Project "Spare-Parts" Worklog

[debaucher]

Project "Spare Parts" Worklog
This is my first "major" mod that I have done and as the name suggests.. this case and all it's parts come from the "spare" parts I have lying around all throughout my closet and storage space.
Here are a few pics to give you a bit of an idea of what I am talking about

This mod will be watercooled, and as I haven't done air cooling for ~6years, you can imagine the kinds of odd items I have laying around in those (and more) boxes!!
To start things off.. here are some pictures of the case I will be using

In the last picture you can see the top of the case where there is a handle with a pop-up top that has a usb connection, small (&LOUD) 60mm fan etc... which will all be removed.
"For What" you ask.. well I will tell you.
For an EXTERNAL RADIATOR ENCLOSURE!!!!!!!
Here is a quick sketch-up of the dimensions

This will fit a 2Fresh dual 120mm Radiator.. BUT before any of you decide to go and make one yourself, learn from my experience.. make the length a TAD bit longer as once I put the pop-rivets in it was an extremely tight fit!
I will be making this out of 26Gauge steel and using only hand tools like my fathers' trusty metal snips, hammer, wood braces, clamps and TONS of elbow grease!

Here is everything all marked up and ready to go

And here it is all cut out
Next was to mark where the 2 120mm fans will go

This is how I decided to mark where the screw holes will go. Lay a 120mm fan down, place the nail in and hammer through. Then, place a 4.5" holesaw in place to trace around

Next I needed to make small cuts where the bends will be... so I bust out the tried'n'true metal snips (been thru allot of projects over the years) and snip'snip

Now... my hole saw is a bit worse for wear, and needed to be sharpened before I could use it reliably, so I decided to break out the cheap'o tin snips.

They work, but don't make very pretty cuts.
Next is a little clean up and then the holes are drilled.

Now for the REAL fun.... bending the metal.
NOTE: The most important thing you can do is make sure you have properly cut (to size) wood with VERY straight edges and a nice workbench which ALSO has a nice straight edge which you can then clamp down your metal in-between
Like so........

Then you take another good & sturdy piece of wood and a mallet to start making the bends.

Remember what I said about having a properly cut (TO SIZE) piece of wood.... a picture and words and something about a thousand

Rinse'n'repeat until you get this

Then another properly sized piece of scrap wood to get the edges straight and holes drilled

A little double sided sticky tape to help hold things together and make a more air-tight seal

Rivets are FUN kids!!!!
Now, time to bend the flaps so this deal can be mounted on top of the case!!!
Short ends....

Long ends...

Basic end result.. needs tidying up!!

Another thing you all should realize before you make one of your own.. see how the small sides have the flap bent in?
Well, that made it IMPOSSIBLE to put the rad into it since all measurements were so tight (didn't have the rad available when I made this.. just went off of measurements..... lol ) so I eventually had to cut those inner flaps off.

Now some money shots!!

Now, I will put together the pictures of mounting the external rad enclosure onto the case then add to this thread.
Hope you have enjoyed my work so far!!

D.

 

[Carbon_Le]

What kind of case is that? Good luck on your mod.

 

[Waffles730]

I see all these people building awesome cases from scratch, and it makes me want to be home with all my dad's tools fabricating something instead of at college

But that's about the only thing that makes me want to be home

 

[debaucher]

What kind of case is that? Good luck on your mod.

Its a Maxtop Domino Type II CSF-800B-BLK Server [CSF-800B-BLK].
I got it off of e**y quite some time ago for ~$40 total (shipping was the highest part of the case).
Not as tall as I thought.. but has turned out to be quite a nice case.

Will post more pics of the case mod when I have time (girlfriend likes to keep me busy over the weekends )

D.

 

[Asian Dub Foundation]

tahts alot of spare parts to be laying around!!

and man wish i had the ability like that to build an external attracked res thingy..

 

[[DGN]Nexus]

Where'd you get that case? I've seen one at a server case online store, but I couldn't find anyone else that had it.. also.. Do you know that manufacturer of it?

Sweet mod though...

 

[Spaceninja]

Hats off on the metal work. I have done sheetmetal work and it sucks with a break and all the other nifty tools.

