Case Mod - In Progress Cosmos Cruizer - Final Pics!

Hey guys, I'm back again with some progress on the back panel. Originally I wasn't going to do much to it, but it quickly became clear it would be easier to just create a whole new panel, rather than trying to modify the stock one.

Here's a pic I took a while ago, cutting the stock rear panel away. I think I did this just prior to working on the suicide door and hinges.


Using 1/8" acrylic sheet, I made the center piece along with two vertical pieces, a top mounting piece, and a curved piece on the bottom. Here I'm gluing the two vertical pieces at an angle to match up with the side panels.


I made a couple fan mounts out of 1/4" acrylic that also serve as cross braces to give the panel some rigidity.


Trying the panel on the case, checking for fit and marking positions for fans, fillport, and the new IO panel.


Back panel trimmed, glued, reinforced, and fans mounted.


For the fillport, I was going to do something like those flip-up fuel doors on Dodge Daytonas, but I thought a hide-away system would be more appropriate for a custom rod theme. So I drew up a quick model in Sketchup...


The lid will continue the design of the top panel, with the aluminum bars ending in a half circle. Custom hinges will allow the lid to raise up over the bars on the top panel, revealing the fillport underneath.


I grabbed some pieces of acrylic from my scrap bin and started making the pieces for the base.


When assembled, they will stack up like this:


And top view:


Using acrylic cement, I started gluing the pieces up.


While that was setting up, I proceeded to make the lid, cutting the mesh, trim ring, and bending the aluminum bars.


I'm thinking I will use my alumiweld brazing rods to solder the bars to the mesh, rather than tapping/screwing them from underneath. Either way, they will look like this when done:




Preparing the back panel for the fillport...


Fillport set in place for a test fit..


..and with lid.


Now I have to tackle the hinges next. Looks like I'll have to modify the design a bit to accommodate the mesh, but that shouldn't take too long.

Thanks for reading, 'til next time!

 

The awesome is strong with this one.

 

Got more progress done on the fillport area of the back panel..

I made the hinge for the fillport cover, first designing it in Sketchup, then printing it out 1:1, taping it onto the aluminum piece, scoring the cut lines, and cutting it out.


Then I proceeded to bend the ends and the center 90º.


The result:


I then tack-welded it to the mesh cover.


The outer trim piece got some flush-mount alan screws.

Holes drilled and chamfered..


Subsequent holes drilled and tapped into the acrylic..


Screws in...



Then I decided to do the same circular bar treatment to the PSU fan grill. So after drawing it out and taking measurements between bars, I found/made up some circles with the specified diameters.


Bending the alu bar around the wood blocks..


All bars bent..


Next will be bending the bottoms of the bars to follow the curve of the back panel, so they travel down and under the case.

 

100 % awesome. GJ, mate!

 

More stainless hard line goodness...

This time I decided to try filling the pipe with sand before bending, to see if that would help keep the tube more rounded in the curves. It wasn't bad before, but it was noticeable.


Taped the ends off and laid it onto the heater for a couple minutes to warm it up.


Bending..


45º bend came out nice, just like my test wire.


My test wire is actually just solder lol. But it's perfect for finding the correct bends and transferring them to the pipe, because it's very soft and malleable, and holds its shape.


Here's all the pipe runs bent..


And here are some shots with the pipes in place..










Looking forward to seeing all these pipes in their finished, chrome state!

Ok, back to the seemingly never-ending work on the back panel...

 

Thats what I call work,man this is awesome,cant find words....

 

It's"Epic" the word your looking for! Because it's just an epic build man

 

Very nice, Brian.

Do you think it paid off putting sand into the pipes prior to bending them?

 

The metal tubing looks great.

 

Thanks guys!

It wasn't much, but it did make a difference in that the sand prevented the tube from flattening out as much on the tighter 90º bends.

Here's a comparison of a 90º bend with, and without sand & pre-heating:

Straight cold bending of an empty tube actually flattens out more on the outer curve, losing .042"


Bending a pre-heated, sand-filled tube yields only a .017" loss:


It's negligible, at .025", but it is a measurable difference. Some fluid dynamics guru could probably calculate the benefits in water flow, but I'm guessing you wouldn't see much in the way of temperature gains lol.

 

Interesting. What are the hexagonal fittings that you are using?

 

Those would be the 1/2" pipe fittings by Koolance.

 

Thank! Pity they don't come in brass...

 

They are brass, Nexxo. Reverse plate them.

 

All this hard line bending is straightening mine out.

-Sorry, I had to say it.
Love the concentric ring patterns and the hinge.

 

Slow progress is slow...

After looking at my pipe-bending handiwork, something didn't quite look right to me. Took me a while to pin-point it, but I think I found the culprit. It was the longest piece of stainless in the back. So I decided to re-do it, to give the QDC's a bit more breathing room so-to-speak. I didn't really like the vertical pipe's close proximity to the fittings, so I added a few slight bends to give them a bit wider berth. This just looks better to me now.


Ok now that I can sleep nights once again, I have more back panel progress to show...

A new IO plate has been forged! It all started in Sketchup, laying out all the ports plus power plug and PSU on/off switch. Printed it out 1:1, and taped it to a piece of aluminum scrap.


Took the exacto knife to it and traced all the ports.


With the aluminum plate scored, I could start drilling holes and scrolling the ports. First DVI port cut out.


All ports scrolled and filed. Still have to round the edges & sand.


With all the ports cut out, I could transfer those areas to the back panel to be cut out as well.


IO plate in position, with ends bent to match the back panel.


Behind the scenes shot of fitting the extensions, adapters, & PSU parts.


I have to work up some sort of retaining piece to hold all the cables in place, so that they stay perfectly aligned with the IO plate cutouts. Then I'll permanently affix them to the back panel. Maybe a solid block of epoxy putty?

 

Stainless lines?! Yes ..... Predicting Brian's project as "be all, end all" CMII builds when it's completed

 

Great work.

 

Thanks Bill. But I think if I don't finish it soon, it will be the be all end all of me! Work has got me doing 12hr days lately, so I'm too spent to do anything in the garage afterwards. And now my son is starting soccer, so there goes my saturdays! -sigh-

Thank you Andy.

 

The works astonishing!

Love those pipelines!