Project: First Timer--WC'd Stacker

rsgunter · May 5, 2007

Here's my first case modding attempt. Wish me luck! I'm kinda playing it as I go, but I had a few things in mind, WC for one and the placement of equipment, but I'm sure some things will come to me as I get in the later stages.

It will also be painted.

I'm going to number every picture so it's easy to reference if you have a suggestion or comment.

And btw, I don't have 3 arms, my dad is doing some of the work so I can take pictures of the process, but I am doing most of it. I just wanted to get pictures of the actual n00bie techniques I used for this project.

Here's the before and what I'm working with:
#1

Stripped down:
#2

#3

#4

The Gear:
#5

Let's get this show on the road!

First off, I want to turn my 80mm top exhaust into a 120...

The PSU cage was going to be a problem because the fan will not fit in between the gap. Don't worry about the cut in the top of the cage already, I was experimenting with a dremel bit, lol.

#6

Next...
#7

Now the cutting process starts.
#8

Remember to measure! I didn't show that pic but it is measured to the center here!
#9

#10

Sorry about the blurriness, I didn't have my DSLR on me.

Future pics won't be so bad!
#11

#12

#13

Remember to get squared up!
Obviously what we are doing here is getting the hole's centered, we mark them and drill the holes, I didn't think it was necessary to picture that.
#14

#15

More to come, I have most of the radiator done, but I'm really tired of image codes and want a little bit of feedback before I start posting more.

Thanks!

filthysanchez · May 5, 2007

when you upload the pictures to photobucket, just check the ones you want and click the generate code button at the bottom, it makes it much easier.

rsgunter · May 5, 2007

I didn't think that put it in order.

rsgunter · May 5, 2007

Here's some more. Probably be tomorrow before anymore arrive....maybe not, depends on if I can round up a card reader.

#16

#17

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#22

These bolts got in our way, and needed to be removed anyway, so time to grind them off!
#23

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#30

Majin · May 5, 2007

I have the same case so it's always nice to see what people can do with this beast.
Gives me more Ideas.

rsgunter · May 5, 2007

Indeed. Always something new with these things. I'm going to try and keep this fairly simple, but who knows what it may turn into.

rsgunter · May 6, 2007

I have to get rid of the lip left over from the cuts...
#31

#32

#33

So here we go...
First, need a saw
#34

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#37

Now I need to grind...I can't get a saw in there, so I'll have to grind it down, using the same grinder as earlier.
#38

Here's the devil lip...lol.
#39

#40

#41

I did go over the edges with a drill bit sander, I'm not going to waste precious bandwidth to show you those.

rsgunter · May 6, 2007

So now it's time for bondo. I'm going to cover the holes on the top and the big ones on the front supports.

Had to grind out the original holes so the bondo will work better...bondo tends to work better with more area to fill.
#42

#43

#44

This is basically just a quick filler for support, nothing more.
#45

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#47

Done, now I'm just waiting on it to dry!
#48

Going to sand on all the stuff tonight, yee-haw! More to come tomorrow hopefully.

Willsonman · May 7, 2007

Bondo in big clumps like that(in the top) can take a while to properly cure. Try not to go too quickly and let it cure right or it will crack and you will have to do things all over again. It also helps a lot if you can sand the surfaces down some. Looking good. You can pick up a cheap metal file to smooth down those edges for your rad mound. Just make it look a little nicer... though you will not have the luxury of using a power tool unless you rig it to a reciprocating saw.

Looks good though. Keep it up.

mwarps · May 7, 2007

Gave me an idea for cutting for my MCR-320-QP (triple rad similar to yours) - the cardboard under the plenum lips.

Thanks!

rsgunter · May 7, 2007

Willsonman said:
Bondo in big clumps like that(in the top) can take a while to properly cure. Try not to go too quickly and let it cure right or it will crack and you will have to do things all over again. It also helps a lot if you can sand the surfaces down some. Looking good. You can pick up a cheap metal file to smooth down those edges for your rad mound. Just make it look a little nicer... though you will not have the luxury of using a power tool unless you rig it to a reciprocating saw. Looks good though. Keep it up.

You are absolutely right on all your points.

