Project: Metal Slug - [Hardware @ Dec. 1st]

Okay, yesterday I finished the new waterblock top. I'll have more pics tomorrow seeing as how I'm waiting for some specialty screws for it before I bolt it down onto the base permanently. As you can see it uses no less than 12 screws! Gives an awesome industrial look once they're all in place.

Last night in 28f degree temperatures with a light drizzle I got the pieces for the fan louvers cut out with the tablesaw. Today it took most of the day to get them trimmed and then glued together. They're functionally finished but on Friday I will be taking them to the machine shop to even them out using the mill. The upper most blade of the louvers is removable to allow easy access for bolting them onto fans and the mounting holes on the lower side are elongated to allow the bolts to be fed in at an angle.


This afternoon the case and the pump arrived. I had to cut 1/2" off the inlet of the pump because it wasn't threaded and I couldn't get the 1/4" NPT adapters and Tee installed on the pump.

Then made quick work of dissecting the case. I'm currently marking out the mounting holes for the pump. On Friday I will be taking the tray to the machine shop to get some cable routing holes cut out using the mill. The sooner I can get the modifications to the case itself done the sooner I can send it to be powder-coated.

The front face of the case is made out of 1/4" thick aluminum! I won't need to reinforce that part of the case at all, but I do have something specific planned for the front.

And that's what happened in the past two days. I'm holding a few things back that I will reveal once they're finished. Tomorrow I'm going to start working on hose separators and the facade plates for the case..

 

9 Images in one update!!! Ready... GO!

Removed and masked off the top of the case.

Then drill the holes for the handles.

Then the mail came. I love mail.

Got the pump mounted onto the drive cage. I also had to bore out the Tee because its ID was smaller than 3/8".

Motherboard! (ASRock P4i65G, the only 478 MATX I could find with Dual Channel support)

And now the surprises. I ordered some hex head screws to bolt the waterblock top onto the base. The end result is very very spiffy.

And yet another surprise, I'm using thin-wall semi-rigid (Shore 90A) opaque black polyethylene tubing along with these spiffy 1/2" OD nickel-plated chrome instant tube fittings. THEY'RE HUGE!!! And shiny. The only downside of these is the inner diameter of the 1/4" NPT male pipe end is too narrow, but I will eventually be fixing that at the machine shop using the lathe.

Their bizarre proportions are absolutely perfect for the Metal Slug theme. Here's the two swivels installed on the video card.

And the last item completed for today is the top and bottom PVC armor plates. I have to make a trip to Home Depot tonight to buy some rubber feet and 10-32 bolts so I can bolt these on. So another picture is promised for later tonight.

*Phew

 

Looks promising, keep up the good work, i wana see more!

 

You work quickly What are PVC armour plates?

 

Good luck with the "push-fit" fittings. Personaly, I have had bad luck with them. Nothing but compression fittings for me..
U are on a "roll"-though. Cool-project..

 

The sheet steel isn't rigid enough for my tastes (atleast for this project anyway) so I'm reinforcing the top, bottom, and sides, with 1/4" PVC.

We use them at work all the time at 100 psi. They're only leak-proof if you use polyethylene or nylon tubing (what they're made to work with). I have yet to see anyone else use them with the correct kind of tubing.

Have to decide what to tackle today. Will probably go take care of the milling and lathe work.

 

Also, if you need any thing else electronics wise, there is a store in town here that deals specifically with that sorts. Walked in one day looking for somthing and he throws down the National Semiconductor catalog and said "If its in there we can get it." I guess they can also get stuff from the other main manufactures as well.

The etchant is probably taking longer than normal due to it being a hazardous item. Ferric Chloride can be some nasty stuff.

(Hint: NEVER mix it with liquid hardner)

 

^Hehe, ooops wrong log. The etchant arrived yesterday (The Micro-Mark box in one of the pictures above). I have to go back to the printed and get the transfer printed again because I found a tiny defect I had to correct.

 

Another fun day. I was going to go to the machine shop, but I decided I still have a ton of stuff I can do here, and in the process I may find more work that I'll have to take there anyways. That and the weather outside is horrible...
Took the case apart again, this time removing many rivets.

Mainly because I needed to make these cuts.