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[Artluo100]

Yeah I wanna see this

 

[debaucher]

Thanks for all the kind words.
I hope to get more posted on Monday.

The case was bought off of e**y quite some time ago.
I believe the seller was arrowmax, and the case is a Maxtop Domino Type II CSF-800B-BLK Server [CSF-800B-BLK].

Got it for quite cheap (except shipping of course).

As for the metal work, it is tough without a break, but good'ol elbow grease and determination can go a long way.. lol

D.

 

[DarkenReaper57]

Good job with the metalwork for the shroud - I do have a suggestion, though. If you have access to a file, or preferably a dremel with cylindrical grinding bit, it would be beneficial to smooth out the curves where you cut the 120mm fan holes.

You did an excellent job as it is, especially with tin snips, but smoothing out the curves will prevent any finger cuts and look nicer imho .

Do you plan on painting it? I see you have nickel plated steel there, so if you do, be sure to apply a few thin coats of primer first so the paint has something to grab onto. This is speaking from experience, as I built a couple shrouds myself this summer for my external w/c box. If you don't apply primer, the paint doesn't like to stick on.

BTW, I like the case; it is unique.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[debaucher]

Sorry for the lack of updates, work has been horrid these last few days (grant due etc..)

Thanks for the suggestion DarkenReaper57.
What I did was clean up the edges with a dremel until they wern't sharp, then used u-molding to cover the cut.
Looks quite nice.
I want to paint the enclosure, but I need to get a computer put together for one of my little brothers this month, so I need to get this one finished, then I can get back to it once I am done with my little bro's comp.
WHich reminds me, if anyone knows of a place to get black plexi on the cheap, please let me know.

I plan to put up more pics tonight if I get off of work in time.

D.

 

[Majin]

Really nice work so far.
I like all the work you put into making that rad conpartment.
I'm watching this for sure.

 

[debaucher]

Ok, now to get back to business.

Here is the external rad enclosure with some u-molding in place, and a couple of 120mm Panaflo H1A’s held on with nice black hex bolts.

I think it looks quite nice. But… once I finish the case for my little bro’ I might go ahead and sand this baby down more then give it a quick painting (thinking of keeping the silver color but if anyone has ideas, please let me know).

Now onto the case. Here are a few more pics of the case to give you some ideas.

Ok, fist thing is to open up some more airflow for those 2x80mm fan brackets that you can see peeking thru those restrictive side vents….. so we need to open up this side.

Mask it off and make lines for the cuts.

Here it is all cut out using my trusty-rusty-dremel (eat your heart out Earnie!)

Once dremel grinding of the edges is done, it is time to move on to the next step… keeping the cats from having a new hiding place.
So… more u-molding is used to keep things looking nice

Then mesh is laid into place to check for correct fit….. not too bad

Then, double-sided sticky tape is laid down and a big set of pliers is used to try and remove the curve the mesh has from shipping.

Next, I needed to do something about those pesky grills

So…… break out the dremel again and we get this

Now I need to focus on the top of the case.
Remember how it had that handle, usb, audio port deal as pictured here

It will block the area I need for the external rad enclosure, so it is removed and the top is taped off

Some measuring and then A LOT of cut off disks later and you get this

Next step is to remove the restrictive 120mm grill at the back of the case so mask, mark, dremel cut and dremel grind.

I don’t think it turned out too bad, and I kinda like the “toothy” look it left. (or maybe I was just tired for the day  )

In the next installment…… watercooling equipment is put into place and disaster strikes!!!!!

D.

 

[Majin]

I dare you to slide you finger along that edge!

 

[debaucher]

I dare you to slide you finger along that edge!

I did not a single cut.
Those dremel grinding wheels work wonders!!!

Now... onto the conclusion of the saga!!

Ok… now for the continuation of “Spare-Parts Worklog…. Disaster strikes!!”

Remember this pic?

