PROJECT: MM Pinnacle 300 (previously Ugly Duckling)

[Kibbler]

Part 1: Introduction

Hi all, this is only my second post on XS and my first worklog. I learned a lot from lurking here (and while waiting for my account to activate), and I would greatly appreciate any comments, criticism, and suggestions you might have. Thanks (and please excuse the amateur photography).

Just for fun, here are some pics from the last time I dabbled in WC. This was back in 2001, originally posted on Procooling:


Love FLCL. If you're curious, that's a Thunderbird 1400+ on an ASUS something-or-other VIA KT133 chipset, and a GeForce2MX400. Good times…barely running Morrowind on medium detail.

That's a DD MAZE2, which later became a Geminicool Spiral, Tygon 3606, Eheim 1048 which used to be a Danner Magdrive and subsequently became a Hydor L20, and a BI Pro, all inside a Super Flower Hydraulic (i.e. Alienware's 1st case). This was all done with only the school's drill press and this:

My favorite tool ever.


So, this isn't my first time at the rodeo, but it's definitely been a while. Let’s see what we're working with today...

Antec 300. It's not a very popular case, hence the name “Ugly Duckling.” But I like it, nice solid budget case. Here it is, stock (pics from PPCS).


Tools I will be using: rotary tool...


and drill (and riveter, nibbler, etc.).


Bitspower compression boom de yada.


Assorted fittings.


FuZionV2.


Booyah they fit!


They're touching...but at least the collars turn freely.


PA120.2


The beginning of a plan. I’ll probably change this arrangement, though.


Bitspower res and more compression.


Petra's top.


w/ MCP355.


Fillport.


For 9800gtx (iandh heatsinks not shown).


Pentek filter.


Lian Li drive cage from PPCS.

Don't remember the model. I’ll be removing the stock HD mounts, and this thing will go on the bottom between the rad and the PSU. It'll be close, the PSU I’m using is long (CoolerMaster M850, 18cm long).

Lian Li rad brackets and some aluminum angles I cut up.

The angles are meant to attach the rad brackets to existing rivet holes in the case front panel. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the process. Measuring, cutting, and drilling is all.

***************

At this point I want to relate a quick anecdote about Gary @ Sidewinder. I'd placed an order for the rad, MCR60, R3400 and other things. Due to whatever reason, I ordered 8' but he only had 5.5' in stock. Gary asked if I'd like to replace the R3400 with another formulation instead (B44 and silver tygon were in stock). I politely declined, intending to wait until R3400 was back in stock. I was in no rush.

Long story short, it turns out that Saint-Gobain had serious issues with R3400 production, something about lacking an essential ingredient, and my order was delayed for almost a month thru no fault of Gary's. After all, I made the call to wait. Finally, I became impatient and asked Gary to switch to R3606. Gary rushed the order and upgraded the shipping...a day before the July 4th long weekend...to Singapore, and it was delivered in 3 business days. Despite the out of stock situation, I was extremely impressed with Gary's attentiveness (he did update me frequently on the status), and expedited shipping was just icing. Thanks a lot Gary.

More to follow!

[Kibbler]

PART 2: Starting the build

Measured + drilled 1/4" holes for the handles, which are black steel drawer handles from IKEA. Bolts to be replaced with black socket head bolts.


Rear handle:


Drilled out some rivets and removed the existing drive cages.


What should I do with these? Hack them up!


I'll keep the ones on the right for the 5.25" bays, same as when it was stock.


Hacking up the rest of the metal...after this pic was taken I tried to nibble a too-stubborn metal bar and the nibbler broke. Much sadness...


These 2 "angle bars" were cut from the original HD mounts. The original idea was to use these to mount the radiator somehow, but this idea was eventually scrapped. Too messy. However, they will be useful as guides...


This is for the fill port. Prepping for holesaw-ing:


Result:


With the rad finally in hand, it's time to test fit my bracket. Here it is with zip ties:


Fits. here's the lower bracket:


Test fit with rad. You can see in the top and bottom horizontal bits where zip ties are going thru existing rivet holes.


And this is the overall idea:

It mounts perfectly...but at this point I abandoned the bracket idea. There's too wide a gap and I'd need to make some sort of shroud. Too complicated and inelegant. Moreover the rad sticks "out" too far, leaving barely enough room for the HD cage and long PSU. Too tight and barely any room for modular cable connectors.

Ok change of pace, let's put the rad on the back burner. Now we're working on this hole for access to backplates. The finished elliptical one to the right is for cable management.


Here's a new nibbler from PPCS:


Mark it...


Bit of progress...


Done with the nibbler!:


Cleaned up with a sanding drum:


Fuuuu----ck. This Lian Li plastic molding doesn't handle straight edges very well. Ah well, I ordered some more from PPCS, this time with adhesive.


