[Stiffler]

Okay, so this is my first water cooling setup. Here are my parts:

Swiftech MCW462
Dolphin Pond 350GPH
1996 Ford Windstar heater core
2 120MM 130CFM fans
Custom external aluminum box

Here's my plan:
I am going fabricate a box to store the heater core, fans and pump. It's going to be completely sealed except for the top, which will be as sealed as can be without being permanant. The heater core will be mounted on one end with a hole cut in the side of the box. The two fans will be mounted on the other end of the box blowing air out. This way, air will come in to the box through the heater core, and escape through the fans. I am going to cut two holes into the back of my case for the outlet and inlet, and use copper pipe from the connects to my CPU waterblock.

Here are my questions:
1) What do all the different barb/connector abbreviations mean? Like OD, ID, FPT, MPT and such.
2) I want a type of female quick connects on the back of my case and the side of my cooling box, and then male connects on tygon hose to connect the box to my computer. What should I use?
3) I'm going to want to drain this system and refill it when I go to LANs and such. What should I do to allow this to be as easy as possible?
4) Should I include a reservior in this system? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
5) The heater core has 5/8" outlet and inlet. The rest of my system is 1/2". What kind of converters should I use?
6) The pump is going to be inside the box. And I think it's going to be connected to the heater core inlet. Is this right?
7) The box will be on the floor about 2-3 feet below my computer. I know this will affect my flow rate significantly, but it shouldn't be that bad, should it?
8) Are there any suggestions you guys have for me?

Other things:
I plan on spray painting the copper tubing with UV reactive paint and then clear coating it. Is this feasable with copper? I've never heard of anyone doing that before, but I think it should look pretty cool. I would also like to have a flow meter and temperature gauge build in somewhere. What's the easiest way to do this, and how much will it restrict my waterflow?

Thank you very much for reading this and for all your replies. I have included a top-down view of the box I plan to make. It will be made out of aluminum and then powder coated or anodized.