We are doing the bondo/sand/bondo/sand/bondo/sand to get everything completely smooth. It is a LONG process but looks really good when it's finished. Right now we are spraying primer over the bondo'd areas and that really helps us see the imperfections. A lot of that bondo wasn't needed and I'm not sure why Dad put it on there that way when I wasn't looking, lol. He's more excited about this than I am and I have to tell him to quit and let me do my own project haha. I guess he has a plan about the bondo though, I didn't feel it needed such a huge area for such small holes. I think I see why sort of but we'll see.

I have been working on sanding those edges down. It's just such a cave man process with a metalworking file I get a little bored and frustrated, and we all know frustration is a bad state to be in when doing this kind of work.

I am going to gromet the bottom anyway just to furthuer protect my radiator from those edges, but I am also going to get those edges as smooth as I can. Just a long process and for the sake of my sanity and this worklog, and I wanted to get some more major points done first, then go back to those blased edges.

You should be seeing painting prep pictures tonight and also my mock up WC rig. I've had the parts for two damn weeks and haven't gotten to try them out lol. So I'm going to try and get those running and get something RMA'd if need be.

Thanks for the comments guys, and I'm glad I gave an idea or two. I made this to help others.

cipher_nemo · May 7, 2007

Good job so far on the ambitious plans for this case. It's always nice having the right tools around for things. As for the case, I hope you plan on dumping those stickers (ie: never using stickers again).

Also, if you want to get better pics and using a digital camera with auto-focus, you might want to take several shots of the same thing and select the one with the best focus before posting.

WarMace · May 7, 2007

Yeah, I agree that "Devil Lip" is an appropriate name for it, if you need it removed.

Looking cool. Hope you left enough space for the PSU.

rsgunter · May 7, 2007

cipher_nemo said:
Good job so far on the ambitious plans for this case. It's always nice having the right tools around for things. As for the case, I hope you plan on dumping those stickers (ie: never using stickers again).

Also, if you want to get better pics and using a digital camera with auto-focus, you might want to take several shots of the same thing and select the one with the best focus before posting.

ALL the stickers are gone. Fugly weren't they? I'm going to paint so I had to remove them anyway.

I did take several, and those were the best I could come up with! Basically what happened is that I had to use my mother's dated digital. The clear pics are from an 8mp DSLR that I took later, easy to tell the difference huh? The battery is running low on that badboy and it's an hour away but I'm going to get it tomorrow so I should be fine.

Thanks for noticing I'm being a little ambitious!

rsgunter · May 7, 2007

warmace said:
Yeah, I agree that "Devil Lip" is an appropriate name for it, if you need it removed.

Looking cool. Hope you left enough space for the PSU.

Nice pic man.

As for the PSU, There isn't close to enough room to mount one on the bottom. As for the top, it will be fine. I did some measuring for mine PSU and one for the new Silverstone 1000 watt and both will fit with plenty of cable room to spare with the 120 taking up some of that cage space. A Galaxy or something like that will be pushing the limits, but if I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Thanks for the comments, your log is friggin' sweet too Grizz.

rsgunter · May 10, 2007

Here's a few more. Haven't been able to get a lot done with it. Should be close to paint though.

I needed to find a way to mount the resivior so this is what I came up with, but after doing some measuring I decided that when I upgrade to a big card, 8800GTX or whatever is next, it will be a little to close for comfort. Just thought I'd post to give some people ideas if they wanted.

#49

The bondo work is looking good, have one more round and it should be ready.
#50

#51

#52

Here's some initial testing. Lots of very small air bubbles are in the line that I didn't bother to bleed as it wasn't enough to make the pump run dry and it's just a test run anyway. No leaks at all! Phew!!

Tester Power Supply...Sparkle FTW!!!(Seriously)
#53

#54

WC Equipment testing.
#56

#57

#58

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#62

I have more done than this but haven't uploaded yet. I'll do that soon.

Black-Tom · May 10, 2007

Looks great, except for one thing.

PLEASE use gloves and eye protection when you're using power tools of any kind. Believe me, shit happens.

