Project: UFO

[Vice]

Hello guys and gals.

I'm sure a lot of you, like myself, love the UFO cases, but just have not gotten around to buying one, or its too expensive. I found myself with this predicament as well. So I decided to build one !

I made my first case over the summer, shown here:

While its not great, it opened me up to the world of modding.

I'm planning on replacing my current loop, minus my gpu block. Here's a list of the hardware I'm going to pick up.

1x Aluminum Sheet 18 x 18x 0.125
14x Aluminum L-profiles 18 x 18 x 0.125
1x Lian Li Replacement Removable Motherboard Tray
1x A.C. Ryan Constructx™ BayColumn510 UV Green
4x A.C. Ryan AcrylPanel™ 3mm Black
2x Startech 2.54mm Standard Jumper Caps
1x Digital Thermometer with Blue LED Back Light
1x Lian Li Dual PSU Bracket
4x Startech 2mm SCSI Drive Jumper Caps

Water Cooling - Petra'sTech
1x Gell Stuff
1x PT Nuke
10x Masterkleer 7/16
1x Pentosin
1x Swiftech MCR-320
1x D-Tek Fusion
4x Ek Barbs
1x Computer Screw Kit

I have not ordered the wc stuff yet, paypal transfer will clear the 15th, so I'll order that night. So if you have any suggestions, they're more than welcome.

I started construction today, so here are some pics so far.

.125=3.175mm- thick

Same with the alu sheet




looks good!

Temporary screws to hold everything in place before I get shorter ones. Wing nuts don't hold everything together tight enough, so I'll those will just some regular nuts. The new bolts will also be countersunk, with the nuts on the inside, for a more cosmetically pleasing look.



Here's some accessory pics:








Here's just a basic overview of what the inside will look like, minus the outside plexi, radiator, fan grills, psu... etc. Just an idea.

[BlueAqua]

Wow, nice. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

[Vice]

I can't either ;p

I should be able to get more work done tomorrow, I just need to do more planning on solid works to see how much room I should allot behind the mobo tray for the psu, pump, wires, etc.

[Vice]

Here's an idea of what the black plexi will look like:

[LordofDoom]

Looks good, let's see some physical photos, I'm anxious!

[daboogas94e]

saw this on EOCF as well and looking great! wish i had that much time and resources or i would be building mine own as well.

[Solarfall]

the plan looks really great, i hope you can pull it off. just love to see people making there very own custon cases.
i wish you the best of luck on your project
btw where are you planing to put your psu?

[Vice]

Update: Ordered wc parts, should be here saturday or monday. No pics for the moment, still working out spacing for psu and wc stuff behind the mobo tray.

@ Soloarfall: Like this, +/- a few inches.

[Vice]

I can't seem to find a place for the pump, but I was thinking something like this.


I would move it over to the right side far enough to give to tubing some slack not to kink as well, as the radiator will be upfront, on the left side. I just thinking about putting it on the back wall because that should dampen most vibrations, 3.175mm thick alu + ptech gel stuff.

Any suggestions?

[Vice]

Little update: Hooked up the mobo tray. Over the weekend Ill get out the dremel and chop me a psu hole.





Most likely where the psu bracket will go.

And look, room for a fan!

[Patriote]

Good looking! Keep up the good work! Was also thinking of doing such thing but never had time...

[Vice]

Well thanks for all the great comments guys.

I have a family obligation today, saturday, so I will not be able to work on the case.

I'll update sunday, sunday night the latest. See you guys there !

P.S. My Wc stuff came today, and let me tell you, this fuzion block is so sexi... Can't wait to see it preform under the camera.

[Vice]

Well, I decided to post a few pictures before I go off to work for the day. Enjoy!




So tiny!


Inside courtesy of petrastechshop.com











15ft.


And an idea of what the cd drive holder looks like.

[Vice]

Update: I hit a few bumps. The dremel discs I had were the skinny fiber ones, that broke off in a few minutes. It took 7 to do a line a few inches long.
So it took me some time to get to home depot, but I finally got there today and got some work done. I picked up these cutting discs for metal, and they things work great, I haven't even used half of one up yet.
Thing is, I forgot the attachment for them, so I've been using the attachment for regular cutting discs, so there must not be enough leverage, because my dremel starts smoking after a while.. Back to home depot I guess..

My rad finally came from performance-pcs today, swiftech mcr-320, and it's damn sexy. It is in every way possible better than the BIPIII.

Here are some pics:

Me trying to use the little fiber discs.


New discs


Not done yet, as you can see, but you get the idea of what I'm doing.

[Patriote]

Sweet! keep us updated

[Vice]

Update: I finished dremeling out the psu bracket, it came out pretty good, and more than adequately holds up two psu's.

Now I need to cut the plexi, mount the cd drive holder, and transfer all my parts over.

I'll post pics tomorrow, as my camera is out of batteries.

[johnanderson]

Sweet project. I'm thinking about building another case since I now have way too many parts to count. Just curious how much did the parts for the case only cost, i.e. aluminum brackets, acrylic, motherboard tray, ect.

[Vice]

Sweet project. I'm thinking about building another case since I now have way too many parts to count. Just curious how much did the parts for the case only cost, i.e. aluminum brackets, acrylic, motherboard tray, ect.

About $3-350. The alu alone was 130 because I had to order it online. Home depot stocks nothing around here... maybe you can get it cheaper.

[johnanderson]

Wow. In that case you mightve been better off just buying the UFO I know what you mean when material is expensive. When I pieced together my first self made case just aluminum brackets and screws were $40. Good luck with your build though. Its looking great so far.

[DarthBeavis]

U are a semi-diety!!!!!!! I am just amazed. Damn.

[Vice]

It's worth it though. DIY is the way to go.

[Vice]

Man its been a while since I've posted. Sorry for the delay guys.

Unfortunately my dremel broke last night, so ill replace that within the next few days, I just won't be able to finish cutting out the stencil for my mobo tray, or the acrylic.. Things seem to break when I need them most... story of my life.

Anyway, here are some pics of the progress.

[Vice]

Once again its been a while since I've posted... baseball is now capitalizing my time, leaving me little, if any, time to myself.

I did get some work done yesterday !! This dremel was like a job and a half though... took me forever.

[Vice]

Got some more stuff done today!

Cut the front plexi sheet to the appropriate size, made a template for my rad out of paper... which suprisingly worked... and drilled the holes for my rad, which will hold 6 fans.





Sidenote: that cardboard looking sheet you see my fan grills screwed to is the semi-transparent black plexi. It just has a think covering over it that can be used to draw on, etc to prep for cutting.

My case is starting to take shape !

[Vice]

Well, found some time last night to get some stuff done.

P.S. I did the fan holes by hand using a dremel. It wasn't as hard as I expected, but would I do it again? H**L NO! Takes forever!

Anyway, enjoy the pics.