And so I did. Took an hour because I drilled pilot holes using the drillpress, cut out roughly using the scrollsaw, used a wood block and a small hammer to return the sheet to it's original flatness, some finishing work using a stone grinding bit on the drillpress, then final cleaning with deburring tools and files.

And then it was time to start mocking up parts to check for spacing.

That small green thing is the pump relay if you're wondering. I didn't want it's ugly self mounted in a PCI slot.

The holes for all of the rivets I removed eariler were tapped for #8-32 screws, so what was once not easily removable, now is. That makes me happy, because the case is going to have to be dissected AGAIN later in order to send it for powdercoating.

Everything back together.

The pump in it's final location. I had to remove the Tee from its original spot because some measuring determined it was going to end up hanging over the CPU socket.

I was about to hit a wall in my progress when suddenly, BOXES! YAY!!
The UPS guy is always curious what the hell it is that I'm up to.

Boys and Girls, can you say "minimum order of $25"?
That's 5 Delta WFB1212Ms and 2 Delta WFB1212MEs

Later notice the fan is in backwards, but this is just for mock-up so whatever.

A snug, but perfect fit.

And then inspiration hit. I had several brass 45-degree male-female elbows in my parts box! Sweeeet.

This -combined with the trimming I plan to do to the motherboard tray- means that when I fill the case I will be doing it with all of the vital hardware facing the floor. I'll simply screw a barb and some tubing onto the valve, open it, and start filling from the right side of the case. Should anything leak during this process the drips will all fall away from the hardware. And if I spill anything while filling it also won't be landing on any hardware (except maybe the drives but I can stuff a towel there before I start).

The two barbs will connect with a tiny length of 1/2" ID tubing.

Right now I'm measuring and plotting out what I have planned for the front of the case. Tomorrow is also going to be wet so I may have to put a tarp out on the deck in order to do some table saw work without having to stand in the rain.

 

Looking very nice so far. Maybe it's just the picture but the case handles look like they're pretty tall in relation to the height of the case.

 

Yes they are big. But this whole project is about odd proportions. If I later decide that they don't match the theme or look of the project I'll go with my backup plan and make handles from scratch.

 

Starting to pick up a Metal Slug-esque look with those large handles though, reminds me of the overly large guns, hehe

 

Freakin awesome, slug, look forward to seeing more!!

 

No-doubt the "push-fits" can handle the psi..BUt--in a straight-line. And I agree one needs to use the "stiff" poly-tubing, no doubt about that. BUT (for-me) what happens in the tight-confines of a computer case, a slight "bend" becomes necessary. The fittings and the tubing don't handle that very-well..
Tygon and Compression fittings are my choice. I am not saying your wrong, your not. My favorite "small-bore-H20" company uses push-fits. Just, IMHO compression fittings are EZer to work with. With Tygon and compression fittings you can bend until you kink the tube, and not have a leak. Not possible with poly&push-fits (don't remember the max-bend-radius for the Legris push-fits and polytube, but there is one.)..
But, that is just preference..Bottom-line, the Slug is looking very-good..

 

Well, [fingers crossed] I hope I don't have any problems. I planned this out to avoid any tight bends in the tubing. I bought two elbows just in case.
If I do have any leaks I can't fix my backup plan is to switch to compression fittings. But since all of my devices are in 1/4" NPT I'll have to get brass ones from Mcmaster. Then probably get the compression nuts powder coated to match the case frame.

 

Wow you are the man around water cooling mods

 

Your work has inspired me to pull my project out of the closet.

Man, if you mod with your arthritis, I'll do it with mine. But I'm taking Rig of the Year, so don't try and stop me.

 

This is the "I have egg on my face" update. When I originally drew up the new waterblock top for the Maze4 in Solid CAD I accidentally used the LGA 775 hole dimensions instead of the 478 holes spacings I meant to use. I did not find this out until today while trying to install the block.
So I made another top. This time with both sets of holes.

Macro focus mode rocks

Aside from getting all the pieces for the next few items square cut with the table saw I didn't get much else done today. The weather has left me feeling really stiff and the 3-day marathon of modification and machining work has left me a little achy. So tomorrow will simply be reserved for recovery and planning.

In other news, if anyone wants to make their own fan louvers I've made printable template sheets and Alibre Xpress CAD files available for both 120mm and 80mm sizes.
http://www.captainslug.com/modding/fan-louvers.zip

En Garde!