[35FT_TWINKIE]

Mine actually came with the center hole pre-drilled from Vin. I'm almost positive that the resin was just over stressed from being drilled 3 different times. It did okay when I drilled the third hole, even once it reached the center hole. It wasn't until I tried to tap it that I got the loud "crack."

[halliwax]

Mine actually came with the center hole pre-drilled from Vin. I'm almost positive that the resin was just over stressed from being drilled 3 different times. It did okay when I drilled the third hole, even once it reached the center hole. It wasn't until I tried to tap it that I got the loud "crack."

im also gonna have vin pre drill mine, i think i will only tap the aluminum and not penetrate the resin, hopefully she will hold together

[PssdffJay]

Got a bit more done. I did cut and grind the injector tube bracket more. It's rough but it's the right shape now.





I also sanded the PPD, marked, and drilled it. It chipped out slightly. But I can live with it. Question for the professionals: is the hole drilled out to accept the tube or big enough for the split loom to go in?

[35FT_TWINKIE]

im also gonna have vin pre drill mine, i think i will only tap the aluminum and not penetrate the resin, hopefully she will hold together

I would say you're probably ok tapping into the resin, just don't do it high up near the top of the PPD face. My bottom hole (no homo) drilled and tapped just fine.


-Jay- the Hero packs had the PPD drilled to accept the tubing only, with the loom just slid down over it. But...IMO....this is one of those instances where aesthetics are going to supersede screen accuracy. It looks a lot neater with the loom countersunk into the PPD.

If you decide to countersink your loom, may I submit...rather than attempting to drill the hole out with a drill bit (which has worked so well so far!) I would carefully, gingerly, and ever so softly, take a dremel to it and just dremel it out.

[Demon Vice Commander]

You could always just cut the bottom of the loom at an angle to make it sit flush against the PPD.

[35FT_TWINKIE]

You could always just cut the bottom of the loom at an angle to make it sit flush against the PPD.

Cut the loom at an angle....just cut it a little bit..?



@DVC..J/K bud! But yes...that is an alternative. However, I tried that with my first PPD and no matter how exact I was, how sharp my knife was, when cutting the loom I could not get it to look "right"....it just looked funny sitting like that. I even got to the point of taping sandpaper to the face of the PPD and attempting to sand the loom angle against the PPD. I gave up and figured I would fix it later, until I reuined that whole PPD. Having it countersunk into the PPD just feels right.

Now that I have revisited this incident and thought more about this..I realize I'm being a nit-picky little detail-Nazi and I need to relax..... please excuse me while I beer.

[julz]

I just drilled a larger hole so the loom can fit into the ppd, then drill the centre further with the tubing sized drill bit. So you have a stepped effect. The tubing goes in the deeper middle hole and the loom fits into the more shallow larger hole.

[PssdffJay]

I'll give that a go tomorrow when I start making a mess.

Why am I going to be making a mess? Well because I'm starting on the N filter that's why! Let me just say that I really do wish that I could have gotten one of Vin's shells with the aluminum n filter already attached. It would save a lot of trouble here.

So far I am using Julz's tutorial that he posted in chevyh0tr0d's build. (http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... =2&t=36095)

I started by measuring and cutting 3 pieces of some heavy paper to wrap the cast in n filter.





(Interesting, tapatalk updated and no longer will let me choose the size of the posted photo. Let's see how big these are...)

I then just started to wrap everything in masking tape. Not green painters tape. I want this to stick.



I made sure to get lots of tape where I would be cutting and around the curves. Lots of tape!



I also made sure that the tape was flush with the bottom edge and you'll see why this was important later.

I then used a sharpie to trace the cut I was going to do and then using a sharp craft knife, I cut down the corners along my line and peeled off the extra.

[PssdffJay]

Looks like they'll only let me post large photos.

Back to it.

When I first got Vin's metal parts in, I used my callipers (if you don't have them, get some because they are invaluable!!) to measure the outside diameter of the cast in N filter vs the aluminum one. This is where I knew there would be some fudging going to happen.

Cast in n filter.



Aluminum replacement.



I knew the template wasn't going to fit perfectly on the new one so I sliced it down the back side to get it off.



And now we have a template!