Jomanscool2 · May 10, 2007

You knoow, theres a reason why you had a lot of air. AFAIK, you are supposed to have BOTH tubes going into the other end, otherwise its like pouring water into a glass, air will get trapped.

Besides that, looks great. The top looks great, but I don't really know what 'bondo' does.

rsgunter · May 10, 2007

Black-Tom said:
Looks great, except for one thing.

PLEASE use gloves and eye protection when you're using power tools of any kind. Believe me, shit happens.

I have been wearing eye protection during the whole process. As for gloves...well, while I'd like to use them more often, I've had a really rough time with them slipping on me during precise cuts.

You're right I should be using more protection for my hands.

rsgunter · May 10, 2007

Jomanscool2 said:
You knoow, theres a reason why you had a lot of air. AFAIK, you are supposed to have BOTH tubes going into the other end, otherwise its like pouring water into a glass, air will get trapped.

Besides that, looks great. The top looks great, but I don't really know what 'bondo' does.

Well that's the whole "multi-option" thing.

If you look you will see a place for a barb at the top, which I had open during this. I was told that if I left the top open for a while that the air would eventually bleed off, I dunno.

Where can I put an extra hose? I'm not really seeing what you are saying.

The bondo was for some very deep scratches and holes from screws on the top of the case.

Jomanscool2 · May 10, 2007

The hole at the bottom is used for a "fill-port line" AFAIK. the side with the three holes is where both tubes for your loop should be connected.

cipher_nemo · May 11, 2007

Black-Tom said:
PLEASE use gloves and eye protection when you're using power tools of any kind. Believe me, shit happens.

Eye protection is always good, and I'm glad you're using it, rsgunter. Don't worry about the gloves, rsgunter. I've actually had more accidents and screw-ups using gloves because you feel much less with them on your hands. Ditch the glove notion unless you're using bondo, then use disposable, non-latex, thin gloves.

As for the case, looking good so far! The Bondo work looks great; better than I could have done with body filler. I'm still an amateur with it, so it takes me forever, with multiple applications, lol.

Some questions/comments for you...

Why is that coolant so dark and muddy looking? Did you add too much dye? Bad lighting for camera? Or something else?
The one piece of acrylic, is that to mount the reservoir? Why does it look warped?
Sparkle Power? hehehehe, as a testing PSU I'd be embarrassed to have that around. For around $12 you can get a new Rosewill (Newegg brand) 300W PSU that's reliable for testing. For $30 you can get a 400W, all black, with 120mm fan. Don't let the Sparkle Power get you down, man... give it an Office Space Printer send-off.

Also, the pics look awesome! All in focus and easy to see. Thanks for doing that.

rsgunter · May 11, 2007

cipher_nemo said:
Eye protection is always good, and I'm glad you're using it, rsgunter. Don't worry about the gloves, rsgunter. I've actually had more accidents and screw-ups using gloves because you feel much less with them on your hands. Ditch the glove notion unless you're using bondo, then use disposable, non-latex, thin gloves.

As for the case, looking good so far! The Bondo work looks great; better than I could have done with body filler. I'm still an amateur with it, so it takes me forever, with multiple applications, lol.

Some questions/comments for you...

Why is that coolant so dark and muddy looking? Did you add too much dye? Bad lighting for camera? Or something else?

The one piece of acrylic, is that to mount the reservoir? Why does it look warped?

Sparkle Power? hehehehe, as a testing PSU I'd be embarrassed to have that around. For around $12 you can get a new Rosewill (Newegg brand) 300W PSU that's reliable for testing. For $30 you can get a 400W, all black, with 120mm fan. Don't let the Sparkle Power get you down, man... give it an Office Space Printer send-off.

Also, the pics look awesome! All in focus and easy to see. Thanks for doing that.

I will definitely agree with you on the glove thing. I will use one glove sometimes when I'm having to support something that's close to a jigsaw blade or something when things are flinging off the cut and towards my hand. With precise cuts though, way to much slippage to be wearing gloves.

The reason I didn't order a test PSU is because 1) I forgot and 2) My friend had a bunch laying around. I double checked before I ran anything that the PSU was out putting the correct amount of power. I am indeed going to order a PSU that's newer for testing, but I haven't had any issues with Sparkle.

