Lager fridge project

I currently have a 4.0 cu. ft. dorm fridge sitting in my parent's basement generally going to waste as a fridge goes as its being used as a stand for my dad's band saw. I'm planning on converting it to a lager fridge/fermentation chiller, as I think I can bring it to a better use at just a little over the price of what the materials for a Son of Fermentation Chiller cost. I've seen my general idea done before with a smaller fridge from pictures posted on these forms, and I had the fridge fired up last weekend and it is still in working condition (its only done like 2 years of work).

What I plan to do is get the equivalent of 2" of extruded polystyrene insulation board (either 1 sheet of 2" or 2 of 1") and make an extension for the fridge after removing the door. I'll probably place the insulation such that it overlaps the fridge unit and has space to hold either a primary bucket or a glass carboy.

In all it seems straightforward. The only thing I've been wondering about is how to get a good seal between the insulation and the outside of the fridge. I'd rather not use something that has a permenent seal. I'm thinking about making sure everything is good and snug and then placing some sort of tape for the seal.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of endeavour who can lend a few words of wisdom on what I should/shouldn't do with this project?

I did something like that years ago, I went to an appliance repair shop and they gave me a 5 cu ft chest freezer that won't run, I took the door off the apt fridge and then cut a hole in the side of the freezer the same size as the fridge. Put some weatherstrip on the face of the fridge then used angle brackets to attach the two together. It has been like that for over 10 years.

Brewiz said:

I did something like that years ago, I went to an appliance repair shop and they gave me a 5 cu ft chest freezer that won't run, I took the door off the apt fridge and then cut a hole in the side of the freezer the same size as the fridge. Put some weatherstrip on the face of the fridge then used angle brackets to attach the two together. It has been like that for over 10 years.

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Now THAT's a good idea. Those Mom-and Pop places almost always have discarded units laying around.

What results do you think I'll have with 2" of PS foamboard? Think I'll be able to get down near 34 deg F? Or would that just be dreaming? The fridge I'm using would freeze stuff in it inadvertently if you turned the temp down, so I'm thinking it might.