BaDassumption - The Photo Shoot... - update - 5-5-2007

[dutchcedar]

Welcome to a fun little project...



As of 5-5-2007, she's looking like this:

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The Design

A few of us were chewing the fat in the Wizard Backroom and thought it would be fun to come up with a team design for a new rig. Well, ideas flew around, one thing led to another and the next thing you know, I started a design in SketchUp. We talked about building an animated mech, a rig designed with a motorcycle style frame or one based on hot rods.

Every once in awhile, you’ll see a comment in blue, like this, that was pulled from the original Wizard Backroom discussions…

Or you'll see comments like this, put together from members' posts, so the thread is easier to follow...

The first SketchUp model looked like this:



Starbuck:Keep it under wraps for a while. Let’s really blow them away.


Nexxo: I would definitely make the radiator a feature. Chrome, preferably. It is not difficult to design a pump/shroud/rad array that looks like an engine. Slap in some Pi-Thon clamps... judicious cable braiding...


Feature the radiator... Only a Wizard would think of something like that.

After a couple of weeks of bouncing ideas around with the forum wizards, the result was this design of a bubble-topped, multiple pod creation…







A quick rundown... the main pod houses the mainboard and hard drives. Its bubble top swings up while the radiator pod drops back. On the right in its own pod is the power supply, while the optical drives are in their own pod on a tether.

But let’s be clear… this is the design as it was before anything was acquired to build this rig. The design remains in a constant state of flux, because as you’ll soon see, there are a lot of little details that affect one another, so although the spirit of this version will remain, some details will certainly change.

Here’s a little background on the design. Having been a big fan of custom show rods ever since I was a kid, the idea of emulating their style in a PC was a natural. The first ones that really got me going were the radical customs of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, George Barris, Dean Jeffries, Bill Cushenberry and the many others who built their cars from scratch, using parts pilfered from here, there and everywhere. They used things like exposed engines, drilled frame rails, bubble tops and any number of off-the-wall ideas to create their rolling sculptures. Often painted in the panelized style of Steve Watson, with bright candy and metal-flake paints, they were all about breaking the mold of what you would expect a car to look like. One thing they all had was a weirdness that made them look almost inoperable, in spite of being perfectly functional (well, some of them didn’t actually run… but that’s for another day).

Just to give you an idea of what kind of show rod we’re talking about, here are a few Ed “Big Daddy” Roth examples.

My favorite Ed Roth car is probably the Beatnik Bandit, built in the early ‘60’s.



He made a second version of it in 1995, dubbed the Beatnik Bandit II.





The car on the left is a copy of Ed Roth’s Mysterion, originally built in the 60’s, while the car on the right is the Roswell Rod, built as a tribute to Ed Roth.

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Making the Basic Case

dutch: Here's the way I see it being made... for now, at least... the main box is 16" wide x 6" tall x 15-1/2" deep. The front bezel is water-cut from 3/4" aluminum, then machined (curved face and recess to fit the box). The back plate is water-cut from 1/4" plate and fixed with 3/4 x 3/4 angles (ala BaDassII). The main box would likely be from .060 aluminum... kinda thick, but easier to work with.




mnpctech: I'd go deeper...@ least 7.5", figure in Mobo (on stand-offs) and video take about 5" space.. Average case width is between 7.5 - 8". Why torture yourself whenever accessing things?

scopEDog: Hmmm… that sounds very close to what I have here. I'll take some measurements when i get home tonight. I was going to migrate this pc to a new case, after I move everything over you are welcome to it.

Pretty cool bunch of Wizards, eh?

After playing with a bunch of different ideas for how to make the case itself and wanting to keep it as simple as possible, the idea of making top and bottom case halves seemed to be the most straight forward method. It would also allow me to have an extra of each piece by ordering a third, if ya know what I mean... By forming them from .100” thick aluminum, the hope was to avoid needing any supports or framework inside.




It just so happens, that many moons ago one of my jobs was an estimator at Bayfab Metals in San Leandro, California. They have a fine reputation in the circles of metal forming. So I got in touch with them and they sheared and formed these pieces for me. This is what they looked like right out of the press brake.



This is a detail shot of the corners… the shaft and bearings had just arrived, but we’ll discuss them a bit later…



Nino and Kenny, the masters of the press brake…



When I picked up the formed aluminum pieces from Bayfab Metals, my chief assistant, Kyler, came with me. He gave Chris, one of the girls in the office, a lesson on how to multi-task a PC, something he’s very good at.