So like I said, it is slightly too small for the new filter.

I did have to trim some off the top because this also is slightly shorter than the cast in one.

[PssdffJay]

The other issue I ran into is that the cast in n filter is not a perfect cylinder. Either it's warped or the original buck wasn't a perfect cylinder, either way this was why I said the tape being flush at the bottom was important.

If I tried to wrap the template as tight as possible starting with 1 of the corners flush at the bottom, this is what happens. It isn't flush on the other side.



If I try and cheat it and make it flush across the bottom this is what I get.



Ok ok, it's hard to tell but there is a gap and it's loose fitting and it increases the distance between the two edges matching up where I cut it to remove it.

I think I was able to average it out enough that I should be ok when I cut it. I'm going to cut the shell first and I'll give this another look when the shell is trimmed and then I'll see. I may undercut the metal one and then grind it down to fit.



But that'll be a task for tomorrow as long as it doesn't rain when I get home from my meetings.

[pyhasanon]

Are you cutting up the N-Filter like Julz did? Not sure if you were planning on installing an E-Cig vent... but wouldn't cutting it make it more difficult to install a Vent mechanism? This is something I haven't researched much of yet, so I'm probably wrong...

[PssdffJay]

Julz had 2 shells and they were both different, 1 had a cast in N filter and the other didn't have an N filter at all (if I am remembering correctly). I could just cut the cast in one off and push on the new one and leave all the metal inside the shell, but I am going to match the cuts from the shell and cut the metal. Let me find that one photo of his.

[PssdffJay]

Photo ala Julz's post in Chevy's thread. It's still free and clear on the inside.

I am going to go with the e cig vent (I know I know, not screen accurate but it's super awesome!) and I'm trying to figure out a way to have it mounted to the mobo and not the shell. Once I have the n filter cut off and the aluminum one cut I can start finalizing my ideas for how to accomplish that.

[35FT_TWINKIE]

All I can say is IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!! I been waiting for you to get to this step!

My question though is, if you are going to be cutting off the cast in filter, why not leave the aluminum filter uncut?

[abaka]

All I can say is IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!! I been waiting for you to get to this step!

My question though is, if you are going to be cutting off the cast in filter, why not leave the aluminum filter uncut?

Was about to make that point myself. There's really no need to cut the n fillter if there's a gaping hole in the shell. The cut n filters are only really required for shells that have the cyclotron without the cut out.

[35FT_TWINKIE]

All I can say is IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!! I been waiting for you to get to this step!

My question though is, if you are going to be cutting off the cast in filter, why not leave the aluminum filter uncut?

Was about to make that point myself. There's really no need to cut the n fillter if there's a gaping hole in the shell. The cut n filters are only really required for shells that have the cyclotron without the cut out.

My thoughts exactly. If anything I would think that cutting both the aluminum filter and the shell wouldn't leave enough mountable surface area between the two.

My plan was to cut out the shell n filter, leave the aluminum one whole, fiberglass or epoxy a wall inside the shell and mount the new n filter to that.

Something similar to this in letmebleeds thread...
http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... =2&t=34212

[pyhasanon]

Hence why I raised the question earlier, especially if he's planning to attach a Vent mechanism... leaving the N-Filter uncut will allow a better seal for the smoke to be pushed up through the filter holes...

[abaka]

Hence why I raised the question earlier, especially if he's planning to attach a Vent mechanism... leaving the N-Filter uncut will allow a better seal for the smoke to be pushed up through the filter holes...

My concern would be more so the fact that if he cuts the filter off his current shell and cuts the metal filter to attach to the shell...He's gonna be doing unnecessary work, and then trying to attach the cut filter will be a nightmare, as there's no surface to grip onto.

[PssdffJay]

No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

Thank you all for the advice. I wasn't going to cut the aluminum filter until I had the cast in one cut off but I couldn't make a template of the cast in filter after I cut it off. Just hedging all bets. If I don't cut the aluminum one, I'll need to widen the opening in the shell more because it isn't just a cut and drop.

Once I have the shell cut I can start to come up with a plan for the n filter and the e cig venting system which I want to mount to the mobo. Not sure how much room I'll have.

