Bondo Bucket

BatteryAcid

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 8, 2002
Messages
371
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~agevorki/worklog.htm

This is my time-killer for winter break. Basically its gonna be a really slick version of the good ol' Chieftec Dragon, with the front panel completely smooth and everything painted black. I want it to be extremely quiet. What you see there is like my first draft, and when you get to the bottom of the page you'll see why. Currently I've got the basic case almost done except for touching up and detail work. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do to make the mod actually look cool, but i'll let that come to me when i finish getting the front panel done.

You might be wondering what the heck i'm gonna do for ventilation with the louvers in the front gone, but not to worry, as the mod progresses in the following weeks you'll see what i'm gonna do to solve that problem It should be about 240mm of problem solving.

I'm kinda torn about whether or not i want to do a window. Without one the case might be a little too bland, but a window is the kind of thing i wanted to avoid with this mod. I've got some black plexi that might work nice, but we'll see how i feel once the front panel is done.

Plans aside from the smooth front panel:

rubber casters
black paint (just a flat finish, nothing special)
twin 120mm vantec stealth intakes on the bottom (problem solved ;) )
motherboard mounts for a Shuttle SFF motherboard (because its my only dual channel board and i'm sick of the loud case its in now)
obligatory black sleeving and black molex connectors
if i do a window, the inside will be painted black as well
 
The SFF is too loud in the current case, so i want to go back to a regular, full-size system which will run cooler and be quieter. I dont have a full ATX mobo that supports dual channel ram, so i'm just gonna use the mobo in my Shuttle. Odd, i know. :p
 
Yuo could put the sff mobo at the bottom of the case and make it look like the case is empty.. that should get some funny looks from ppl. Use mirrors or smth to create the optical illusion that the case is indeed empty.. that would rock.
 
Crazy_Seb said:
Yuo could put the sff mobo at the bottom of the case and make it look like the case is empty.. that should get some funny looks from ppl. Use mirrors or smth to create the optical illusion that the case is indeed empty.. that would rock.

Oh man, that would be an original mod :p
 
would the shuttle mobo fit in the case flat on the bottom? if it does - do that. get the entire machine in the bottom of the case (psu and everything - except maybe cdrom)

hiding the machine would be cool (imo) of course, as soon as the machine was picked up you'd be able to tell there was something there.

of course, putting the motherboard at the bottom has another advantage: the case would be less top-heavy, and therefore less prone to tipping over.
 
I think it would fit. However, I'd have to do some modifications to the back of the case that i'm not really up for. I'm pretty sure that the back panel and agp/pci slots will line up just right as it is if i put the motherboard up at the top. Besides cabling will be less of a nightmare that way. And i dont wanna block the 2x120mm fans that i'm gonna put down there :p. That's a pretty good idea though, have a window into an empty case. How's that for raising questions, huh?

I've made a lot of progress on the case, as soon as i get my cam up here i can put up the new pics.
 
I've updated the worklog. Here's a little taste
DSCN0853.JPG
 
Hell yeah perfect sleeper case :) I have a BTX series Chieftec i wanna do something similar with.. hmm you're inspiring me. :D
 
Suggestion: instead of going broke buying Bondo (and losing brain cells mixing it in your basement :D) fit some aluminum sheet into the gaps and then use little bondo to smooth out the gaps/seams/dips/etc. Looks nice though, I agree about 'too much flash' in most case mods.
 
It weighs a hell of a lot more than it used to, i'll tell you that much. When i did it the other way (wasting time, money, and bondo) it weighed at least a pound or two. Now its slightly less because i used the mesh skeleton. Hopefully i'll get the front done tomorrow and i can start cutting out the holes for the fans.

Does anyone know if the multipurpose cutting bits that come with the Dremel's cutting kit will cut 1mm steel? I might be finding out the hard way tomorrow. This is the one I mean:
565.jpg
 
Mine went through 18 gauge steel which is ~1.214mm.

It is a little slow-going, but it is over before you know it. ;)


Have fun!
 
Awesome, thanks. What speed did you use to cut?

Also, great news. One of my cousins got me a gift certificate at Newegg, which gave me the perfect excuse to pick up a new motherboard. Since I'm going for sleek, I chose something black, the MSI 865PE Neo2-PFS (Platinum Edition), $76 at Newegg. It was the only black one I could get without coming out of the pocket, plus it has all the features I wanted/needed and a silent northbridge cooler (no fan... perfect for what I need).

With the interior, I'm going to do a red/black theme. I'm going to try and find a red molex connector kit that has the ATX, P4 and floppy connectors along with it. If anyone knows where I can get one, let me know. The only ones I found were at Newegg (Logisys) and Directron (CaseArt) but they're both out of stock. I guess I can always dye my own with Rit, but I've done a floppy cover with that stuff and it didn't come out looking too great.

Later when I have the cash i'll pick up a red or black VGA card and an Audigy (yup, you guessed it, black). Also I'll replace the Zalman cooler and the northbridge heatsink with black ones from Alpha, and cover the ram with those black heatsink kits. Overkill? Yeah, maybe. Another cool thing I found was this PCI/DDR slot "protector" kit from Vantec. They're basically plastic slot covers. The good thing is they come in red and black, so as useless as they are they'll help me hide the white PCI and purple DDR connectors that would otherwise be visible.

I decided to definately paint the chassis inside and out, and maybe (just maybe) do a small window with dark plexi. The window will be backed by hardware cloth, which will be painted black.
 
BatteryAcid said:
Oh... I thought you meant the cut disks. I think that is for routing. You proabably don't want to use that.

Get some Heavy Duty Cut Disks for cutting that steel. That is what I was talking about. ;)
 
those multipurpose bits are better for wood.....as was said, get yourself some heavy duty wheels and go to town, they'll work a lot better. just get some metal files to clean up the edges.
 
Well, I guess my next case will have to be a wood case so I can make use of my new Dremel attachment.

I'm really not looking forward to using the cutting disks... maybe I'll get a 4.5in holesaw. Is it me or are those things outrageously priced? I mean, a couple bucks more can get a decent jigsaw. Maybe I'll get that instead. Should still be easier than using the Dremel.

EDIT::

I found a good kit for the connectors in black (my original choice), www.jab-tech.com has the full kit, in stock, along with the sleeving kit and the Vantec PCI slot rice covers (hehe). Also ordered a couple 120mm fans.

UPDATE:

The 2 120mm fan holes at the bottom have been cut.
 
Ah, your case is starting to look like one of my mod ideas (perfectly blank face). Keep us posted!
 
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