The coolant is dark looking because it's black! It's Fluid XP phantom black. The reason for the muddy look is because of the air bubbles. I knew I was forgetting something when I didn't post a pic of the loop right before I turned on the pump. It's jet black without air.

The lexan is a little warped looking but it must be a camera thing. It isn't warped at all. However in the newer pics you'll see I've moved my resivior further back and into my drive bays some. Cabling is going to be a mess in there but it will look cool.

Glad you guys are liking it so far! I'm debating paint at the moment. The interior will definitely be black. The orginal exterior plans were to use my friend's auto body shop to do the paintwork with a nice airgun and paint it black and clearcoat. Now I'm thinking about using a wrinkle paint to give the case a different look and a more rugged feel. I dunno yet.

Thanks for the comments guys!

cipher_nemo · May 11, 2007

rsgunter said:
The coolant is dark looking because it's black! It's Fluid XP phantom black.

Very cool! I've never seen black coolant before, but then again I don't do water-cooling on my rigs. That will look sweet when it's done.

rsgunter said:
The orginal exterior plans were to use my friend's auto body shop to do the paintwork with a nice airgun and paint it black and clearcoat. Now I'm thinking about using a wrinkle paint to give the case a different look and a more rugged feel. I dunno yet.

May be a "hammered" effect paint? That will certainly give it a rugged look. If you want that look, but don't want a 'metal' color, you can always apply truck bed lining paint, and then paint over top of that with any color. The truck be lining paint is more like a plastic paint, so if you go that route, get some Krylon fusion to bond with it. The hammered look would be wicked with this case.

rsgunter · May 11, 2007

It's kinda like the lining paint you were talking about it.

http://www.tomyang.net/cars/wrinkle1.jpg

This stuff is used mostly for cars and is available at any auto parts store. I picked up a couple of cans and will begin the work tonight.

I think it will look fucking awesome.

rsgunter · May 12, 2007

Jomanscool2 said:
The hole at the bottom is used for a "fill-port line" AFAIK. the side with the three holes is where both tubes for your loop should be connected.

I've been looking around for set ups using this res and I'm not finding much. My concern with mounting my inlet and outlet on the bottom was that the fluid won't circulate and I'll be running hotter fluid through the loop. Is that not the case? Would it circulate enough?

You guys are definitely gonna like the paintjob! I just haven't gotten the pics uploaded yet. Watch for them!

Jomanscool2 · May 12, 2007

A) The resovoir isn't a radiator; it stores the fluid, not cool it
B) You don't want air in your loop
C) The temperature change of the fluid in the loop from start to load shouldn't be that noticable. EVER. The exception is if you have oversaturated your radiator, in which it will continue rising until the delta between the coolant temp and the ambient is high enough that it can remove the amount of heat being put into it constantly.

Oh, and btw, on the DangerDen forums there is a user with a setup using that resovoir. His name is "Plazmic", and this is his picture. I linked it so I am not stealing his bandwidth with everyone who visits this thread. (Note: I am not positive if this is against the rules, and I will remove the link if asked).

[Picture]

As you can see, he has both conenctions going into one end.

rsgunter · May 12, 2007

Jomanscool2 said:
A) The resovoir isn't a radiator; it stores the fluid, not cool it

LOL, yeah, you're right. I thought about that little remark I made after that and realized for some reason in my mind I got something mixed up.

I remember I bought the res for looks anyway. I didn't get to come back to a computer and fix it after I posted, so yeah I was waiting on someone to correct me on that point...lol...stupid me.

Thanks for the help man!

rsgunter · May 13, 2007

Well Well I'm getting closer to being done.

I cut off part of the mounting plate on my pump, I want to get the pump as far back as possible, and cutting off the unnecessary extra metal is helpful. I don't have a before pic, i forgot. :\

#63

I made new res brackets before I decided to paint. I like the positioning of this set up better than the previous and it gives me room for VC upgrades. The original res mounting position was way to close for comfort if a new card was to be added.

I had to cut out part of the case so I could get a rivet in there.

#64

Here's what they look like
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CURVEBALL!