This is why I've been avoiding the n filter, this starts the next step of the build with planning out the speaker placement, brackets, and vent system spacing.

It's raining off and on but hopefully I'll get to cut the shell today and then start figuring this out.

[pyhasanon]

For me, I think I'm going to end up mounting everything but the venting system attached to the mobo... I think I will put some quick disconnecting terminals for the power supply leads to the vent so I can easily remove the shell from the mobo...

[35FT_TWINKIE]

I FOUND IT!!!

I found the build thread that I have referenced twice before. First about the dip in the shell and building it up with body filler, and just recently about how to do the N-Filter!! He has done both awesomely.

This guy is doing a wicked job building his pack...enjoy...http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... =2&t=36750

[PssdffJay]

I got home and no rain so I pulled a table outside and made a mess! I'm right beside a bike/walking path so I can only imagine what this looked like to passersby.

Anyway, I followed Letmebleed's thread and used that same cutting wheel on my dremel and started to cut chunks off of the n filter. No photo (I'm sorry) but I didn't draw any fancy lines, I just started to cut it up. It left me with this after about 20 minutes.



There is freaking dust everywhere! Anyway, I then grabbed some sanding attachments and started to grind down the parts that still stuck out. This now is not big enough to slide in the new n filter. All I've done is taken the top layer off. I still need to either grind out the thickness of the shell's filter, OR cut the aluminium filter to sit on top inline with where the old one was. For fear of no one talking to me again, I went with the first option. I grabbed my aluminum filter placed it on top of the shell and then I would note where I needed to grind out the shell. I did this section by section starting from the top, grind until it could slide down, grind the next section, slide, grind etc.

The I started to just find tune the cut to fit the filter in. It's needs some filler, especially under the front lip that sticks out but I think it'll do.









With the larger OD I had to take it right tight to the cyclotron ring.



Now I don't know if I need all of the aluminum that is sticking into the shell, but now I can start playing with location and how to mount the n filter and the vent system. I may trim a section out for more room. Not sure yet.

[Hijacker]

What was the OD on the cast in filter? That's a lot of difference, IMO.

[35FT_TWINKIE]

What was the OD on the cast in filter? That's a lot of difference, IMO.

Jay posted earlier on this page a shot of him comparing the two with calipers. It's hard to tell if he was measuring at the widest part, but by his measurements he provided it was roughly 1/16" larger.

[abaka]

I don't see what the problem with it being so tight to the cyclotron ring?

In my eyes you've got the look and placement spot on.

[35FT_TWINKIE]

I agree. Placement is spot on as far as the n-filter's location in relation to the cyclotron ring. I really wanna see a shot of the pack head on to see if there is a noticeably difference in size of the new N-Filter.

I messaged Vin about this about a week ago and he had told me that his aluminum pieces were the same size as the cast in N-Filter on the GBFans shell...so I'm curious.

[abaka]

To me the height looks a little small, I know it's difficult to compare between the two angles of the pics, but there looks to be a lot more space between the n filter holes and where it touches the cyclotron than in Jay's pack. Plus again, difficult to tell with the angle, but it almost looks like the n filter is as tall if not taller than the bumper.

[Hijacker]

That overhang is what I'm curious about. Chris made mention in his build thread that the cyclotron is a bit larger than Stefan had originally put out there. Chris had his at 9-1/4" versus the old 9" cake pan standard. But, that wouldn't matter too much in the overhang department as the synchronous generator's overall diameter.

As for the difference in filter diameters, the shell on is definitely a bit over a 1/16" smaller than the 3" standard and Vin's is definitely on the money. 3"=76.2mm. But that shouldn't account for as much overhang as we're seeing.

[PssdffJay]

The over hang is 3/16" or 5mm. The height of the aluminum filter is 90.7mm or 3.57", I went to the callipers for that. I wish now that I had measured the cast in one the aluminum one is not as tall. It's only slightly, maybe 1/8. When I made my template, I had to trim the top to get it to fit on the aluminum one.

When I measured the the OD of the cast in filter I was probably about 2/3 up from the bottom. My callipers were against the cyclotron when I measured.

I'll take some more pictures and post them.

[PssdffJay]

The difference in height between the n filter and the bumper is 3/16.