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Bracket for 5160 Dual HDDs

Gremlin5

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
25
Location
South Dakota, USA
I was wondering what would be my best option to get a side bracket for dual 1/2 bay HDDs.

I found this thread here about dual floppy drive bracket discussion but is it any easier to find the HDD brackets?

When I got my 5160 it was shipped to me with only 1 side bracket on the HDDs and only 1 screw holding the HDDs to the case and no bottom screw, needless to say the drives were clunking around against the frame enough the broke off the bezel cover on the top drive. I will not be able to fully check out the drives for awhile but I'm guessing they were never parked and banging around inside the chassis I dont have much hope for them but you never know.

I am still slowly disassembling the unit for a full cleaning and was wondering if I would be able to find this side bracket. I see it has a logo on the side of it with "DESIGN CO. ZU-8009-T" on it but my google searches bring up nothing.

fkCIEpsl.jpg


I would appreciate advise.
 
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IBM also made them for their 640K era PC XT's which had half height devices. They look fairly similar but pretty hard to find on their own.
From memory in the past people have made their own brackets out of plastic.

Ideally you also want the screws to be flush like the lower two in your photo, and not stick out like the upper two, as that can make fitment tricky. I imagine that's probably why the bracket on the otherside is missing.

Another idea would be to place some plastic between them (just the edge of their chassis') and apply a mild adhesive (like hot glue) between the two metal cases - something wrong enough to stop them flapping about but weak enough it's easily removed and non-damaging. I've honestly seen much much worse on machines I've had arrive. (Just me thinking out loud, not suggesting this is the best thing to do here)
 
Well I think I found the name on the bracket http://cidesign.com/, it looks like CI Design Co. so maybe someone had that bracket custom made.

Being my background is a model maker and machinist I guess I'm going to have to make some... I will wait a bit to see if anyone gives me a source for these or else I will take dimensions off the one I got and just CNC a piece of 20 gauge 304 ss for a new one. Oh the one I have I measured and it is 20 gauge steel but it looks like its zinc plated with yellow chromate, very nice part.
 
If you're going to use plastic, use flathead screws and countersink the holes slightly. The heads will be flush with the bracket surface.
 
CNC?? It's 20 gauge. Layout the holes and punch them out with an awl. Don't mill slots, you can use flathead screws if you punch holes. Cut the outside profile with a bandsaw or tin snips.

Don't get California Cancer from that chromate. I'd use that. But if you really want stainless, dead ATX power supplies make great cadavers.
 
The point is that it doesn't have to be made of metal--acrylic is fine, or even PCB stock. Or just cut a couple of vertical straps with the hard drive holes lining up--there's no real reason to have a full side bracket--better air circulation to boot.
 
Sorry no photo but years ago I'd keep floppy & HD cages from old AT ATX cases. I've cut the sides of the cages to make brackets when needed. There were preferred over sheet metal with just drilled out screw holds as they have the proper spacing and slits to adjust the fit.

framer
 
Well thanks for the advice, since these things are about as easy to find as hens teeth I guess I will make my own.

I was hoping to see find some pictures of original brackets and such but as of now I have not found any. It seems as everyone tends to take pics of their systems from top down or if they do take side pics the are always full height HDD units and not the dual 1/2 height ones.

Whenever I customize my newer PCs I tend to go overboard on making parts for them, I guess this will be no exception.
 
Not my picture, but this is what the original pairs look like:

ibm_side_plate_2.jpg

I too never took any photos but have two systems using the original brackets.
 
I just looked at my second 640KB XT (sulphur damaged). I have the two "OUTSIDE" panels either side which attaches my half height floppy to the blanking mount. In that picture above you'll see a different mount laying on the ground - I also found this inside my case - and am not completely sure how to use it.

Another item that I didn't know existed but I also found in this new machine is a black trim piece that should sit between the drive faces and the machine - eliminating all gaps. I'd never seen it before personally, but it was installed in this one.
 
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