My dog, Isis.

#67
Some precious cargo had to be covered. We didn't do an awesome job but the paint we are using is pretty heavy and we also had the air blowing another direction.
Before:

After:

#68
Here's the wet coat

Okay, here's the finish result of the paint, I was surprised how much I liked it.

It's quite strange though. The paint was a Wrinkle finish used on auto parts mostly.
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Soon the parts will be installed!

Jomanscool2 · May 13, 2007

Don't think I'm quite as fond of that paint job as you are, but maybe the flash makes it look weird.

However, that picture of the 'wet-coat', it's super shiny like that because it's wet right?

rsgunter · May 13, 2007

Jomanscool2 said:
Don't think I'm quite as fond of that paint job as you are, but maybe the flash makes it look weird.

However, that picture of the 'wet-coat', it's super shiny like that because it's wet right?

Yeah, I tried for friggin' ever to get the paint to be better represented through the pic but dang it I just couldn't get it to work. It actually looks a lot different in person, the lighting(flash) makes it seems harsher than it is. Harsher I mean in person it doesn't look so textured. It does have a texture but it's all the same color and the pic makes every little ripple come out which it doesn't look that under ambient lighting.

Yes, the shiny black is a wet coat.

Exanimis · May 13, 2007

Take a pic outside in natural but not direct sunlight with no flash. That should give us a better idea of the finish. I know what it looks like in person my riviting tool actually has some on it.

rsgunter · May 13, 2007

Exanimis said:
Take a pic outside in natural but not direct sunlight with no flash. That should give us a better idea of the finish. I know what it looks like in person my riviting tool actually has some on it.

I thought about that, but direct sunlight also kills it.

It's an inside pet. I'm probably just going to do a long exposure shot, that will probably work the best.

officermartinez · May 13, 2007

Hey bro.. Its coming along nicely.. Ive got the mod bug sooo bad now, I am getting impatient waiting on the rest of my stuff to get done.. Grrrrrrrr. I will probably call you sometime today (have to get away from Mom long enough to call you, being that its mothers day). LOL.

rsgunter · May 13, 2007

officermartinez said:
Hey bro.. Its coming along nicely.. Ive got the mod bug sooo bad now, I am getting impatient waiting on the rest of my stuff to get done.. Grrrrrrrr. I will probably call you sometime today (have to get away from Mom long enough to call you, being that its mothers day). LOL.

Yeah dude, totally sorry about calling you AGAIN by accident.

I think I'm going to change your name to "MUrtinez" in my phone so I won't do that anymore...lol.

Well get your mod on then son!

Thanks for the comment.

rsgunter · May 19, 2007

The last few hopefully.

Side panel paint
#73

Pump mounted.
#74

Really tight fit
#75

I installed my top exhaust, the gromet looks a lot better now than it does in this pic, it's settling nicely now. I went ahead and took the pic because I'd forget other wise. I'm still deciding what to do about a fan grill.
#76

Radiator time!
#77

#78

#79

#80

rsgunter · May 19, 2007

Pretty block...
#81

Here's some watercooling stuff. Test psu was used and all the pics with fluid is with the system running.
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#83

Indignity · May 19, 2007

Good Job so far dude!!!

I don't care for the black coloring, but that's just my opinion.. Prolly would have saved you some $$$ by just getting some black tubing from the start with some plain ol Distilled Water in the loop.

/subscribed

rsgunter · May 19, 2007

Indignity said:
Good Job so far dude!!!

I don't care for the black coloring, but that's just my opinion.. Prolly would have saved you some $$$ by just getting some black tubing from the start with some plain ol Distilled Water in the loop.

/subscribed

The same thought went through my mind! However I wanted to see how Fluid XP worked and I also primoflex tubing doesn't come in black, at least I haven't seen it. I wanted to use the most flexible tubing as there are some hard bends as you can see.

Thanks for subscribing! At least someone has...lol.

Arcygenical · May 19, 2007

I love the wrinkle finish. I'll agree it looks horrible in pictures...

I use it all the time on speaker boxes and stuff. Looks amazing IRL.

Good job!

Project: First Timer--WC'd Stacker

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