155 Bowfront Hood build 101

[Aquaman_68]

Wake this one up!!

getting pics ready!!! (since it's 2010)

 

[Aquaman_68]

Ok long awaited another angle...

 

[Aquaman_68]

Now with the back & rear sections of the side stitched on (notice the weld still higher in some places...(got to knock that down)

 

[Aquaman_68]

On it's back side..(notice the grinder to the left to knock the weld down)

 

[Aquaman_68]

another on it's back...(look at the detail of the frame) I want you to see...it cost me close to $1200.00 in aluminum (rolling the square tube & shearing lbr.)

 

[Aquaman_68]

another pic...(cause I have it!!!)

 

[Aquaman_68]

OK...sorry for the big jump... Here is the hinged part attached to the rear of the hood..(all welds are knocked & getting ready for the etching primer & paint) notice the holes cut on the side....(& my trusty ol school single fin surfboard in the back of the pic!!! still caked with wax!!!) kinda shows my age!!

 

[Aquaman_68]

& with it open to show the huge access I will have to the tank from the top!! (I actually was able to remove an 80 lb peice of live rock out of the tank with the hood on top of it!!)

 

[Aquaman_68]

ok....the holes on the sides....4" ice cap three speed sensor fans will go in these areas..

 

[Aquaman_68]

Angle aluminum welded cage to slip the fan into..(easy mount for removal in case of failure..) This was neccesary on the front of the swinging door as there is no frame under it to make it lighter to swing up & down..(I used heavier aluminum on the lid outer shell as well to eliminate the frame..) cut down alot of unneccesary weight... I mounted the fans in the rear fixed section different due to the full frame underneeth..

 

[Aquaman_68]

outer view side pic of the fan installed.

 

[Aquaman_68]

tabs welded for the MH mogul socket mounting...(peices of aluminum angle stock) originally mounted 6 tabs to house three moguls but added an additional 6 tabs for a total mounting of 6 MH moguls tucked inside the hood...

 

[Aquaman_68]

all painted up..getting ready to mount the reflective material to the rear section of the hood so I can mount the VHO standoffs & sockets for a total of 4 48" VHO tubes.. Notice the lengths of square aluminum stock welded from left to right in the rear section.. That aids in mounting the socket housings in a staggered order.. (since the bulbs are 48" & the hood is
72") I did this for two reasons....two six foot vho's are only 320 watts total & are harder to get & much more $ in shipping cost cause the box they would come in is considered oversized..
& plus...if I wanted to run 4 6 footers I will need an additional ballast as the total length of bulbs in a 4 bulb configuration is a max of 16 feet.... This section is powered by a ice cap 660 VHO ballast.. 110 watts each lamp for a total of 440 watts of VHO lighting

 

[Aquaman_68]

material for reflectivity...MY own!!! well......It has a 99% reflectivity rating...(& I didn't get it from any reef store or reef lighting shop online) This was acquired from a metal stocking warehouse local to me) They claim it is used for the production of high end phoptography & film flash units. it's also aluminum & very thin which makes it easy to work with on shaping /cutting etc....one downside...it is very expensive....But I can say from experience...It looks & reflects at the same level as it did right out of the gate (this has been in use for over 8 years) I wash it with warm water every 8 months or so to clean the splash & dust created by the fans from it..(I should probably clean it more often...)

 

[Aquaman_68]

with reflective material & sockets mounted here we go with wiring the unit.

I bought various color coded spools of solid core copper wire in the accurate gauge as supplied with the original harness from ice cap....I had to switch out one of the colors I beleive for a different color...(they didn't have violet in stock & I wanted to get it done!!)

 

[Aquaman_68]

back tonight

 

[jbishop]

Nice build dude

 

[tigerslacrosse4]

Just out of curiosity why did this rise from the dead 2 years later?

 

[jbishop]

Just out of curiosity why did this rise from the dead 2 years later?

Because Brian finishes what he starts.

 

[Miller]

That is one hella custom hood you have there. Good thing you own a shop can can do the metal work yourself. Damnnnnnn would that cost some $$$$$$$ to have built. Materials alone had to be some serious bucks.