About the front bezels and back plates for these pods... there are a lot of measurements to confirm before cutting them, but they'll be along shortly...

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Collecting Parts

Trying to stick to the spirit of this design, I began an exhaustive search for anything related to hot rods, motorcycles and race cars that might lend itself to being incorporated in this whacky little PC. The search included some buys on eBay, pilfering of parts from a friend’s motorcycle shop, a couple of direct purchases and eventually led to having some parts water-cut, laser-cut and machined out of aluminum. With lots of input from the Backroom Wizards, I think we came up with some pretty danged creative ways to use these parts. Some of their applications will be obvious, while others will be made clear as this project unfolds.

Some of the “acquisitions” had a specific purpose in mind, but a lot of them were picked up simply because they are about the right size for the project and looked really cool, with the hope that they would inspire some creative ideas and find a home in this project. Some may not even be used, but we’ll try to find a place for as many of them as possible. With their use up in the air, here are some of the parts that weren’t made specifically for this build, but will hopefully find their way into the project:

Sprint Car Tie Down Straps Machined from ¼” thick aluminum, these straps are used to fix the angle of a sprint cars front wing to an angle appropriate for the track its racing on.



Sprint Car Steering Block -off Plates These are also machined from ¼” aluminum and are about 2-3/4’ x 6”.



R/C Truck Chassis Braces Used to stiffen the chassis on radio controlled, gas powered 4x4 trucks, these are machined from 5/16” thick aluminum and are about 8-1/2” long.



Arlen Ness Billet Mirror Its amazing what can be found on eBay if your needs are a little off-kilter. This $120.00 mirror was bought for less than ten bucks… probably because it didn’t have a mate. Its chrome plated and polished billet aluminum.



Billet Grille Pieces Measuring about 3-1/2” x 9-1/2”, these little beauties are covers for the side grilles on F-350 Ford trucks. They are made of 1/8” thick aluminum bars welded to small bars and are powder coated black with the faces polished.



Short Throw Shifter Barely six inches long, this shift handle designed for 5.0 Mustangs is machined from ½” thick aluminum. The layout of the holes and the shape really struck my fancy, so as you’ll see later, it became the model for some of the special pieces on this project.

scopEDog: Dutch pllllleeeeeaaaasssseeee use that billet shifter knob as a on-off/reset for the pc! Only thing is Kyler might come around and hit reset, so then you'll have to teach him how to shift.




Mini Tachometer Housing Designed to clamp to a 1” handlebar, this housing is about 3” in diameter and 3” long. Its chrome plated and polished aluminum.



Air Vents Used in a lot of hot rods, this pair of air conditioning vents from Vintage Air reminded me of blower intake butterfly valves. They are entirely machined from billet aluminum.

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The Bubble Top

Before venturing off to acquire the formed aluminum and odd parts you've already seen, I did a little homework on the bubble. Global Plastics, a plastic fabricator who specializes in vacuum forming acrylic domes and located just across the Maine border in Canada, made two 12 inch diameter bubbles for me out of 1/8" thick neon yellow acrylic. They're about 5 inches tall and have a 5/8" flange.

Here's a shot of one of them sitting on top of the main pod halves with those two air vents.



Machining of its support ring and hinge mechanism will wait for a few more critical dimensions, but it sure is sweet to have these little beauties in hand.

The second one will remain "in storage", just in case the first one gets fouled up somehow or another.

The jury's still out on the color. I kinda wish I had ordered a clear one as well... but they can always be asked to make more...

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The Bulkhead Fittings

There were some really neat in-line coolers for ATV's on eBay that I thought could be modified into bulkhead fittings to get the liquid cooling lines out of the main pod and to the pump.



I got a hold of the manufacturer and asked what it would take to make a couple of them a little different than his.



One thing led to another and he was piqued by the idea of using his product in a water cooled computer and to make a long story short... he made a couple of prototypes according to the above drawing and sent 'em to me... free. Look for them soon at a retailer near you...



Starbuck: I'd love to be a fly on the wall in those conversations of yours... I have a feeling you've just got a way with words.

You'll hear more about my new friend at Alpine Machine in Oregon as this project unfolds.

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The Pump

To be honest, I was concerned about hanging a water pump out in front of this case because... well, pumps aren't exactly pretty. Unlike the famous line from "The Graduate", plastics is not a good thing here.

