Dropping from 40 stacked shots to 2 minute singles must have helped a ton with noise, but Sagittarius core detail usually comes from stacking even when tracked. Polar alignment gets faster once you mark your tripod legs and do it a few dozen times.

Went through the same thing with a used WSM I got off craigslist. First two cooks were garbage and I had it boxed up ready to flip. Turned out the bottom vents were so gunked up they barely moved and the thing was choking itself out half the cook. Cleaned them out with a wire brush and it ran steady for 14 hours on one load of charcoal. Still mad I wasted a pork butt blaming the smoker instead of looking at it closer. Good on Ray for catching that door gap before you let it go.

That whole situation would freak me out too, hope your neighbor is okay.