My ZPA 0.8's-- #1 of 2 is almost done

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:29 am

I have 5 Ti800.1's, 3 of which have no case. Early on I decided to build a custom case for them. I was thinking of doing one big case for 4 of the 800.1's and 1 900.7, but I decided against it and to design a case that looks like the ZPA amps, but houses two 800.1's. Depending on what mods I make to the amps themselves, I may permanently strap them so it is one big mono amp, or I may leave them in dual mono block configuration. I had a bit of free time at work today, so I put together some sketchup models. The models are based on the drawings and dimensions in the ZPA manual. The 0.8 case will measure 21x18x2.5. Tell me what you think. I have been sitting on the sheet of aluminum for this project for a year, just need to get off my arse and get it done...

Later,
Jason

dBincognito · Post by **dBincognito** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:56 am

COOL

Post by **stipud** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:11 am

Ho.

Ly.

Shit.

Post by **joerg** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:14 am

Now that´s a nice custom project!

Thumbs up on that!!!

Post by **Wakeup** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:25 am

YES!!! Keep us up to date on your project/s.

GX3 · Post by **GX3** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:31 am

Ill take two:D

!!!!!!! that will be one hell of a nice amp

joyride · Post by **joyride** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:01 am

Awesome. That is going to be one serious amp. I always thought the ZPA was one of the best designs in PG history. What finish/color were you thinking of doing?

On another note, does sketchup come with a rendering engine? I would love to see it rendered, but thats just the designer in me....

Post by **smgreen20** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:18 am

What the hell are you waiting for? Get out there and do it!

Now where have I heard that before?

Post by **Jacampb2** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:59 pm

Lol, I brought this up once before, without any drawings, and there was no real input given. I wasn't sure if it would be hokey to try to replicate one of the past giants... I was also hoping to find a ZPA to measure from, and trying to collect decent pictures for my cad drawings. I was actually planning on laying out my amp rack in sketchup today, and I stumbled across the ZPA manual in my collection, and found all the drawings and dims I needed in the .pdf, so I decided to tinker with it instead.

I had originally intended to design the case, then take it to my CNC plasma guy to have it cut, but after blowing all the drawings apart, and unfolding them, it appears I am going to be able to cut all of it on my CNC mill. The bottom piece will have to be re-set once to cut out, but it should be okay. The mill will give a better cut anyhow.

The other issues are, I still don't know how I am going to bend the thing. I don't have a break, 16g aluminum is not difficult to bend by hand, but I would like to get nice crisp bends. I will have to engineer a way. And, how it is all going to go together. From the pictures I have, and the drawings in the manual, it looks like the fan shrouds and bottom are one piece, and that the end plates and plexi are all that are removable-- Main board slides out? Anyhow, I definitely wont be able to bend the case like that, as it would require a box and pan break, no other way around it, so the bottom, end plates and fan shrouds are going to have to be all seperate pieces. Once I get them knocked out of the sheet of aluminum I will know more...

Joyride, I am not sure. You can change materials and such in sketchup, but I am still an amateur with it. It is not my preferred 3d design software, but it is free and I can use it from work, so I do. As for finish, I would really like to anodize them black. The problem here is, I bought 3000 series aluminum and it supposedly does not take anodizing well, from what I have read, it tends to turn black, which may not affect this since black will be what I am after. I have to do some more research before I can say for sure.

Later,
Jason

GX3 · Post by **GX3** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:07 pm

Just my .02 i like the way PC looks over anodizing ....... if you need a zpa to look at i can send you my .3 i should have it Monday or Tuesday. Shipping shouldn't be much seeing we aren't that far apart

wash with gasoline · Post by **wash with gasoline** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:31 pm

the fan shrouds and bottom are not one piece, they screw on the end plates. when you are looking at the end plate the outer screws on the bottom hold the fan shroud and the ones in about 1 1/4 hold the bottom plate. i can take mine apart an post some pics if it helps you out. looks like it will be a bad ass project to me

SolacE · Post by **SolacE** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:41 pm

even if you anodize that aluminum black it will turn, but it will be a different shade of black all together so it will not look very good. I have done this with some custom work before and wasnt happy with the end result. I would suggest a paint or powder coat.

GX3 · Post by **GX3** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:45 pm

SolacE wrote:even if you anodize that aluminum black it will turn, but it will be a different shade of black all together so it will not look very good. I have done this with some custom work before and wasnt happy with the end result. I would suggest a paint or powder coat.

