Keezer Collar to Lid Help and Suggestions PLZ

[ClemsonDV]

I recently purchased two freezers from craigslist. One was a steal at $50 (looked nearly brand new) and one was not so much of a steal. The latter actually had the compressor taking up the entire length of the chest freezer and about 6-8 inches on the bottom. I would have walked away but I thought it would be perfect for a ferm chamber. It would mean less bending over with carboys and hopefully less movement when pulling the carboy out to rack.
The plan was to add a 2x8 collar. The lip of the freezer was good, and i bought everything and made the collar. I was going to have the hinges connected to the collar and then take off the gasket to put around the bottom of the collar. Then attach the lid with some adhesive to the top of the collar. But here is my delimma. After removing the gasket (should have done that way sooner), I found it was tucked under these notches and not secured with adhesives. Now i dont have a clean surface to secure my collar.

WHAT SHOULD I DO? I could cut off that lip and liquid nail it pretty heavily, but maybe someone has a better idea. Anything would help. Tired of spending money on this project and SWMBO is getting ancy because our garage is a mess. Thanks.

 

[Junkster]

For a fermentation chamber, I don't think a really good seal on that joint is critical since cold air sinks, but you probably will have some condensation from warm air migrating in. You could probably buy a roll of cheap, self-adhesive foam weatherstrip from the hardware store and get by just fine with it. There are various other rubber weatherstrip profiles , but they cost more including those with an aluminum strip attached that mount with screws.