So after almost a month of basically trying to overcome my fear of doing anything and messing up, I finally got some time (and courage) today to work on the thermal detonator. The gray tube was just as described in Ukswrath’s tutorial, just a bit oversize on the overall length. I took a file to the edges and filed it down about 3/16” until it was close to level all the way around. Then I did the very, very scary method of giving the end caps a boiling water bath and popping them on the ends of the tubes while they’re still warm. (yes, that is my husband’s “Dark Side BBQ” oven mitt, being used to handle hot parts)
I was able to drill the holes pretty easily, install the metal clips, and paint the heads of the screws black per Centurion guidelines. The only thing I didn’t do was glue on the control panel; my e6000 hadn’t arrived yet (I had to mail order it off of Amazon, since my local Lowe’s was out of stock). I did tape the control panel in place so I could line up the clips. I think so far it looks pretty good!