That's the last cable management hole at the bottom there. Used up a lot of cutting wheels and sanding bands doing this one, its location made it impossible to nibble.


That's it for cutting for now. Next section will be a short update to rad mounting.

[lowfat]

Damn those are some nice cuts. How is the nibbler? I've never used or even seen one used before. I've only just used a rotary tool.

[Kibbler]

PART 3: Back to the rad

Take an aluminum angle bar...


Measured (29cm)...


Clip clip clip...


Done 2x (don't mind the fan grills, I'm just playing around. Not finalized):


Marked for drilling:

The hammer and nail are for making small pilot holes for accurate drilling. However, it's a bit overkill on such thin, soft aluminum. The metal will "divot" and you'll have to flatten it out. I used a heavy duty clamp to squish it back to flat.

Test fit to rad with zip ties (Thermochills have holes on the side for their shroud. How convenient):


Both attached:


And now with the included screws. I'm considering drilling them out to use rivets. Permanence can be satisfying...haven't decided yet though.


Other side. The screws stick out (in?) quite far, but should not really affect air flow.


Remember the hacked up "angle bars" from before? I used them as guides for this. I made sure to mark it "MOBO side" because I fcuked up confusing it for the other side. Twice.


This pic shows the case front (just the right side as an example). The red circles are the original rivet holes, which will need to be drilled out on my mount. The green areas are holes for the stock fan brackets, which I plan to use. My aluminum rad mounts will need "notches" to clear these areas.


Done and it's perfect! If you're confused, this pic is taken from inside the case, looking forward. It looks a bit low because I don't have a hand to support it at the correct height.


Here are the notches cut out of the mount for the other side. Rivet holes not drilled yet, though.


Side note: See that divot in the middle? Yeah...that's when I broke a drill bit when drilling out the drive cage rivets. The drill slipped and made a nice dent. The silver lining? That divot lines up PERFECTLY with the PA120.2 bleed screw. HAHA a serendipitous drain! Just need to holesaw and grommet it.


Oh yeah and I removed those disgusting glued-on rubber feet. Waiting for some MNPCtech rubber feet to arrive. But...stupid me, I'll need something to keep from scratching the paint on the bottom. So I put the disgusting feet back on temporarily.


More to come!

[ThrustSSC]

Very nice build, keep them coming. I always like cheap cases, the cheaper the case the more modding potential it have .

[taowulf]

Damn those are some nice cuts. How is the nibbler? I've never used or even seen one used before. I've only just used a rotary tool.

You can do some pretty decent work with a nibbler, but your hands will hate you afterwards. You might end up with Popeye forearms as well.

[Lagaaja]

Nice! And btw, wattaf is that nibbler Looks handy. Keep it coming, subscribed.

[Nate P.]

Excellent build, looks like it's moving along nicely!

[Dangals]

Great work - keep the pics flowing!!

[Kibbler]

Thanks for the comments so far. I'll try to update as frequently as I can.

REQUEST: Can anyone recommend a good powdercoater in Singapore? I'd like to give this duck some colors. I assume a few of you might live in these parts, and maybe others have friends here. Appreciate your help!

Regarding nibblers: They are nice for making small, accurate cuts, at least once you figure out their quirks. I don't have any pics of it in action, but this pic should explain a lot:


Basically there's a small notch at the top of the tool in which you put the edge that you want to cut. Squeeze, and it "nibbles" out a ~1/8" x ~1/4" piece of metal. It's easy to cut straight lines because the cutting piece fits exactly into the notch made by previous cuts, assuring 90deg angles all around. The finished edge will be straight but not smooth. So it's best to cut with a 1/16" margin from your actual line, then smooth it out with the rotary tool.

My old nibbler was worn enough that it could turn a bit after each cut. Actually, it could turn *just* enough to the inside that I could cut out a perfectly round circle (or, many many sided polygon) for a 120mm fan.

They're also nice when you have an urge to cut something in the middle of the night, and the rotary tool would make too much noise. But yeah, use them for too long and your friends might start to wonder if you've been single for too long...

[Lagaaja]

Thanks for the info What colors do you have in mind?

[Kibbler]

PART 4: Rad continued

Small update today. The rad mounting bracket/shroud is done, holes drilled. Here it is attached with zip ties. In the final assembly stages, this rad/shroud piece will be attached to the case with 6 rivets or bolts through the circled existing rivet holes (no extra holes were drilled into the case).


EDIT: Forgot to make a comment here. Thermochill PA series are 126mm wide. On the Antec 300, there is a metal "lip" that curves in along the edges of the 2 fan intakes, which you can see in this pic:

...and you know what, the fan intake is also EXACTLY 126mm wide. Which means, my aluminum rad mounts sit flush with the side of the rad AND the side of the fan intake, creating a seal. Now that's lucky!!

