An Excellent find!

I began brewing a few months ago and have decided to try and slowly collect kegging equipment to move out of the bottling world. I put the word out to my friends and family for what to look for and I feel like I have struck gold! My dad found me two pin lock corny kegs for nothing! When I went to his house last weekend he checked his basement for old co2 tanks and found a 5lb and two 20lbs for me. I tool them to my local gas distributor and they exchanged all tanks for full ones for $110! I just happen to have an unused fridge in my garage that will make a perfect kegerator with a bit of modification. I should be able to fit 3 and possibly four kegs in it. A few question I have are,
Should I convert my kegs to ball lock?
Should I use the fridge or is a freezer better?
I would like to have the 20lb co2 tank outside the fridge and have a line run inside since it is so big, is that a good or bad idea?
I am currently looking for a regulator. What's best? Single or dual gauge? I see a Kegco 542 regulator for $44.95 and the prices go up to $75. Is more expensive really better?
Recommendation of store for kegging equipment? I am in the Minneapolis\St. Paul area so Northern Brewer and Midwest brewing are close.
Any tips with building my kegerator?

No real benefit from converting them. You'd be out $30 or more just for the posts, and you still won't have a manual PRV on the lids (unless you replace those as well for another $10-15 each). I'd stick with the oem hardware.

There are pros and cons for both kegerator and keezer. I have the latter as I was keen on having a T tower and six kegs on tap, which would push the fridge solution to the edge of the envelope, I think. The trump card might be the "free" aspect. Hard to beat "free"

No problem having a tank and regulator outside, that's how I have my keezer and my fridges set up. I use a 1/4" MFL-MFL bulkhead adapter to go through the fridge walls and the keezer lid. Distribution blocks with shut-offs and check valves inside. Works great.

As for the regulator, I use middle of the road Chudnow primaries on both of my systems, one a dual-body/three gauge, the other a single-body/dual gauge. You can pay more, but I wouldn't pay much less, as that usually leads to a non-rebuildable regulator.

I've used pretty much every on-line and LHBS vendor over the years, and don't really have a favorite. I buy on price, mostly, but I'll give on that if expediency is an issue. You're lucky to have a couple of the biggies so near to you.

As for ideas, you could start with the sticky kegging threads...

Cheers!

Awesome score.

Agreed. Pin lock/ball lock are all down to preference and what you have. If you have an existing ball lock system and dont want to have to worry with changing the quick disconnects then you can convert them. Otherwise leave them be.

Fridge or freezer? If you have an existing fridge, go ahead and use that.

Tank/reg outside makes it easier to dial in, and the gauge is a little more accurate, although the pressure in tank gaugh basically tells you 2 things. It has gas or is empty.

For other equipment, shop around. Prices change everywhere. Craigs list is great for used stuff if you can wait and find things as they are available. Online shops are great for smaller things as shipping can kill you on large bulky items unless you get good flat rate shipping.

BrewerBS said:

Should I convert my kegs to ball lock?

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I wouldn't - posts are expensive. Its really more important to have all your kegs be one or the other. Having a mix would be a pain. It seems pin-lock kegs are actually cheaper now, so I'd just stick with them.

Should I use the fridge or is a freezer better?

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Fridge should be fine. A chest freezer could hold more kegs, but then you'd have to buy one. I'd just use what you have.

I would like to have the 20lb co2 tank outside the fridge and have a line run inside since it is so big, is that a good or bad idea?

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Good idea. It won't cause any problems. I currently keep my tank in my keezer, but would like to move it outside, I just need to buy some parts.

I am currently looking for a regulator. What's best? Single or dual gauge? I see a Kegco 542 regulator for $44.95 and the prices go up to $75. Is more expensive really better?

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More expensive is probably better to a certain degree. I use Taprite regulators in my keezer, which are way better than the no-name ones that came with my system originally, but also aren't insanely expensive. Most decent ones are going to be dual-guage, but the tank gauge is basically useless - I removed mine. The only way to really know how much gas is in the tank is to weigh it.

You probably should invest in a dual-body regulator. This allows you to have one pressure for serving, and another pressure for carbonating. Or two different serving pressures.

Recommendation of store for kegging equipment? I am in the Minneapolis\St. Paul area so Northern Brewer and Midwest brewing are close.

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I wish I lived close to one of those! The carry pretty much everything you will need.

Any tips with building my kegerator?

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One thing I did with my keezer was drill out holes for additional taps to be added later, since I didn't want to pony up for 6 taps right off the bat. I just plugged the holes with thick bolts. Its worth thinking about how you might want to expand your system in the future.