I noticed through another eBay auction that Alpine Machine also makes oil filter covers for ATV's and they looked about the same size as the motor on PolarFLO's TT series D-4 pump.

Well they weren't the same size. So I got hold of the folks at PolarFLO to see if they had any interest in polished aluminum motor covers. Back to Alpine and back to PolarFLO and back to... you get the picture...

Long story short... there's now a solution to the unattractive pump.

A chrome plated and polished version of the PolarFLOstock pump...



A polished, billet aluminum cover, made special by Alpine Machine, attaches to the motor housing with a set-screw...



The two together are perfect...





There are plans for that baseplate too...

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Darv: Wow, looks great!! That pump cover is amazing

Dr. Fibbles: That looks pretty nice and, mmm, shiny...

Da Rude Baboon: WOW! Some really nice ideas from the WizD collective!

furious trout: OMG ??WTF!!!!!11one one one eleven seriously though you guys rock can't wait to see this finished.

mnpctech: I like the name dutch.. Reminds me of the names they painted on Gassers in the 50s/60s.

toby: wow nice stuff!

scopEDog: I second the name, very catchy Great to see this in public, sure was hard to keep under wraps for this long huh dutch?

Invalid: Very nice guys. I always look at whos online and I always wondered what was up when I saw, "dutchcedar is replying to a thread". Could never figure out why it didn't say the name of the thread. Now I know there is a secret wizd only forum that only shows to you guys. Glad to see you are putting it to good use too! The design is very cool and original. Lets see more.

Arctirus: Damn Dutch, this looks like it's going to be your best PC yet. I'm just waiting to see which magazine covers with will appear on.

zer0: Oh my god, that is the best looking pump i have ever seen...... I wonder if I could figure out a way to make my d4 pump look that good (without buying a brand new one from PolarFLO).

Squelch: This project is truly amazing. BaDassumption is very fitting name for how a PC Mod should be done. It completely throws the rule book out. Fantastic!

Defyant: I need to get out and-a-bout more! cause i miss the beginnings of mods like these!, it was a pleasure going back and reading thru your first two worklogs and then seeing this one in the making is gobsmacking!, the attention to detail and engineering in all your work is amazing, I just cant wait to see more.

Just a Sketch

This is jumping ahead a bit, because it shows a few things that haven't been posted yet... but playing with SketchUp doesn't always fit the schedule, now does it?

Ya see, I love this little program and was playing with some graphics that are similar to the ones used on George Barris' famous Ala Kart, a popular custom pick-up truck from years back... anyways, it was pearl white with purple and gold graphics, so I thoiught it might be fun to play with... needing something that goes with the plastic bubble...

Trust me, you'll see a lot of paint schemes before any color gets laid down, so if ya would, just put it aside for now... many more variations are sure to come along... its a loooong way off. But I just enjoy looking at different ideas... thought you might too...

fillip:Maybe the tach pod should be merged into the main bodywork and painted to match, so it looks like it's part of the main pod rather than an addition.

Starbuck: If you could make the pod for the opticals symetrical to the power pod, that would help things greatly, IMHO.

Hehee... Wizardry...

Da Rude Booman: That pic makes it look a lot like ScopE's AV.

Invalid: I just love it. lol I love when a mod looks totally out of the ordinary. I would expect to see something like this in lucas' brainstorming room for star wars.

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The Coolant Reservoir

This is my favorite component so far. It comes from Billet Specialties and is usually used in custom cars and hot rods as a radiator overflow tank. It goes so well with the parts Alpine Machine turned for the pump and bulkhead fittings, I couldn't pass it up.









Its going to mount on the bubble top ring, so when the bubble gets lifted, the radiator falls back and the reservoir lifts up, so the reservoir becomes the highest point, perfect for filling.

Did I explain that the bubble top, reservoir and radiator will lift and lower automatically? Jeez, I think I forgot to mention that...

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The First Mock-Up

Its nice to have a lot of clamps about...









Ju: Pug's eyes have just glazed over.

fivecheebs: Would there be room for that tach casing to fit in the front there like on the sketch?

Starbuck: I'm having a modgasm and convulsing. call the wife, she'll confirm ;)

To cheebs' relief, everything fits... barely...

About that wooden block at the back, left side of the main pod... that's actually the inside mold for the radiator pod, so use your imagination. I'm going to give the molding and laying up of fiberglass a spin in a few weeks. We should call it the Nexxo Pod, especially if I screw it up.

I'll be off for a bit... see y'all soon with fiberglass in my eyes.