Here's the general idea for the pump. The Absolute bracket will be attached to the case to support the pump....wouldn't want the weight of the pump putting so much torque on the rad inlet. REQUEST: I would appreciate your input on this: Will I have any flow problems with this setup? It's basically like having a 90 at the pump outlet, right?


Remember what I said about the drain hole? Here's the bottom-front of the case, cut out with a hole saw. That light impression in the middle (just barely visible through the masking tape) is the bleed port, minus the removed screw.


As for colors, I'm open to suggestions. What would you guys like to see? However first priority is actually finding a reputable powdercoating place.

Overall some small but solid progress today.

[evil-98]

yea the only thing i hate about the nibbler is after a few hours your pale will be so sore and raw that you can barely move it.

the 300 looks like a nice case, i personally like it. i like the rad placement

good luck, keep up the good work

[zlojack]

Nice work so far. Definitely looking forward to seeing the final product here.

[Kibbler]

Part 5: Pumpin'

First, I found out that the Thermochill rads are the perfect width for my case. Now, check this out. That's damn lucky...That's the Absolute DDC bracket between the PCI slots and the edge of the case. It's touching on both sides, but not tight. Thanks armeniandave. Thanks for looking out for me.


Here it is with the DDC. That's a great fit, just inside the side panel.


Other notes:

-Had a problem with the original rad mount: it was touching the bottom of the case, and blocking the holes where my case feet will be mounted (with bolts coming up through the bottom panel). I needed to make new rad mounts to raise the rad by 1/2".

-Also, I found a powdercoater in the area. Actually there are several, but this one was mentioned by name on another forum. I'm very excited to wrap up the cutting and drilling, and get this thing baked to a glossy black.

[Lagaaja]

Now that's lucky Looking really good so far.

[kinghong1970]

damn... goes to show, some simple tools + dedication = amazing results...

nice cuts with a nibbler... you are way more patient than i am bro...

[lyl]

Good looking mods so far; nice rad mounting. Nice parts too!

Only thing i dont like is the color of the case's interior... battleship gray
Edit: just saw youre going to have it PC'd... cant wait for that!

[Bubbaxm2]

Nice work!

[GAR]

I'm interested to see how this ends up, as i think this is the best case for $60 bucks usd.

[Serpentarius]

PART 4: Rad continued

Small update today. The rad mounting bracket/shroud is done, holes drilled. Here it is attached with zip ties. In the final assembly stages, this rad/shroud piece will be attached to the case with 6 rivets or bolts through the circled existing rivet holes (no extra holes were drilled into the case).


Here's the general idea for the pump. The Absolute bracket will be attached to the case to support the pump....wouldn't want the weight of the pump putting so much torque on the rad inlet. REQUEST: I would appreciate your input on this: Will I have any flow problems with this setup? It's basically like having a 90 at the pump outlet, right?

i think you're forgetting something very very important ... remember the fans?

[Kibbler]

i think you're forgetting something very very important ... remember the fans?

Fans go here (I was kinda working towards this detail as a "tada" surprise haha) Those are stock fan brackets that go behind the bezel. Unscrew 2 thumbscrews on the right side and the bracket swings open like a door. There's enough clearance for 25mm fans. I will have 2 S-Flex (F) to do the pushing.

(pic from ozhardware.com.au)

Thanks a lot for the positive comments all Gives me motivation to see this thing through.

[japanese]

what's the size of those compression fittings? both id and od please.

[Kibbler]

what's the size of those compression fittings? both id and od please.

Bitspower 3/8ID 1/2OD.

[Kibbler]

Part 6: HDD

Bottom of the case, marked for drilling:


Drilled 2 1/8" holes. Good size for these Lian Li thumbscrews.


Other side. Lian Li thumbscrews fit Lian Li threaded holes, how nice . Seems strong enough.


Finished drilling all 4. Messed up the last 2 and missed by about 1/16" in one direction, so I widened all the holes to the next larger bit, 9/64".


From the side. Originally I wanted to go with rivets, but you see the raised metal "lip" would block access to the 3rd drive position. So I went used thumbscrews instead. The bottom of the drive cage comes with threaded holes.


Here's the rad in position. That's close, about 1/2" gap without fangrills. Thinking back I should have spared 1/2" to the left, but no big deal. There are plenty of large holes in the drive cage, so I hope airflow won't be a problem. Thankfully S-Flexes are good with static pressure so they say....?


Sorry for these small updates. I don't have a lot of free time during the week to work on big chunks. Only a little bit here and there.