Been pushing work on the new rad mount. I ordered an aluminum piece that is bend to specific size, in a 'Z' form. This is because, I couldn't find an extruded piece that fits my needs exactly. Tbh, it's not feasible to really look for one as this is an entirely custom solution. It'd have been nicer ofc, if I could find one. Anyone thinking on making such thing, it's worth a quick check downtown before custom ordering a piece.
Like I mentioned earlier, I designed this thing to be modular. I don't think throwing fans on the rad and then on some plain adapter piece is a smart idea. That's because, when you think ahead, you realize it's better to preserve those modularity features the define offers in it's default form. So, in essence, the mount is screwed to the case and then the rad mounts onto it from the inner side (w/screws ofc). The inner side of the mount will have a 2mm sponge frame that will offset the fans to avoid those bulgy radiator screws. On top of that, I will use 2 stripes of slightly thicker sponge, that will sit against the fans. This plus two limiter pieces, will hold the fans securely inside the mount and make it easy to take the fans in & out. The top this, I also plan to add a 2-3mm dust filter that will keep that nasty dust out of the case (much like the default one).
In all of this, I was also taking into consideration a design that will minimize air escape.
So, after a lot of time and calculations, I moved from drawing to the real thing:
I drilled all radiator holes & made the first opening for a fan:
I used a digital caliper to test the result and it came out perfect so tomorrow I will be making the other two openings. After that, it should be a rather quick process to finalizing it.