Project: DIRTY BOMB (cheap and nasty)

Ive scrapped the air cooling idea and decided to go for water cooling. The plan is to have two independent loops IE: 2 pumps, 2 blocks, 2 radiators and 2 reservoirs. The reservoirs will be custom made to match the case and the theme. I was hoping not to cut too much of the chassis but I have to lower the mobo tray due to the handle mounting on top of the case so some cutting is neccesary.

chassis before cutting

after cutting

I used a jigsaw with a metal blade and cleaned up the edges with a couple of files.

I also took the opportunity to clean the alloy with some 600 grit emery paper

Mobo tray before cutting

And after

These brackets made from stainless sheet will be used to secure the mobo and 'fill in' the undesired gaps around the I/O panel

Riveting the brackets in place

Riveting complete

Another stainless bracket is needed to attach the bottom edge of mobo

just need to drill and rivet the bracket to the tray

Checking mobo alignment before riveting to rear brackets

Brackets drilled

And riveted

Lower bracket with cutout to enable access to mobo standoffs

More riveting

Its not pretty but its unseen and very strong

Looking good. You need to rough up that SS a bit though, it's making the other steel look bad. ;) Seriously though, I really like how this is turning out.

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Originally Posted by x88x

Looking good. You need to rough up that SS a bit though, it's making the other steel look bad. ;) Seriously though, I really like how this is turning out.

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Thanks. Yeah I'll rough it all up and give it a coat of paint. I didn't realize the SS was mirror polished on the other side until I peeled off the protective plastic :facepalm:

Heres the mobo tray assembly removed. I want to remove the bottom expansion slot to tidy up the fit with the case.

I swapped the original upright 'posts' so as to enable access to the expansion slot retaining screws.

This is the original rear inspection panel hole that just needs enlarged so that all the I/O sockets and slots can be accessed.

The trusty jigsaw.

And after some file work.

Im quite happy with the opening, all it needs is a small plate to fill the gap (circled).

Ive got some nice plexiglass so Ill cut the side window hole next.

While Im updating, heres a rough plan for the cooling loops.

As this is my first attempt at watercooling, any advice would be appreciated :)

Looks good. For the watercooling, two loops isn't really necessary, but that's a good layout for two loops.

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Originally Posted by x88x

Looks good. For the watercooling, two loops isn't really necessary, but that's a good layout for two loops.

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They are if you want two different colors of liquid ;)

Trefoil

I thought the case should have some sort of warning symbol incorporated so heres the idea for the side window

marking out

Notice the hi tech drawing tools

After some jigsaw work

The hole will be filled with a piece of clear plexi and the remaining parts of the symbol not attached to the case will 'float' in the correct positions.

Not sure what the final colors will be but they'll have to contrast to get the right effect

Nice, I like it. And re the drawing tools, hey, if it works, it doesn't matter what it is. :D

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Originally Posted by x88x

Nice, I like it. And re the drawing tools, hey, if it works, it doesn't matter what it is. :D

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Thanks. :) I was trying my stepsons school compasses for a while and couldn't get an even curve then the simple method became obvious.

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Originally Posted by jiggiwiddit

Cool idea Bopher but might be more feasable to use the voltage fluctuations in the hard drive LED feed to get a display from a PC based oscilloscope.

I'm on it... fanx for the input

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I've done a lot of research on PC oscilloscopes and cant find one that has an effective display, so I've decided to put a round reservoir in the space for the screen instead

Here comes some cheap and nasty...

And here's the mobo tray assembly in all it's painted goodness.

I've riveted the HDD bracket in place, I'm gona have 2x 250gb satas in Raid1 so this will do just fine.

Next is figuring out psu location and more work on exterior of case

Looks nice for "cheap and dirty" keep it up!

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Originally Posted by diluzio91

Looks nice for "cheap and dirty" keep it up!

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Thanks. Ive just spent 6 hours stripping the paint and polishing the outer case and it's not finished yet.

The case will be polished aluminum and the trefoil symbol will be dark steel paint same as mobo tray.

I've already got the circular piece cut and here I'm cutting the remaining triangular piece that will 'float' in the side window.

Et voila

Remember this?

I'm very happy that the concept has worked in practice (I think)

I'm a bit reluctant to finish painting the trefoil symbol and remove the protective cover on the plexi as I've got more cutting to do. Im going to cut another hole the will be filled with mesh on the other side of the case to create an air intake for the radiators

Not sure if the grey steel color is enough of a contrast, might change it to something nearer black... we'll see :think:

while that does look amazing from the name I was expecting something that looked like it sat at the bottom of the potomac river for the last 5 years but keep up the great work man this thing look awesome

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Originally Posted by raistnox

while that does look amazing from the name I was expecting something that looked like it sat at the bottom of the potomac river for the last 5 years but keep up the great work man this thing look awesome

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Thank you :)

Yeah its not dirty looking, its the tactics that are dirty...
I did think about doing the fake rust and leaking gunge but thats been done (very well) before

Dirty Bomb - Definition from Wiktionary:
1. A device containing conventional explosives and radioactive material, designed to spread radiation over a wide area.
2. A nuclear bomb that spreads radiation over a wide area due to inefficiency or design.

I'm gona try to achieve most of the danger 'effect' 8) by clever use of lighting as discussed previously in the worklog

Hard drives

Power supply will be in the lower compartment so Sata and power cables will come up at the rear of the case.

This will help effectively hide them and help keep the visible upper compartment tidy :up:

New mobo

CPU left over from upgrading the family comp. I've done a lot of reading online and this might be one of the AMD quadcores that have two cores disabled. Motherboard choice weighed heavily on this so I picked one that has a high success rate at unlocking extra cores. But if I'm not lucky enough to have an unlockable processor, at least I'll have a decent budget board :)

'Ahem' more cheap and nasty...

