Case Mod Metallurgy

[Mankz]

"Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use."

Welcome all to Metallurgy - My plans for this project are fairly simple: A watercooled case I can use as my main computer day in and day out and an end product I'm truly proud of. Simples.

Instead of saying what I'm going to do (you'll have to wait and see..) , its easier to say that i'm not going to do. There will be no individually sleeved cables, no fancy compression fittings, and no black. No black anywhere.

Enough with the chin wagging! You're all here to see a project after all..



A box arrived from eBay the other day. I wonder what could be inside?



Obviously just packing peanuts..



Hidden deep inside, a lovely Lian Li V1000. Probably my favourite series of case ever after the Coolermaster Wavemaster. This one was someones PC for a number of years, and I picked it up for the princely sum of £18.



In pretty good condition bar all the little sticky pad things which are an utter pain to get off. Never mind, time to strip out all the parts we wont be using. Time to break out the screwdrivers..



Overt your eyes children... a naked LiLi.

Time to cut things to pieces I think - the radiators need to be mounted somewhere don't they?





The template i'm using on top is Bill's from MNPCtech, and an Aquatuning one for the bottom cut.





Bought myself a new jigsaw for this, I had no intention of getting one with a laser guide, but it actually turned out to be a really hand bit of kit.





Filing the perforated aluminium is a bit of a pain.



A quick test fit.. All seems good. This will in due course be covered over with a radiator grill when it has been delivered.

I'm going to be using my old chromed Hardware Labs Black Ice GT Stealth II which were given to me back when I was doing Watery... all those years ago.



So that's how things are now. I'll set about the top cuts tomorrow, but now, its time to watch Chelsea win the Champions League and have some dinner.

Until next time...

[KidMod-Southpaw]

Ooheh! Very nice start, now I need more!

And no fancy photos, I like that.

[Big_malc]

nice cuts with jig saw

[Mizugetsu]

So far looking interesting I love when people have to cut to allow the watercooling good job

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Sweeeeet. Wonderful start, and I see a familiar template in those pics!

Happy modding, m8!

[Mankz]

Originally Posted by KidMod-Southpaw

Ooheh! Very nice start, now I need more!

And no fancy photos, I like that.

Don't even get me started...

Originally Posted by Big_malc

nice cuts with jig saw

Many thanks

Originally Posted by Mizugetsu

So far looking interesting I love when people have to cut to allow the watercooling good job

Hence why I decided to use an old case as opposed to one with mounts.

Originally Posted by E.E.L. Ambiense

Sweeeeet. Wonderful start, and I see a familiar template in those pics!

Happy modding, m8!

Aye, Bills... it does exactly what it says on the tin, and unlike some templates, is actually the correct dimensions..

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A quick photo to show a simple plan.. If in doubt mock-up in cardboard. The fans will also be swapped and modded in due course too.

Even though there are two radiators, loop will be single not dual... well, unless someone feels like giving me a free pump.

More soon.

[Mattmc91]

Looking forwards to seeing the progress on this :P

[Burnout21]

I have a sudden urge to watercool my V1000 again. Nice find at £18!

[mars-bar-man]

Subbed!!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Meaty Pete]

Tech colour swings from black to silver to black and round again. The TVs are all going silver again so this PC would look good next to one as a big ass monitor

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

Originally Posted by Mankz

Aye, Bills... it does exactly what it says on the tin, and unlike some templates, is actually the correct dimensions..

That's because all my measurements are always spot-on, especially when I make templates!

Nothing wrong with one loop and multiple rads. Especially if they're good rads with really low flow-loss. The old GT-Stealths were a much-maligned rad because of the extremely-high (and dense) fin-count, but aside from the tendency of getting clogged up with dust they perform reasonably well for the size. Such an odd rad too. Low-speed or high-speed fans work great on them!

[stonedsurd]

New log from Mankz?



needs moar bewbeez, though.

[Cheapskate]

Awww, no scratch build porn. It should still be good, though. You have a lot of plastic laying around to play with.
@Stonedsurd - Mankz' bewbeez go in the harddrive. For bewbeez on a case, you need a DarthBeavis build.

[stonedsurd]

DB is, as you quite rightly say, the finest purveyor of all things mammary-related on mods.

So I propose a new rule to fit our resident bus-killer. Girly pic with every update on a Mankz log.

[Balder]

Is it sad that the first thing I cought up on in this was chin wagging?

Anyway, I'm chuffed to bits about seeing such a nice case being modded again, I was dreaming of that case when I was a wee small lad!
And refreshed about the lack of flashy pictures where more time is spent in photoshop adding fonts and texts all over the place!

[Mankz]

Originally Posted by stonedsurd

Girly pic with every update on a Mankz log.

Your wish is my command...

--------------

I got some parts earlier..



A pair of fill ports. One will go up top, and the other as a drain valve somewhere, as due to the loop I'm planning, it will be a nightmare to drain without one.



These are Phobya Hex grilles. They're pretty nice and something a bit different.. However, they're almost too big for the fans. If you cut the whole so that all of the grille is open, you get a gap of about 2mm at the top and bottom before the fans start. This isn't a problem, just not ideal is all.



And one on the bottom as well. I'll have to re-cut the hole in the base, as even though no-one will see it, I'll know its there and it's not perfect.



A 120mm for the back too, just to keep the theme going. I'll need to trim the sides by about 2mm so that they don't over hand the side panel and the I/O ports hole.

All should be doable with the trusty jigsaw tomorrow in 20 mins or so.



In the mean time, the cardboard mock-ups continue. Never underestimate the power of the cardboard mock up.

More tomorrow..

[stonedsurd]

Originally Posted by Mankz

Your wish is my command...

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/fo...rustration.gif

Originally Posted by Mankz

I'll have to re-cut the hole in the base, as even though no-one will see it, I'll know its there and it's not perfect.

An admirable sentiment. Good on ya.

[xSoMBrAx]

+1 On the cardboard templates, they are really powerful

Great work on that case, and even better price

[Mankz]

Bottom fully cut.



Back cut. You can see where the grille needs to be trimmed.



And then the top panel. There will be more cutting done to this in due course, but you'll have to wait and see for that.



And how the internals are looking. Installing the rest of the watercooling parts next, and then working on the panels..

More soon.

[stonedsurd]

*ahem*

Missing something, are we?

Are you going to trim the rear grill on all four sides or just the side(s) that need it?