Exhaust Hood Replacement in a Mobile Kitchen

That depends on how much money you have?

Anything is possible...

As previously stated, it's all just Money.

If you have the space, the desire, and the funding, then you should be able to draw up a design with some good measurements, and have a custom hood bent from some stainless steel sheets to exactly fit your application around the corner etc. Any decent Fabrication shop should be able to build you a custom hood in no time.

The propane line can be very dangerous if not done exactly right, and to every letter of the code book. You MUST use the correct fittings/lines/regulators/valves etc rated for use with propane. One improperly spec-ed valve can spring a leak and blow up your entire kitchen, killing you, your help, and your customers in the process. This would not be good. Please take extreme precaution when installing this fuel line if you indeed decide to attempt it yourself (not recommended). Perhaps you should take the truck to an RV repair shop and have them run you a new Propane line.

The previous posts on the hood upgrade are right on the money. Literally. You need to also calculate how much flow (exhaust pipe size) and what type of exhaust fan you need and incorporate them in the hood specifications as well. One pointer, putting your exhaust fan at the end of your piping will decrease inside noise and reduce exhaust leakage through any seams.

As for up-sizing your propane line, yes it can be done without a lot of hoopla, and no you should not touch it. I worked on natural gas install for about 4 years, so I do have some experience. I would recommend the main piping be black pipe and the final connection in flexible gas line. The shut off valve needs to be a gas rated ball valve. The black pipe can be screwed together with teflon tape and/or gas rated pipe dope. Never use dope or tape on flare, compression or union fittings. The pipe needs to be sized for your propane flow needs. Propane has a lower heat value than natural gas so this has to be taken into account. It sounds like you have not done (or at least not done much) gas piping before so if this is correct, this would be a bad place to start. Good luck if you decide to purchase!

As far as the hood: Yes you can replace the 4' hood with a 7 1/2 foot hood provided you have the space and your local code allows for this upgrade. And you can install an "L" shaped hood to expand your cooking area (again depending on local regulations). Be sure to keep fire suppression systems in mind.

Adding a propane line should be done by a professional and properly inspected and maintained. But that should also be a yes. These questions should be posed to your local code, business and health departments as codes do vary from place to place.

Best of luck!!!

Thanks for the replies to my query, they are helpful. All work would be done by a professional, of course. To the point where before I purchase this trailer I would go sit there with it and meet with these aforementioned pros to get bids on the jobs needed to be done, with Ca. state codes as specifications for completion. I shall know what I'm looking at in dollar amounts and work before buying, keeping in mind that at one point I would just build a new unit from scratch rather than retrofit this one.

Actually you have a great point, it may be about the same price as buying this mobile unit and renovating it as it is to start from scratch. If that were the case I would opt for the new rather then the retro fit. Good luck! J-