Wondering why you like paint over PC???? Doesn't PC hold up better???

Pedi · Post by **Pedi** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:07 pm

Did I ever mention that I love the magic word "custom" ???

You go girl, looks awesome!!

thedeal7235 · Post by **thedeal7235** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:10 pm

Jason never stops amazing me-i seriously thinki mgonna make a trip to michigan-

sdsport92064 · Post by **sdsport92064** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:27 pm

Please warn us to lay down plastic before reading. I have wee'd my fabric task chair.

Sounds like a great project, don't NOT do it.

thedeal7235 · Post by **thedeal7235** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:29 pm

oh, he'll do it, trust me, i have yet to see jason not do something he says hes gonna do, for example the bass cube project etc.-it'll be sweet when hes done-no doubt-

Post by **Jacampb2** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:53 pm

Yeah, I am definitely going to do it. It could be a while yet though. I am working on a custom project for Vin, and provided I have that tied up on my next 7 days off, then I will probably start the ZPA project.

I am working on getting a new laptop up on the home network right now-- sucks. I hate Vista... It does not want to play with all the XP boxes without lots of hand holding...

Later,
Jason

Post by **Jacampb2** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:43 pm

I made a bit more progress on the models. I separated and unfolded all the bits as mentioned before. All the seperate pieces are redrawn in Acad, next move is to put them through the cam software and set up the CNC work. The tabs shown all over the place are going to end up being the mounting points between the case pieces. Each tab will fold 90° and be drilled and tapped for #4-40 CS screws. I will probably radius the top of each tab, just to give it a finished look, but I did not have time to draw it yet. It will not go together exactly like the factory case, but I think it will be gorgeous just the same...

Wash and GX3, thank you both for your offers. GX3, I don't want the .3 up here-- unless of course you want to sell it to me

If either of you feels the urge to tear one apart and take pictures, that would be awesome for me, but don't go to a bunch of trouble for it-- meaning don't pull one out of your install.

Anyhow, I thought you guys might want to see the CAD drawings. I think the wireframe 3d drawing looks pretty cool.

Wire Frame drawing

Bottom Cover

End Plate

Fan Shroud

Almost there, I am probably going to engrave the plexi cover with my take on the ZeroPoint TI logo seen in my box thread. I still have to work out the standoff locations for the boards, and make sure the 800's will fit under the allotted height. I also need to figure out power/ground/remote buss, I am probably going to do solid copper bars like the Ti1200.1 and Ti1000.2's. I have the copper bar, just need to machine it. Signal is going to be another trick, as it will be run in close proximity to the power cables. I am probably going to just order some Belkin quad shield 4 conductor cable, solder to the boards and bring out one set of RCA's to the EP. If that does not eliminate noise issues, I will either make a copper mesh cage to shield the signal cables from the buss, or if there is enough room in the case, make a balanced receiver and run balanced signal to the amps.

Gotta get back to work.

Thanks,
Jason

SolacE · Post by **SolacE** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:00 pm

GX3 wrote:
SolacE wrote:even if you anodize that aluminum black it will turn, but it will be a different shade of black all together so it will not look very good. I have done this with some custom work before and wasnt happy with the end result. I would suggest a paint or powder coat.

Wondering why you like paint over PC???? Doesn't PC hold up better???

yeah powder coating holds up better. I didnt say I prefered paint over powder coating. Just threw them both out as options. Paint gives a wider variety of color options, but powder coat is much more durable.

dBincognito · Post by **dBincognito** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:09 pm

I like paint better...like he said more colors.....and you can clearcoat and make it super shiny

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:16 pm

Jason, for bending purposes, just a thought, bring it by the local highschool shop class?
I also cant believe the amount of educated, artistic ,and ingenuitive people on this phorum!
I love this place

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:09 pm

Aluminum TIG welding ????

TIG weld the pieces in place.

I'd do it, but I don't have a TIG welder.

I weld Aluminum for a 9-5 jobber.

joyride · Post by **joyride** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:55 pm

You mine sending me that model in a 3dm form (if you can export to that)? I want to try something out really quick. if you cant get it in 3dm, Im sure I can import any other common format.

Post by **Jacampb2** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:57 pm

The wire frame is in .dwg, acad's 3d format. I will see if I can export to 3dm-- be back shortly.