Copper effect

Just held this in place by hand to give you the idea... I want to fill all the holes in the case that don't have plexi with copper colored metal mesh

The finish looks fantastic but is quite soft even after drying overnight. I may try a clear coat on it to make it more durable.

Other side of case marked up ready for cutting. These holes will be filled with the copper mesh. The hole on the left is the intake for the radiators. The hole on the right will ventilate the hard drives.

Looking good. :up:

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Originally Posted by msmrx57

Looking good. :up:

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Thank you :)

Tried a test fit to see if everything goes together as planned

I don't have all the watercooling bits yet so I'll have to continue the build and do the testing on air cooling.

So far, so good :D

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

After a bit of fiddling in the bios, got the raid array to work :)

Yeah it's not pretty just now but it works :up:

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IT'S ALIVE!!!!

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everybody grab your pitchforks and torches we got a monster to take care of lol

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Originally Posted by raistnox

everybody grab your pitchforks and torches we got a monster to take care of lol

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AH HAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAA...... Takes more that measly pitchforks to deal with teh bomb :pissedoff:

good project, nice case. It's looks heavy.

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Originally Posted by Kumo

good project, nice case. It's looks heavy.

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Thanks :). The case on it's own isn't heavy, it's all aluminum construction. but as I test build it Im guessing it'll be pretty heavy when complete with water cooling and all.

Update:

Was discussing the case a couple of days ago with my mate (you know who you are Mr Black). And he said 'why not make the window bigger to get a better view of the insides?' And I said 'because I don't want to cut away any more of the chassis.........'

So here's the new cut lines marked out on chassis :whistler:

And here's the new cut marks for the window

Saw saw saw.....

Oh bugger, A3 plexi isn't big enough to fill the opening and leave enough to bolt around the edges :facepalm:

Just as well I've got a backup ;)

This is 10mm plexi and will add to the weight of the case but hey-ho.

Very nice; I like the bigger window.

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Originally Posted by x88x

Very nice; I like the bigger window.

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Thank you :). Yep the bigger window will allow a better view of insides and should also make the trefoil symbol a bit clearer and more defined.

A few posts back I said I'd try using a clear coat to harden the finish on the copper effect grills. The result was pretty crap as it turned dark like years old copper pipe under someones sink.

The grill in the foreground has no clear coat but has been baked in the oven at 200c for 2mins. The finish is now much tougher and has kept it's shine :up:

The psu I've been testing with isn't the one I'm intending to use in the project. The reason for this is that the family comp has a workstation board with an 8pin atx socket so its got the psu that I need. So Im currently making a new wiring loom out of 2 modified 4pin atx plugs so that I can swap them around. Financing this project is difficult, so I have to adapt/recycle/scavenge most of the parts and materials where possible. This is one of the reasons why the project is subtitled 'cheap and nasty' :rolleyes:

Small update:

I've finished the wiring job on the family pc to enable psu liberation :) my soldering sucks so I'm not showing it to you;). All is well with it. I've also swapped the graphics cards. My nvidia 9800gtx takes up two slots so this is now in the family pc and the zotac 8800gt AMP! edition (one slot) will go in the dirty bomb. The full cover waterblock that I bought doesn't fit the 9800 so it's going on ebay. I'll now have to find a suitable block for the 8800.

Finally made a decision on how and where to mount the psu. Its an Antec earthwatts 650w

Ah well, there goes the warranty :whistler:

Cut lines marked out on the mounting plate

I dont have any sort of bending tools so I try to utilize old bits of case etc the have factory bends already done.

This will add stiffness to the assembly :up:

You have a great project going on here!!! I wonder why I didn't check it before.. XD
Great structural work!! Just keep it clean and tidy and i'll be a great mod!!

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Originally Posted by Loki

You have a great project going on here!!! I wonder why I didn't check it before.. XD
Great structural work!! Just keep it clean and tidy and i'll be a great mod!!

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Thanks Loki :). The project stalled for about two years due to personal circumstances but its back on track now. Just need to keep the momentum going while trying to raise extra cash for the watercooling.

Anyone want a carpet fitted? good rates. Lawn cut? Fence painted? ha.

Was a nice day today so was busy outside....

AC port donor

Cutting the psu mounting plate

psu plate and ac port riveted in position

trial fit of psu

All these wires hanging out the back are surplus and will be tidied in the void behind the psu

mobo cable route 8)

Using old plexi window as template to drill bolt holes on new window

New enlarged window complete :up:

I've also cut the radiator air intake holes on the other side of case, just need to sort out some copper effect mesh and some nice bolts to complete :).

I love the layout of this mod. very interesting! take a +rep from me. :D

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Originally Posted by billygoat333

I love the layout of this mod. very interesting! take a +rep from me. :D

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Thanks billy and cheers for the rep :). Its a challenge to make things work on this mod because its unorthodox. There's no standards and no-one to copy ideas from. I kinda make it up as I go along. I'm moving onto the front panel soon so I better get some creative juice :think:

Gave the chassis a rub with 120 grit and a couple of coats

Added a small plate near the rear to keep cables out of sight

looking nice with the fresh paint :up:

PSU fixed in position

Rear 'tidy hole' :)

Underside showing PSU vent

Mobo assembly attached

Quite happy with cable management

Ive reversed the PSU fan so that it takes air from the case and blows out the bottom

You're making some great progress on this, I like it! You known you gotta get some sleeving on those cables though. ;)

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Originally Posted by x88x

You're making some great progress on this, I like it! You known you gotta get some sleeving on those cables though. ;)

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Thanks, glad you like it :). Yep, I'll have to invest in a tool to remove the pins from the connector blocks.

Molex or ATX? I may have a spare or two if it'll help...