I've been following your project for a while now. I was actually inspired by your decision to do vents. I am going for more of a sleek yet beefy muscle car feel, and that is where the scoops play an important part in addition to the chrome-like mesh.
I used a cut-off wheel on my dremel to get the majority of the grill off. Then I just took my time and ground of mm after mm of aluminum until it was pretty smooth. After that I popped a grinding wheel onto the dremel to get rid of any shards. Then I just used some 400 grit sandpaper I had lying around to get rid of any sharp edges. Nothing special, no fantastic technique except patience.
I thought this was quite interesting. I ordered a metal bending brake a few days ago and this is it's trip so far: =============== Picked up by FedEx FORT MYERS, FL Scanned at FedEx origin location FORT MYERS, FL Loaded onto trailer at FedEx facility FORT MYERS, FL Departed FedEx sort facility FORT MYERS, FL Arrived at FedEx sort facility ORLANDO, FL Scanned at FedEx sort facility ORLANDO, FL In transit FORT MYERS, FL Departed FedEx sort facility ORLANDO, FL Scanned at FedEx origin location FORT MYERS, FL Loaded onto trailer at FedEx facility FORT MYERS, FL Departed FedEx sort facility FORT MYERS, FL =============== Somebody dropped the ball on that one.
Just a quick update. Kurtis and I have been screwing around with different types of paint, rubbing compounds, polish, etc. This is a pic of black Dupli-Color paint that has been sanded down with 2000 grit sand paper, 3 coats of Turtle Wax rubbing compound and 2 coats of Turtle Wax polish. The rubbing compound is meant to clean up the scratches left behind by 1500 grit sand paper and rub to an equivalent of 5000 grit. The rubbing compound gets all the scratches out pretty damn well, but leaves its own very light circular scratches that are only visible when reflecting a bright light. Anyone know if there is any Super Magic Rubbing Compound that is able to leave behind absolutely no trace? I have tried two different compounds and they both have the same problem. Maybe I am looking for something that can not be :-/
Well, Kurtis and I tried following several painting guides, and have now used 3 or 4 types of rubbing compounds, some polishing and waxing compounds, etc. The end result is pretty much the same no matter what. There will always be those hard to see microscopic swirl "scratches." On another note, I got my huge sheet of steel mesh today! I ordered it from MCMASTER's website. I have a sheet of Modder's Mesh from MNPCTech which has 60% free surface area for airflow but it is a bit too thin for my liking. The new mesh has 40% free surface area, which is still plenty and more than enough for my application of it. Here is a comparison of the two mesh types. The mesh on the left is from MNPCTech, the mesh on the right is from MCMASTER. I cut off a small rectangle so I could sand and polish and see how it comes out. After cleaning off the grease, I sanded with 400 grit then 2000 grit sand paper until I had a very flat reflective surface. I then used Mother's Billet metal polish applied with a dremel/polishing wheel. The result is damn nice in my opinion and a much cheaper alternative to chroming the mesh So purdy.
A small update but I glued the "C" molding on the motherboard tray's 80 mm fan holes into place. Now it doesn't bend outwards and sticks close to the surface. Closer look: If you read my review of the Super Flower case, you might remember what I said about the side panels. Due to the machine pressing of the side panels to imprint the window, handle and thumbscrews, the aluminum slightly warped. The side panels were not completely flat and bowed out a bit. Not only is this annoying if you are a perfectionist, but it made installation of the side panels quite annoying as well (you have to push the middle of the panel inwards a bit in order to get the side panel to lock into place smoothly). For my plans to fabricate air scoops onto the side panels the majority of the side panels would be sanded and covered in fiberglass. Since the current aluminum side panels would be hidden under a layer of fiberglass, I found a very easy way to solve the problem of the bent panels. I simply cut slits in two key areas which relieved the tension and allowed the aluminum to sit perfectly flat. The edges of the panel are still intact so the panel is still sturdy as is until I cover it with fiberglass. To test how well it aids the installation of the panel, I tried installing it on the case and viola! It slides into place like butter! Here are some pics of the side panels: Closeup: Tomorrow I am going to go purchase a table saw blade meant for cutting aluminum and cut out the panels for the top cooling compartment.
Well, I went to Home Depot and wasn't able to get the right blade for my table saw so I could cleanly cut the aluminum sheet. Monday I will be going to a machine shop to have them cut it instead. I will be getting the bending brake Tuesday unless it is sent back and forth between two more towns :-/ So I haven't had much to do really. I have a semi-timeline I am following for my mod and don't really want to do anything out of order. So the past two days I have been doing some more testing with paints and polishes and whatnot. I have finally worked out a solution that gives me an incredible mirror finish and a clean smooth surface. One of the main problems was the Turtle Wax rubbing compound and polish which both kinda suck for this. So I picked up some 3M Perfect-It II rubbing compound and Meguire's Show Car Glaze. After the surface is sanded completely flat with up to 2000 grit sand paper, I did four coats of the rubbing compound and three coats of the glaze. Here are some pics of what I was able to achieve: Don't mind the edges and the dents... I have been testing all sorts of junk on that surface, including how hard it is to chip the paint This will be the technique I use on the case when it is nearing completion.
