Project : IBM server 300 (BIG 56K WARNING! )

[DR_K13]

I found this old ibm server at work, I took tons of stuff from it for other mods, Now I have to get rid of it, I thought " what a waste!! , Its a cool case for an old mule " so I decided to gut it and make a Server for myself. I know I am going to have to do some major mods to this thing to even make it work. As far as looks go, I am going to paint it flat black ( stealth fighter mat black) and make some blood red LEDs to give it that sinister look. I might put in twin AMD Opterons, Its going to be alot of work and it might take a while, But I hope to do a very nice mod. Here is what I have done so far.

http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00052.JPG

as you can see I raped this thing before, nice huge 125 PSU look at that socket 3!!!


http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00050.JPG
if anyone wants any of this stuff I still have it ( I doubt anyone does! )



http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00051.JPG

sorry about this pic , Its blurry because my battery died :mad: But at least its gutted and ready to go. Next phase Sand , cut prime and Paint!

http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00054.JPG

P.S. does anyone know where I can get a power switch with jummpers on it>? the old one was connected to the psu !!!

[ErrOnReq]

You might want to consider resizing those pics to something people can actually view without having to scroll a full page over to the right.

[DR_K13]

edit---- ok done and done! :D

[KoZLop]

nice mod! :D

[jcm44]

You should be able to get power/reset switches from any old atx case. I think you should keep all the hardware in there and make it an old school server, but that would somewhat steal the idea that I am working on...

[DR_K13]

I might keep the psu, but its only a 125, the old mobo is trashed, I was going to keep it in there, but I am forced to go atx now.. what are you working on jcm44? old school?? :cool:

[FLECOM]

the switch you can mod into a momentary (or just flip on and off) and wire it to your mobo... where you would normally hook up the power button..

http://www.moddingzone.com/articles/at-to-atx/

read that... trust me :D

[DR_K13]

The psu that came with that case is only a 125, I found a switch online for 3 bucks, No way I am going to use that old psu! :D I want a 500! :p :D

[FLECOM]

read the guide i posted, its exactly what you want to do :)

[DR_K13]

ok thanks FLECOM how is your mod comming along? And I thought my case has huge!

[bored-sarcasm]

im thinking top and side windows. if not a top one, then put in some blowholes.

[FLECOM]

ok thanks FLECOM how is your mod comming along? And I thought my case has huge!

i just got the case yesterday jeeze :p

anyway its going to not be a fast one... gotta fit it in between all the other stuff you know :(

[thevampirelord66]

should be cool

[DR_K13]

ya FLECOM I know, Mine is going to take a while too, I just got excited over yours! Its sweet! :D

[jcm44]

I might keep the psu, but its only a 125, the old mobo is trashed, I was going to keep it in there, but I am forced to go atx now.. what are you working on jcm44? old school?? :cool:

Well the machine I am going to mod is just a PIII 733, but I am going to do some old school mods. Nothing flashy, just take it back to the days when a good paint job and a blow hole were ultra cool.

My true old school computer, I trash. It wasn't worth the effort. It was a Pentium 100 (I think). I added a scsi controller card and a 2 gig scsi drive for boot. It had an ISA sound card and a 2 3com ISA nics. Every slot was filled because nothing was onboard. PCI video, and IDE controller card. You know, the good stuff from the '90s.

[DR_K13]

nice jcm44!

[Tengis]

Im currently doing an AT to ATX form factor conversion mod to one of my cases. It is an OLD gateway case, but I love it! I would post a worklog, but I dont have access to a camera. Im going to be posting before and after pics in a week or so.

[FLECOM]

you should paint it like metallic blue or something and call it "Big Blue" :D

[DR_K13]

stealth black is where its at man, was it you that painted your ibm blue filcom? I hope to do some work on this pig tomarrow!