Now, when I made the external enclosure I didn’t have the rad available so I was just working off of rough measurements I got from 2Fresh’s FS thread, so now I wanted to try and fit the rad into place.
The 2 shorter ends ended up being in the way and not allowing me to put the rad into place, so I had to dremel them out.
So here is the rad in place…… SOOOO tight that even the pop rivets prevented me from getting it in far enough.. so I had to use a screwdriver to bend the side a tiny bit and slide the rad in.

A couple of test fits and I notice I did not make the top opening big enough, so more measuring and dremel action gives me this

More grinding and u-molding to make it all purdy

Now, remember that this project is called “Spare-Parts” since I am using spare parts to make this rig… so I went looking for tubing to get the watercooling going and I notice that I only have some thick walled 3/8”ID tubing, yet the system is ½”ID, so it was a TIGHT fit…. to get everything in place… and that is when “Disaster Strikes!!”

OOOUUUUUCCCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!!

What is a guy to do?????? Cry??? Scream???
Well, I decided to pet my kitty…….

then break this stuff out

Awesome stuff and instantly waterproof.
Plus, since it seals by chemical evaporation… I busted out the girlfriends hairdryer to speed up the drying process.
I also learned that the hairdryer worked great for softening up the thick walls on the 3/8” ID tubing to get it to stretch over the 1/2”ID barbs!!

So.. while the barb was getting itself sealed back into place.. I decided I needed to mount the reservoir!!
It is an old criticool cylinder rez that I have had sitting in a box for ~2.5years

So, after some careful measurements  I taped the back of the MB tray up and drilled 4 holes

A test fit of the rez.

It will be held in place by 2 sets of black zip ties… doesn’t look bad and I have a drawer full of them!!

By now, the radiator barb is held back into place so I pry it back into the enclosure and test how it will look on top of the case

I want to make things pretty much air tight, so some weather sealing foam is used on an edge to seal. This will eventually be replaced by a black plexi cover.. but I don’t have any on hand so that would be against my self-imposed rules for this mod (spare parts and all).
BUT… in a month when my little bro’s case is done… I will revisit this case and change/fix a few things.. so if anyone knows where to get BLACK PLEXI for CHEAP, please let me know.

Next, I get to installing the tubing (lots of hairdryer time to soften it up so it will fit over the barbs)

Then, my typical “notch” by the power supply bracket for the pump power cord.

I am using the extra pump I had lying around.
It is a hydor and I am not too fond of it.
Once it gets going, its not too bad…. But likes to click a lot when it is first turned on (which is why I leave the pump running 24/7)
I need to come up with a better mounting system, but for now…. the suction cups will have to do.

I am also using my spare Maze4 for socket 478 with Lucite top… it’s quite nice, but also ½” ID so the 3/8” ID tubing with the thick walls was a PAIN to get on.
So.. after I stole back the hairdryer from the GF… I got the tubing on.

Ok…. Fast forward an hour+ and everything is installed.
Remember, these are all spare parts I pulled from the boxes… so here are the specs.
Abit IC7-Max3
P4 3.0C
4x256mb Corsair XMS3500
ATI X800Pro
Vantec Stealth 500W (550W?)
2x120GB Maxtor SATA In the Cooler Master 4-in-3 Device Module (almost like it was made for this case!!)
NEC DL DVD+-RW 3520A

Here it is folks…….

Future plans include…….
1) Covering the top of the case with a sheet of Black Plexi
2) Painting/clear coat the external rad enclosure
3) Getting a new pump and mounting it proper
4) Painting the inside of the case (at least the 2x80mm side fan holders)

SO… please let me know any ideas/thoughts/comments you have on the case.

Thanks for reading
D.

 

[sitheris]

Nicely done. I wish I had half the skill you do-it-yourselfers have.

 

[jahcs]

Nice job, and thanks for the hair dryer tip for softening up the cooler lines.

 

[debaucher]

Thanks for all the nice replies everyone.
I hope to do more work on this case sometime in December, but so far everything is working quite well.

I do notice a little higher temp from using the 3/8"ID tubing over the 1/2"ID tubing I would normally use, but nothing aweful (~2-4C higher depending on load).
So, as of now, the cpu idels at 40C and load at 49C.
But, this is also running my fans at ~7V via a rheobus so nice and quiet.

Any comments and suggestions are more than welcome.

D.