56k Beware OK I got my hands on a couple of mini BMW Z3 Bonnet Vents that are going to take pride of place in either side of my Wavemaster along with a blacked out window mod using some Perspex and Savage Black Limo Privacy Film to keep the whole side of the case looking shiny black and to finish the mod I’ll mount red or green (not decided yet) LED’s to cast light downwards out of the vents. Here’s the two BMW Z3 Bonnet Vents (mini as in 3 vent instead of 4) As the vents are designed to be functional and allow air to flow through just like on the BMW some pretty accurate cutting of the side panels is required so rather than rely on guess work I decided to do the job properly so first of all I needed to make a template out of cardboard. Basicaly just needed to draw around the vent........ /....and from that line i could then measure in (same measurement taken from the vent) and draw a second inner line which could then be cut out the cardboard leaving a template. This cardboard template can now be used directly onto the side panel which will be the actual guide line used to cut the hole. After covering the entire panel with masking tape i just needed to temporarily (with tape) stick the template onto the side panel where i'd already decided the vents would end up..... /........and again mark the inner line. I thought this would be a good time to mark out the window also so after a few attempts came up with this rather odd shape but with a bit of luck should look better than just a square........i hope Moving right along to the jigsaw bit……… After drilling a couple of large holes to get the jig-saw blade through I cut out the first vent hole And before carrying on offered the vent up in place just to make sure my prior marking out had been fairly accurate…….. before moving onto the larger window hole. And with the vent in place the window opening starts to look a bit more than just an odd shape Anyway the cardboard template was reversed and another vent hole was cut out of the left side panel. So onward and upward it was now time to get sticky and just to add a bit pressure I was due to set off for the GP’s at Donnington on the Friday (this being late Thursday) and given that the rather snazzy double barrelled Araldite didn’t go off for at least 2 hours I needed to get both vents glued and clamped before I left. Adding glue to both surfaces and then clamping with a few G clamps off I went for a drunken w/end On my return on Monday I found most G clamps firmly stuck with excess glue that had seeped out but with a bit of gentle persuasion I managed to pry them off and a little light wet n dry was able to clean off the rest of the glue so they were now ready for some filler around the edge and the vent. I just used normal 2 part Loctite auto body filler for this……..bit messy but gud fun and you don’t get long to work with it especially in this mini heat wave we are having up here First one I had tried to be way to accurate which takes for ever and given you only get a couple of minutes max, I was much more liberal with the second as you can see After that had gone off came the laborious task of having to wet n dry (with water) starting at 400 grit to get the basic shape and finished up with 1200 grit to give a really smooth finish ready for priming and then painting Wet n drying the filler is a lengthy job but one that’s worth doing really well as preparation at this point is paramount if a good paint finish is to be achieved so after quite a lengthy process its now all smooth as a babies bum and as the panels don’t go to the paint shop till Friday I decided to make a start on the window….. After cutting the Plexi to size I got the roll of Savage Black Limo Privacy Film …..and basically followed the instructions which entailed spraying much soapy water onto both the Plexi and the film then sliding the film into place………..more soapy water and a squeegee over the top of the film to get out all the air like so……. Hopefully once the side panels come back painted and the window is fitted it will give the desired look which is to be totally black when the PC is off but when fired up the water cooling should show through………I hope I’ll keep you posted with more pictures just as soon as I have some!
Are there any plans for the vents to be functional on the PC as well? If so, how? They seem too oblong to fit a single fan but not yet big enough to fit 2 fans and be worth it.
lol i like that, it's sweet i think, just wondering, where did you get those vents?? did you find a BMW in the middle of the night and "borrowed" them? BMW owner in morning when he finds his vents missing "my vents!!! my vents!!!! my bling!!!! how will i get the chicks now?!?!?!?!? *frowns* ha ha ha that would be funny P.S. the vents are missing the BMW logo
*hides math book infront of self* dank!!!!!thats a sweet lil setup there im guessin the radioactive box is the resivoir?(sp?) if so its schweet if not still schweeeet cant wait to seee more
/.........cheers for that piloux, i did check and i was going to get to that thanks Nova style blacked out window looks great ........well...should look a bit better after the two panels and vents are all painted This is how it looks switched on and a few green LED's added to light up the vents..... Theres 2x 36GB Raptors in raid zero sitting behind the vents so with a bit of luck the downward air from the 120mm top fan/rad might catch a bit of the hot air from them and push it out the vents.............though they were more for looks than function there is definitely warm air coming out
yes yes a mirrior finish black would be super cool. you could use some car wax to buff the paint job to a high gloss finish. man that looks good...
Brrrrilliant idea........thats the plan The panels are going to a car spray shop on Friday so should come back looking nice and shiny black like a new car. I already got my hands on some mirror finish window film (left).... /......for a window design i'm working on for the shiny Wavemaster
