dralb

OK, I have been wanting to do something with my PC for a while. I was going to do a desk mod, but turns out my mobo will not fit where I wanted it. After thinking it over, I decided I wanted to add some cooling to my A900 and work my GFX card back into my loop. I wanted to buy a PA160 and mount it on top of my case. I was then planning to use the 200mm fan to cool it. this would give me a 240 in front and a 160 on top. Should be adequate.

Well, since I have no money, I was scouring ebay looking for one. After getting frustrated with the lack of results, I decided to look for a heater core roughly the same size. I found one from a Ford that would be perfect. I ended up winning the auction and it was $18 shipped. Not bad.

This is a before shot:




First, need to strip it down:




Then, time to set-up the back-up:




After thinking it over, I decided to open up the shroud and have the rad inside that with a fan on top. Needed to open up the top of the case so I could line up the core:





Next, time to open up the plastic shroud:

Before: (stock photo)




After:



The mock up. Will look better once the core is painted:






Next will be paint. I am going to do a simple theme of black with black. Will be very original I have some new tubing coming and I need to replace some ccfl's. I haven't decided if I am going to keep the 200mm fan on top or go with 4x92mm. I don't think there will be much of a difference cooling wise, but I think the 4 square fans will look better. Not very involved, but figured it would be fun. (and cheap, lol) Should look much better when I am done.






Day2: Paint

Start with some primer.






A few coats of paint:







Day 3: a little more paint and fan shroud mock-up.

OK, I added the last couple coats of paint. Very plain, but not much of this is seen when together anyhow:




I also added some little rubber feet for the care to rest on. This also allows airflow to reach the entire core from the bottom:






Then, I needed to start designing a shroud. I chose to go with 4 92mm fans in a square. This will give me some decent CFM and look kinda neat. I decided to use some cardboard to make sure I didn't waste $$ on aluminum:

Starts with some messiness. I used a piece of foam to space the shroud high enough off the core:




After taking some measurements and making some adjustments, I did a trace-out on another piece of cardboard:











Looks like it will work OK after a few adjustments and careful measuring:













Since the core is raised off the case and the shroud will attach to the outside of the case, I wanted to seal off the edges of the core so all the air being pulled from the fans will pass through the core. I used some packing foam I had laying around:









Next: Cutting the shroud, painting it and new tubing!!!!

10/21/08


OK, got some goodies in the mail.








Time to do the shroud:

First, need to mark it off. Simply cut the solid lines and bend the dotted ones.






10/23/08

OK, got the should bent and riveted. Now I just need to get some mounting supplies and some holes. Hope to have much more done this weekend.

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Antec 1000 Case Mod Worklog

3358 Windsor 3800

"[Vietnam] only made billionaires out of millionaires. Today's war is making trillionaires out of billionaires. Now I call that progress." -Kurt Vonnegut

dralb

10/24/08

OK, time to drill some holes. They are not as clean or even as I would like, but in the end it will look OK.



Now, I need to mark the 4 points on the core where the threaded rods will go. I used some skewers to push through the core. After they were stuck, I just removed the shroud and left the skewers.







Picked up some hardware at Lowes today:



I attached the threaded rod with some flat and rubber washers like so:





After making some adjustments and trimming the threaded rod, I now have a way to mount the shroud:









Nest, more paint and some sealing for the edges. Needs some more small adjustments, but coming along nicely.

__________________
Antec 1000 Case Mod Worklog

3358 Windsor 3800

"[Vietnam] only made billionaires out of millionaires. Today's war is making trillionaires out of billionaires. Now I call that progress." -Kurt Vonnegut

Ducky

The rad fits pretty nicely, but are you gonna do anything with that fan? It looks kinda.. Odd sitting up on top like that.

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Zeag

Good luck with that project! Looking forward to see the result.

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Quebec Overclockers

dralb

Yeah. Like I said, I might get 4 92mm and arrange them in a square. I think it would look better. Then all I would need to do is make a shroud to go all the way around it. Either that, or I may make some sort of shroud (ala PA160 shroud) and use a 140mm or something. Still thinking....

__________________
Antec 1000 Case Mod Worklog

3358 Windsor 3800

"[Vietnam] only made billionaires out of millionaires. Today's war is making trillionaires out of billionaires. Now I call that progress." -Kurt Vonnegut

blackjack23

im thinking Bondo or Everglass for the Fan

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slyoteboy

Now would it be better to have that fan pushing air into the the case (thus being ambient temps) or , have it pulling the hot air out of the case into the rad? I think a shroud for that big fan would be pretty cool , to bad you cant bump up its RPM and make it really move some air.

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dralb

Thought of that too, but I am pretty bad at that stuff. Would end up looking like a 4th grade science project of a volcano when I am done, lol.

I have the front rad taking ambient into the case. If I did the same with the top, the 120mm in the back and the screen on the side (have the fan holder removed from the side panel) would not be enough to vent the heated air. I think that the top pulling hot air put of the case is better as, even though the air is hot, it will still cool the heater core.

__________________
Antec 1000 Case Mod Worklog

3358 Windsor 3800

"[Vietnam] only made billionaires out of millionaires. Today's war is making trillionaires out of billionaires. Now I call that progress." -Kurt Vonnegut

sabermetrics

looks awesome so far! but just one thing... what type of paint are you using to paint the radiator? Wouldn't decrease the heat dissapation ability?

dralb

Nothing special. I don't think it will drastically effect temps.

__________________
Antec 1000 Case Mod Worklog

3358 Windsor 3800

"[Vietnam] only made billionaires out of millionaires. Today's war is making trillionaires out of billionaires. Now I call that progress." -Kurt Vonnegut