[B1zz]

we gonna get any kinda updates on this thing or what? =?

sheesh ten days and not a peep outta this thing...you could at least post and say "hey im lazy/have to work for a living/died" or something for me, that'd at least keep me up to date on it :p :D

[DR_K13]

OKOK I have been dead, but now I have come back to life . :rolleyes:
No I have been so damn busy at work, I havent given up on my project, I am going to start chopping at the thing this weekend, I have been eyeballing the back panel this week in my spare time, looks to be a tough one. but I will do something to it this weekend and post it for you guys.
sorry about the delay :(

[acascianelli]

you wont be running any UpdateXpress cd on that bad boy :D

what are the specs on that PSU?

[DR_K13]

acascianelli, I dont know what psu it is but it is underpowered (125w) and huge, I still have it, but i think that I will put a new one in. I have a cool micro atx psu that I will put in. The hardest thing about modding this thing is that I am building 3 other computers at the same time for other people, and I am trying to keep the cost close to $0 by using old parts off junked computers from work. I might have to buy a new mobo and ram, but I was looking at combo deals on tigerdirct.

[DR_K13]

Ok I plan on sanding and painting in the next few days, but I wanted to drop an old mobo and psu in to see how much room I have, a few problems come to surface. first off as you can see the thing is huge, I took the front cover off so I can start sanding it

http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00062.JPG

so here is the pic with the unbolted mobo ( fryed of course ) in it, so much room . the bummer is that I am going to have to cut out the back panel and weld in a custom one because its way too open

http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00064.JPG

here is the micro atx psu I am looking to put in, I know I can fit a huge one in , but this little booger is 300w and Will power a server fine, plus I want to keep as much room open as I can.

http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00066.JPG
http://members.cox.net/smanning7/DSC00067.JPG

what do you guys think of using that micro atx psu? granted i am re-doing the back of this thing, the pics are size comparing only. Ok off to sand the front while I think of the back, and I will post more pics when I finish the front bezel ( a day or two I hope) :D

[jayjaya29]

Why do you want to save so much space? Wouldn't it be better if you got a bigger PSU, and keep the mobo place. You would still have a lot of room left over.

[DR_K13]

true that, I am just trying to save a buck or two

[Falls Included]

hmm... you seem to be banned...

EDIT: ah.. backtracked it to the my wife left me thread... you'll back in a few days

[Morphes]

bump i want to see the worklog of this if you ever finished it. I have exact same case sitting in closet and was about to work on it

[lentic]

JESUS!!! I didn't think anyone else had one of those.... shit mine still works and is running my network =] damn that 200mhz Ppro still screams!! HAHAHA nice mod I had been thinking about throwing something else in the case cause I had always felt that the case was the perfect server case.... anyways wanna see this one get done!!

[Morphes]

well i just finished putting my mobo and PSU in it but i am debating what actual mod to do, cant think of a good color to go with it, black is over used so i might do a cloth theme mixed with doom 3 or sumthin like that. Any idea how to use a hinge on that, maybe a lamborgini kind of door? would that be possible?

[lentic]

U could make doors like on a lambo ..... but I think it would be easier if u cut the sides off the top and back of the case housing then made it pivot from the top instead of the front w/ some small hydrollic rods to lift it up ..... would be easier to support and would be less action in the door

The doors on a lambo usually pivot out and then up from the front so u would have to be able to allow the side panel to come out as well and be supported while lifting up

I think gullwing doors like on a delorian(sp?) would solve this by a simple hinge at the top although u prolly could do it the other way

[Morphes]

yeah i was thinking about that (for anyone who doesnt know what we are talking about here is a pic:

|_|\

thats facing the back of the pc) but that just wouldnt work for me because of the space around it, i might just make it like a normal pc insted of the whole thing as a whole coming off.

[lentic]

Now that im lookin at mine (I was at school during prev. post) Im not sure how u would fit that in on the side ....

[DR_K13]

I ran into some trouble and need to save money for a bit. I will start back on this project soon, I am going to build it for my brother and build an A64 gamming rig for him, just waiting on the cash, I will keep everone posted :)


EDIT --- Case IS gone :mad: