Project: Satan's Deuce

The contest will be held at Controlled-Insanity PC Mods, details on the rules and such on our site coming as the project progresses :)

And yes, it will be on display at Bonz's Exhibitors booth at our 500 Man LAN (Nor'Easter 05 Nor'Easter 05) in April, but you will still have to wait to win it until after ;)

cant wait for the next update Bonz, you have us on the edges of our seats! :eek:
 
Thank goes out to Steve for mentioning the project on HardOCP's homepage today. We appreciate the exposure for this project. We would like to have as many people as possible have a shot to win the case. The worklog is also mirrored at Controlled-Insanity and
Gruntville. If you just want to see pictures and no posts or text you can look directly at all the images of the case by going HERE

New images, mock up and test fitting for the new front bezel. The bezel can be seen here partially covered in filler with its flange installed.
The flange raises the bezel up and away from the drives a bit to give clearance for the bezel to move. sorry about the shadows, I took these outside early this morning and the sun had not come up all the way yet.
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Finished guide coating, sanding and finishing the top of the case. The left side panel is 100% complete also.
Work has progressed on filling the bezel/grill, sanding and guide coating follows.


The side panel has been sanded smooth to remove burs and level the surface as much as possible for the primer coat.
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The front bezel has been filled on the top, left and bottom sides. All total about 30% of the bezel is covered in filler. The seams are a bit off with filler to allow the sanding step to level and match things up.
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On the top you will notice some blotches, that is part of guide coating. Guidecoating helps show areas that are not quite level yet and require more filling and sanding. By spraying your filler with a light coat of black paint and sanding with a sanding block, the high areas are shown and the low areas remain black. guidcoating is especially required when delaing with a large smooth area so the paint wont appear wavy once it is applied.
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Anytime you are dealing with stamped and folded metal parts you must sand them to remove high places around the edges. Failure to do this will result in sanding through your paint or clearcoat during the wetsanding/polishing step. You must use a sanding block for this work to avoid seeing wavyness in the final clearcoat layers because your fingers bearing down on sandpaper will leave high and low places on large panel areas. Body work on cars is done with long thin sanding blocks that look a lot like wood planes. these kinds of blocks are good for large, gently curved areas like the fenders on a 50's era car. For perfectly flat areas, a standard sanding block is best.
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ShadyModGod said:
The contest will be held at Controlled-Insanity PC Mods, details on the rules and such on our site coming as the project progresses :)

And yes, it will be on display at Bonz's Exhibitors booth at our 500 Man LAN (Nor'Easter 05 Nor'Easter 05) in April, but you will still have to wait to win it until after ;)

cant wait for the next update Bonz, you have us on the edges of our seats! :eek:
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boo!

lol..jk

at least ill be able to see it in person (you'll be there both days..right bonz?)

its looking great so far. i love the bezel :eek:
 
at least ill be able to see it in person (you'll be there both days..right bonz?)
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Yes we wil be there both days, actually we will be there the day before and both days of the event for setup and such. 1100 mile drive for us one way!!!!!

yes why are they in B&W
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Black and white takes the focus off the distraction of color that is irrelevant to the finished piece so the design as a whole stands out. The idea that sculpture should stand on its own merit without paint is the goal. Besides it makes it more exciting when I get to post the images of the case painted ;).
 
Sometimes you have to give a little blood sacrifice to a project...
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I got into a fist fight with my stationary belt sander and lost, but you should see the other guy. I now have a nice kangaroo pouch over my knuckle. Lesson: don't pick fights with power tools ;)
 
Great concept bonzanego, I love rods, and this rod-inspired design is kicking butt already. In regards to your finishing problem for the grille surround, have you thought of having it sand-cast in Aluminum, and then polishing it? It would add weight, but it could probably be accomplished for far less cash than the chroming method. The solid Alu will also allow you some leeway towards correcting any imperfections in your surface, whereas paint/chrome would not. And hey, there's nothing like real metal.

Having it machined out of Alu would be awesom too, but eeee the cost!
 
In regards to your finishing problem for the grille surround, have you thought of having it sand-cast in Aluminum, and then polishing it? It would add weight, but it could probably be accomplished for far less cash than the chroming method.
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Thanks for the compliments, i think that everyone get a warm fuzzy feeling from this era of cars, they are so perfectly pleasing to the eye.
I could sand cast the grill insert, but it will be easier to just weld it up from aluminum rods and bar stock.
I think there is some confusion about what the final look will be on the grill and such.
The grill shell wont be any kind of chrome or chrome paint. I am making the grill insert out of polished aluminum. The grill shell and actual grill insert are 2 seperate pieces.
More along the lines of this image:
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The shell will be painted as part of a fade like was seen on this case we did a while back:
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This time the fade will be shades of red and other warm colors and the interior area of the flames will be swirling faces/skulls/souls.
 
The light slowly comes on... oh, it'll be painted. Somehow I didn't come to this conclusion reading your post. Makes perfect sense to me. Although, you have to admit a chrome surround would look killer too.

In true "rat rod" style, you should do a mod in either bare metal, or flat black with red/cream pinstripes.

I wonder if any of the panel beaters out there would one-off or low-production a 1/2 scale duece front specifically for modding. Complete with punched louvers. That would allow your great idea to go all the way to the max. You couold even "pop" the hood, to show off yer chromed WC gear... hmmm?
 
In true "rat rod" style, you should do a mod in either bare metal, or flat black with red/cream pinstripes.
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Me likey flat black cars. The most beautiful flat painted car i ever saw was a deep maroon red 1940 chevrolet with light cream and yellow flames. It looked like hot cappucino ready to drink mmmm.

I wonder if any of the panel beaters out there would one-off or low-production a 1/2 scale duece front specifically for modding. Complete with punched louvers. That would allow your great idea to go all the way to the max. You couold even "pop" the hood, to show off yer chromed WC gear... hmmm?
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Already way ahead of you, either antec/lian li is going to build a case that looks like this or I will be creating a kit that any modder can use to make thier lian li look similar to this ;). I thought about doing louvers in this case and just paint the flames on, but i wanted some kind of upolstery to be visible through a window. In this case that means a window and some buttoned, tucked and rolled red upolstery.
 
More work complete. I skipped all the boring sanding, guidecoating, sanding, filling photos/posts.
So here is the bezel at 90% complete.
The bezel has been guidecoated in grey primer in these shots, there is still a small bit of touch up here and there to do.
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I like your idea a lot. I hit the street rod nats every other year and am itching to work on my 36 ford pickup.

TheMark - I think if you could get someone to reproduce something like this, but it would most likely be in fiberglass if nothing else. Steel would be prohibitively expensive, and really time consuming. You have a bazillion different cases to work with, so it wouldn't make sense to hammer a new one every time. Then you have to make a bazillion different grills... Not something I would want to undertake...... But that's just my $0.02. This is the reason why fiberglass bodies are so popular in street rodding: Cheap, easy to manufacture, and can be molded into lots of shapes easily. :)
 
Bezel copying a success. Although not a perfect copy, it will require some cleaning up and sanding to get it ready to recieve the grill.
The copy is solid and will stand up to the drilling and cutting that will be required to fit it with hinges and the grill. The original grill is a foam core covered in filler and fiberglass, drilling into the foam to attach screws will not hold up to normal use.
If you peek at the file name of this photo you will see it is photo number 3000 I have taken with my trusty Canon A40. This camera has been dropped on concrete from a height of 5 feet 2 times. One of those drops bouncing 3 times with a traveled distance of 4 feet at last years QuakeCon. I must say it has very much paid for itself these last 2 years. Canon builds a tough little camera. My next digital camera will be another Canon without a doubt.
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TheMark - I think if you could get someone to reproduce something like this, but it would most likely be in fiberglass if nothing else. Steel would be prohibitively expensive, and really time consuming. You have a bazillion different cases to work with, so it wouldn't make sense to hammer a new one every time. Then you have to make a bazillion different grills... Not something I would want to undertake...... But that's just my $0.02. This is the reason why fiberglass bodies are so popular in street rodding: Cheap, easy to manufacture, and can be molded into lots of shapes easily.
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I like to look up prices for various car parts when I am visiting my Grandpa. We looked at a steel 34 ford grill shell, OEM part, asking price was over 1000$.... You can buy a whole 34 ford fiberglass body for about 3000-4000$

As for making a bunch of different grill shells to fit different cases... since this is about the tallest case out there the shell can easily be sectioned into a shorter version to fit other Lian-li cases. It could also be sectioned to fit any case so long as the width is the same as a Lian-Li. The real difficult part is the grill insert itself, sectioning that would take longer than just making a whole new one thats the right height to fit the shorter cases. In the end it would probably need to be cast in aluminum to make any sort of production a possibility.
 
Cast aluminum probably wouldn't be very cheap either, but you're right, its probably to only method that would allow the durability you're looking for... Injection molded plastic could work, but of course would be injection molded plastic.... Cheap look and feel.... :)

Have you considered fiberglass bonded to a backing plate? Might be the best of both worlds if you're planning on producing it as a product yourself... Epoxy 10 gauge aluminum mouting strips into milled recesses on the back of the foam core....
 
itx said:
Cast aluminum probably wouldn't be very cheap either, but you're right, its probably to only method that would allow the durability you're looking for... Injection molded plastic could work, but of course would be injection molded plastic.... Cheap look and feel.... :)
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In defense of plastic, consider the interior and exterior of an $80,000 automobile has an enormous amount of injection molded plastic used for fine details and good aesthetic looks--sure there's nothing like a solid hunk of metal, gleaming in the Sunlight, seemingly carved by little winged angels with plasma cutters, polishing grinders and wet/dry sandpaper, but hey...you can still get high quality builds with plastic. :D
 
In defense of plastic, consider the interior and exterior of an $80,000 automobile has an enormous amount of injection molded plastic used for fine details and good aesthetic looks--sure there's nothing like a solid hunk of metal, gleaming in the Sunlight, seemingly carved by little winged angels with plasma cutters, polishing grinders and wet/dry sandpaper, but hey...you can still get high quality builds with plastic.
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Hey I agree, my grills are made of plastic, detail is king! The problem is chroming plastic or getting somthing even closely resembling chrome/polished aluminum is a nightmare and/or costs a fortune.
 
Might I ask what you duplicated the shell with? I can't really tell from the pics. :confused:

And yes, the cost of steel made me choose the fiberglass shell for my truck. Even with the polished insert, it is cheaper.
 
Ahhh yes if you're going for a chrome finish, metal is the way to go...

We do quite a bit of injection molded plastic at work, and with most of it the texture produced is something less than desirable.... Of course most of the stuff is either nylon/glass fiber or thermoplastic rubber, but even the ABS stuff isn't great... And molds aren't cheap, even when made from aluminum.

Sand casting aluminum isn't as expensive up front, but is quite labor intensive, and the material is a bit more expensive, but can be polished up really nice... :)

Any way you do it, man it looks great, one of the few originals out there in the world of cases :)
 
why are the pics no that grater quality but it looks nice
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I am not sure I understand your question


Well, it is more sanding, guidecoating, filling on the duplicate bezel to get it perfect.
I spent a couple of hours on it yesterday and got the last coat of filler applied and go the lip the grill rests against cut and pretty well even.
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The lip is the transition point from painted plastic to the metal grill that fits inside. I have made mine a bit thicker than what appears on actual car grill shells because I like the look of a little bit more paint in this area.
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CrimsonSky said:
In defense of plastic, consider the interior and exterior of an $80,000 automobile has an enormous amount of injection molded plastic used for fine details and good aesthetic looks--sure there's nothing like a solid hunk of metal, gleaming in the Sunlight, seemingly carved by little winged angels with plasma cutters, polishing grinders and wet/dry sandpaper, but hey...you can still get high quality builds with plastic. :D
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Yes....but consider the cost of creating an injection mold for a part of that size.....well into 5 figures.....make a wooden pattern and you could probably have a foundry pour the part in aluminum for $15.00 a pound....course you'd have to do a bunch....at least 50 or so......and the pattern will have to be oversize to allow for shrinkage and polishing> Pattern charge at a foundry can run as little as $500 if you let them make it.. On reflection.....I'd have 'em poured and then see about having them CNC profiled. By the way.........awesome mod :p .

Another thought.......what about gold leaf on the wooden pattern you have......I have a bunch of it....more than enough to leaf it........just a thought
And to CS......my comments are in no way a criticism of your ability in working with plastic........I've been completely blown away by your work since I first saw it.
 
What happened? No updates?
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I have the bezel sitting here in the final filler coat, just have not had time to touch it, we have been cranking out fan grills. We are building customers orders and a standing inventory to sell from, so it is double duty around here for a while.

Mad Machinist, I know a local foundry that would do it for around those prices, as you say making things a bit oversized for shrinkage and such. I am going to try making the first one manually from a drawing/pattern, then build a jig to match it and just weld them from aluminum rod and bar stock. the cuts and bends are only hard on the master. After it is made, a jig will make copying it very easy. Rod and bar stock are also very cheap. I have brewed up a fiberglass strand reinforced liquid to pour the grill shells out of. It is light weight and will survive most abuse.

I prefer to try doing this stuff with more common garage technology, while waterjets, laser cutters and cnc machines are awesome and i would love to have them, modding started out with "what can I make with what's on hand and easily availible". there is somthing to be said for the guy who can draw a perfect, free hand circle, even though a compass will do the same thing in a second. My grandfather can made the finest custom cabinets you ever saw with only a square and a table saw, most guys need fancy shaper tables with 200$ cutting bits. I admire his skill in that respect. I have always said that the best artists can make wonderful art with even the worst tools. When you let the limitations of your equipment get in the way you are letting part of the passion of creation die.
 
bonzanego said:
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I prefer to try doing this stuff with more common garage technology, while waterjets, laser cutters and cnc machines are awesome and i would love to have them, modding started out with "what can I make with what's on hand and easily availible". there is somthing to be said for the guy who can draw a perfect, free hand circle, even though a compass will do the same thing in a second. My grandfather can made the finest custom cabinets you ever saw with only a square and a table saw, most guys need fancy shaper tables with 200$ cutting bits. I admire his skill in that respect. I have always said that the best artists can make wonderful art with even the worst tools. When you let the limitations of your equipment get in the way you are letting part of the passion of creation die.
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Couldn't agree more......but if you can make one really durable pattern....1/8 aluminum plate can be hammered very easily over a form and finished with scotch brite pads and an air die grinder. Just run a sooty oxy/acetelyne torch ovr it before you form it.....makes it butter soft. I was just suggesting the poured aluminum as blanks for those like me who would finish it themselves.......die grinder and a couple of coarse flute burrs and a scotch brite bad would make short work of cleaning up a casting.

And as for the sentiment about your grand dad....I'm a firm believer when I need a tool here in my Machine shop...I design and make it....it's usually ten times better than some of the crap you can buy.

In fact I'm thinking of building a water cooled rig with along the lines of your case....with the addition of a model T radiator cap for the water tank. Hope you don't mind me pilfering the idea......I think it would be a great office computer for a man who specializes in antique engine restoration.
 
Mad Machinist said:
Yes....but consider the cost of creating an injection mold for a part of that size.....well into 5 figures......
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I was talking about wood or foam sculpting/rubber mold/poured plastic cast...traditional methods. :D
 
CrimsonSky said:
I was talking about wood or foam sculpting/rubber mold/poured plastic cast...traditional methods. :D
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When some one says mold and plastic.......I assume injection for production..... :D that is why I hang out here....to get some low tech non production ideas...i have to do a lot of one offs....and this forum helps me think creatively....
 
Mad Machinist said:
When some one says mold and plastic.......I assume injection for production..... :D that is why I hang out here....to get some low tech non production ideas...i have to do a lot of one offs....and this forum helps me think creatively....
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ahh..ok gottcha. I'm of the same school as Bonz --garage molds and hand crafted goodness. :D
 
While not a traditional fan "grill" , this part is designed to fit a standard 80mm screw hole pattern. If this grill were raised say 3/4" with spacers from the surface of the case it could function just fine as a grill. It was designed and build for the Satan's Duece case as a fan grill for the rear 80mm fan holes.
Unlike any other fan grill this piece is solid with no holes, elevating it with spacers should create some really cool lighting from the led/ccfl fans around the perimeter of the grill and alloow air to move out and past the part.


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This is a pretty thick part, it feels like a slug of lead in your hand, i dig that.

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so i went ahead and tried the spacers and used a high tech measuring device to feel for airflow... my hand.
Seems very good with the spacers and I think it will look kickass with the grills hovering up off the case on aluminum spacers.

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This last image the colors and shine remind me of the off white and black color combo on an 8 ball, i dig it.

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Door is now hinged, I had some help getting it perfect from my grandfather, he used to hang doors in houses he built with nothing more than hand tools. Before doors came hung in thier frames from Home Depot you made them on site by hand piece by piece, yeah his skillz pretty much own joo.

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The grill rods are not mounted yet, just sitting in thier holes so the alignment is not perfect in the photos, I left the holes a little bit oversized so when the rods are fused into the bezel I can make fine adjustments with a spacer so they are all equidistant from each other.
After we hung the door I went back to fine tune the seams as seen in the photos of the top seam. The hinges are spring loaded and hold the bezel closed without any kind of latch.
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