Case Mod - In Progress Project: ELITE (Watercooled Rocketfish) 4/16 Better pics (finally)

Hey guys, thanks for the compliments
The crappy thing is that i have no internet at home so must go to a library to post updates. however i can still see all the posts and respond in text via my smartphone(like now) so im frequently paying attention.

Bigsha rn: HAha i know my feet keep on getting in the pics. Im getting better at it now, just the plexi distracted me so much i forgot.
Brinkzor: I love your cubeleon mod, glad i could give you any ideas. if only i could constantly blow on my straw and cut straight
Ryan: Yeah the case is huge! 6 5.25 and 6 HDD stock! gives me lots of room to play with
the boy 4rm oz: heh the WC stuff is actually all second hand. Don't have unlimited dough like some of the members here seem to have gotta thank swiftech for making the gtx possible, but ill cover that later when i can post pics.
jhanlon: gee thanks! Lol i actually had two rocketfish too until a friend took the other one off my hands happily for 85

Meanwhile, im getting a LOT of work done on the case. but... anybody know how to work with heatsrink? for me it never seems to shrink enough until it starts melting... what are some tips on that?


cheezeit

 

Well, you know heatshrinkcomes in a lot of sizes. If your heatshrink doenst shrink enough, then you started out with a size too big. Heatshrink only shrinks upto a certain size, then it starts melting.

 

You can even get heatshrink with glue on the inside to keep it in place properly. I use a hair dryer to shrink it but a heatgun works well. Hell my uncle just uses a soldering iron lol.

 

Thanks for the input, you two.
The sleeving is actually from a kit so i guess they didnt plan it out very well. I found out it helps if you put the lighter a little further from the shrink so that it doesnt melt so fast. Its not as tight of a fit as expected, but what the hell it still looks okay. I think I may try a soldering iron next time....

Meanwhile i did a whole lotta work this weekend. Hope i can post an update tommorow! anything in particular u guys want to see?

 

8/25 Update

Hey Guys,
Here's the big update I promised:
First off, gotta thank Gabe at swiftech for making my GTX possible. I had bought it off of FS/FT but the top was terribly corroded. I told him what it was like and that I was making a case mod. A few days later, I had a brand new GTX top waiting on my doorstep
I highly recommend swiftech for their great products and support, check them out @ www.swiftech.com



Now on with the update:
I needed some aluminum so I just cut out the window:

After cutting holes for wiring and tubes, i needed to bend it. I don't have a metal brake for kickass bends like Craig does for his Rogue, but I got a cheap solution:

I just clamped it in between some wood and used the large piece to bend with my hands.
Not too bad:

Cheezeit's Rocketfish wiring plate:

The NB on my mobo gets hot enough to burn my hand, so I took a 40mm fan, sleeved it and added a 3 pin.


I noticed that the 4 pin power cable is really ugly, so I cut a hole up top to go through.

Front panel sound goes thru the same hole:



After that, It was getting all the tubing on my blocks. The first part was easy:

But man oh man this part took me like an hour to get. Connecting the T line to the pump in this tiny space almost made me give up lol. I ended up boiling the whole length of that tube to get it on.

Patience got it on eventually:

The loop:




Then came time to fill the loop. This was really hard with the t- line that close to the pump, I spent some time in ridiculous positions with the case that probably arn't appropriate to post here to fill the thing.
Lets get that pump started!

Left it on its side to bleed/ leak test overnight.

In the morning, the moment of truth:

Sweet, all the wiring and soldering I did actually worked. Lights and fans on!



That cathode on the divider is going to go, because if I extend the wire, the tube becomes really dim. I guess you can't extend the wire between the cathode and inverter?
Some more pics:

With the window I made earlier:



Progress shot:


Something is waiting for the bottom part, but I'll save that for the next update

What do you guys think?

 

Project piece yours, this I liking it very much, I it add to favorites.


If you have some doubt with the Spanish, say it to me and I might help you.

 

Very well done! The interior is really nice and the windows are where they need to be. My stock one looks like a turd now.
John

 

Man that GTX top really was corroded. Mine will probably go like that eventually, I should see if I can find a copper top instead of the alu one. Loop looks beautiful, I love how you have that piece of tube passing through the cover plate.

 

Hardpetas: Gracias! Si yo tengo preguntas en espanol, voy a preguntar tu.

Jhanlon,: Thanks man I was trying to decide where the windows should be and settled on a uniform 2- inch boarder around the sides. I'll get the acrylic put in soon. Mod your rocketfish too!

Boy 4rm oz: Yeah, I guess the previous owner of mine didn't use any additives. I have plenty of Pentosin added in my loop so I think it should hold out okay for a while. Just don't have the money for a copper top right now
I was actually contemplating whether or not to include that loop through the plate for a while, and now I think it was a good choice. Glad you like it!

Until next update, what do you guys think I should do with the 5.25 and 3 in drive bays? They kinda stick out, so I want to do something to them. I have a few ideas, but I value what you guys think. Any good ideas?

 

put a removable cover over the drive bays with a logo or project name on it. nice work btw

 

what size tubing are you using?

 

Slatter: Im using 7/16 id 5/8 od masterkleer.

Tominated: Thanks for the input! What you said actually has to do with what i did to the bottom window, and i didn't want it to get repetitive. I may think up a different logo or design to put there.

Anybody have some ideas for a logo or design if i put a panel over there?

 

Why not paint all of the interior steel flat black. It would blend nicely with the black brushe dof the exterior, and not stand out so much. Also, it's a bit less to fabricate. Which is good if you are running low on supplies or budget.

Either way, nice looking work.

 

Fumduck: I think its a little too late to paint the structure all black, because I would have to tear up the WC and the rivets to access the panels I need to paint. Maybe next time! Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll probably put some black panel there.

 

8/27 Update

Hey guys,

I love posting updates cuz they mean progress is being made! So I worked on the bottom panel this time. I'll let the pics show you the results.

Bottom Window​

Started with this leftover acrylic from the divider:


Drew my plans on it:


Commence cutting:



Getting close:

It took SO LONG to file it to the results I wanted. Needle files cause some major pain to your fingers after using them for hours


What it looks like on the case:


Progress shot:


I'm waiting for some acrylic to put behind it still.

What do you guys think?

 

Now that does look good. Acrylic behind it will make it look a lot better.

 

wow its looking awsome man i love the acrylic divider at the bottom.

 

This is just wicked. What you have done with an inexpensive case is great. 5 stars from me! I keep looking at my stock R-fish and then look at this.
John

 

Whoa, looks like you guys managed to dig up the update even though I forgot to update the title

Boy 4rm oz: Thanks man, I have some Blue acrylic in the mail to match with the color scheme.

Flare: Thanks, hope it looks even better when my acrylic comes in!

jhanlon303: Wow thanks for the stars, I'm honored And I'm so thankful for bestbuy's inability to market such a great case. In the end they let a $200 lian li slide for 47 bucks!

 

Hey guys,

I'd like to welcome aboard Petra's Tech Shop as a sponsor of this project! They are a great store with enthusiast watercooling and modding supplies that I have been shopping from for years. They sell American brands like Swiftech, DD, and D-tek internationally with unmatched customer support. Be sure to check them out!



All in all, I'm very excited to announce Petra's partnership in this project.