CHAPTER 1: The Agony
"Perhaps you had better start from the beginning." - The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
Everything that bolts to the case was unbolted and removed.
Front drive bays removed. These won't be needed, I have a better idea.
Some measuring and 4 drilled holes later, a 360 radiator is installed in place of the original front fan mounts.
The 360 radiator from the inside. It just fits. Now for some cutting.
Success, fans installed. Always a good feeling. The radiator does interfere with the upper right side mounting for the front panel.
The metal surrounding the front drive bays was removed to make room for the reservoir.
The method to my madness. An Alphacool reservoir temporarily stands in for the custom length Bitspower unit that will be installed later.
The set up to cut the acrylic for the reservoir/pump mount.
First cut, of two, in the 3/16 (4.9 mm) acrylic. So far, so good.
The two pieces welded together, yielding a final thickness of 3/8 (10.8mm). Once the solvent has dried, I will cut the mount down to it's final dimensions and drill/tap the holes for the reservoir and pump.
New reservoir/pump mount installed.
A little layout to see how it's all going to fit.
It's definitely not a large case.
Not much room for tubing or cables.
The pump, hard drive cage, lower radiator, and power supply take up all of the rest of the room in the lower section.
Time start working on the cut out for the 240 radiator. I've positioned the cut out, so the fittings on both radiators are vertically aligned.
The outline on the bottom of the case. The odd shape was necessary, because the bottom of the case isn't totally flat.
Cut completed. Now I just need the radiator. Unfortunately, the Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 Full Copper 240mm I'm planning on using, is out of stock everywhere.
The cut from inside the case. There is very little room between the power supply and the radiator.