>>>" Is there a rule of thumb for clearance between an open freezer drawer and an island?"I have not heard of a specific rule of thumb for CD/FD fridges. The rule of thumb I've heard for years has been to have 48" between island and counter edge, which is generally thought to be sufficient clearance for any kind of fridge. Of course, I've seen plenty of kitchens that were narrower. We work with the kitchens we have.

But, a CD/FD should have enough clearance for your space and actually wll not be significantly different than what you would have with the doors on a 36-inch-wide SxS. The amount of space will vary with the model of fridge, but generally speaking, a CD fridge's bottom freezer will only stick out into the space about 18 inches when fully opened. I have a KA full-depth FD fridge. When the freezer drawer is fully extended, the distance from the outside edge of the freezer-door handle to the opposite countertop is about 24 inches. A CD model is going be about 4 inches shallower. You would still have 22" to 24" of space when a CD/FD fridge's freezer drawer is fully open. That's only a little bit less clearance than you'd get with SxS doors.

>>>"Am I wrong to consider a CD FD to replace the 1990 GE S/S (36" wide) in there now? Would a S/S be a better choice?"Better? That term is heavily freighted with personal preference. I recall a couple of recent threads here where folks discussed personal perferences in choosing between SxS and FD designs. Do a search and you'll find a lot to think about.

My personal take is that FD design gives you a more roomy fridge lay-out and wider spaces in drawers in the freezer compartment. What this means in practical terms is that may be be feasible to, say, stash a large frozen turkey in a FD's freezer that would not fit in the freezer section of a 36-inch-wide SxS. BUT, freezer space in both designs is going to be relatively small (especially for CD models.) You may to have to fuss with re-arranging the FD's freezer contents to get the Turkey in the relatively shallow compartment. It is like having a small chest freezer. If you hate chest freezers, you may not care for a FD fridge's freezer compartment. If you are okay with a chest freezer, then you will probably be okay with an FD design.

The best thing you can do for yourself is go to a store and look at some of the CD/FD models you are interested in. Take some boxes and containers that you would keep in the fridge and see how the arrangement works for you. You've been living with a SxS and are used to it, so that gives you a point of comparison.

>>>"constrained with 70.5" rear height limit."Here again, go to a store and have look at models you like. When I was shopping for a fridge a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that a lot of the FD models have taller doors with a false front to hide hinges. This seems to be increasingly prevelant on other designs