inside the 3/8” firebox and the this metal inside will only receive radiant heat off the outside of the firebox,

 

[tim king]

Basically build something like this and place it inside the smoker instead of outside.