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High Octane & Diesel

A guy called ColdDawg (maybe Cold Dog) did a polish job on a Next Workstation cube. He coated it with some sort of lacquer. When I saw the poor machine "in the flesh" at had mucky finger prints all over it :( . I thought it was quite a big case when I saw his worklog but it was actually diddy.
 
so sorry i have not posted of late, i've been busy helping family pack up thier house. Anyway in my spare time i have been doing a bit. first let me say i will get pictures up as soon as i can get them up on my web site. But i've run into a bit of a snag in the design first off the edges are rounded taking up a lot of room that i had neglected to compensate for in my sketches. therefor a few things aren't working out right. The Mobo and the PSU fit just like they should even the HDD fit in there the problem is with the DVD drive by the time i put in the mounting for the Mobo and then the window in the damn thing is stuck up there this does not lead for easy exchanges by ANY means. So i have been trying to figure out where i can mount it or get something smaller. You guys have seen the sketches all the way to the mirror finish i have on the thing. any ideas? I've got a few of my own that i will be trying but more are always welcome.
 
that was actually exaactly what i was thinking down to the model and website (well that one or maybe a slot loader so i could just cut a small slit somewhere.) ;)
 
Great mod, looks absolutely fantastic so far. The sanding job is phenominal.

I have a question for you. I'm working on a mod right now that I had to strip the paint off of for powder coating. Half way through the de-painting process I decided that I liked the look of the bare metal better. I would like to know the process you went about to do such a fine job of sanding and polishing your case. I re-read the beginning of your thread but I don't see anything about what materials, specifically, and the process involved. Did you sand the whole thing by hand after you went at it with the wire brush or did you use one of those sanding disc jobbies you can get at the hardware store? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Look forward to seeing the end result.
 
the process basically went a little like this
Off paint remover
Wire brush on my drill
then the sand paper on a power sander it's better to use one of the orbital sanders rather than a disk sander because the disk sander will leave more swirl marks where as the orbital you can polish it out fairly easy.
then just step up in sand paper gits i started with 120, then 200,400, 500, 600, 800, 1200 to get the finish i wanted

if anything i suggest you take your time with it it's annoying and tedeous but stepping up a grit just to find out you missed a spot wastes a lot more time.

BTW sorry i haven;'t updated lately first my service went out for a few days and second i've been waiting for parts. i will hopefully update later today or tomarrow. Thanks for the interest
 
Thanks for the fast response. I was thinking about using steel wool or scotch-brite pads to give the "grain" a uniform direction and then just polishing the crap out of it. Thanks for the info. Good look with the rest of your mod. :)
 
9-26-04_007.jpg

So there are these two holes up top in the handle a perfect place for a Power button and possibly the Restart button. ( I say possibly since the buttons are not exactly hard to push and what would be worse than having someone bump the button and restart the whole system.)
9-26-04_010.jpg

Here’s my buttons I originally got them for a completely diffrent project but they seem to work to perfectly in this case. Unfortunatly the whole I wanted to use is just a hair to smalle So we must make it bigger. So after searching the house and finding nearly every one of my drill bit sets missing the exactly bit I needed I did what any good modder would do...

Pulled out the dremal and got to work.
9-26-04_011.jpg

So here the button is installed looks pretty good but I think it will end up getting painted silver to better match the tank.
9-26-04_012.jpg

Here’s a side shot of it.


10-7-04_009.jpg

Time to get some air into this monster. placement.

10-7-04_011.jpg

Masked out and marked for the center hole.
10-7-04_013.jpg

Pilot hole Drilled no problems right on the dot.

10-7-04_014.jpg

And here through half the drilling with the 3” hole saw I say again, ALWAYS make sure your battery is FULLY CHARGED BEFORE you start (waits for 30 minutes while battery recharges.)
10-7-04_019.jpg

Whole nearly completed take it nice and easy at this point worse thing to can do is rush it or you might end up with a jagged edge when the hole saw starts jumping.

10-7-04_020.jpg

All done perfect hole now I just have to clean up the edges get rid of the burrs and smooth it out a bit.

10-7-04_022.jpg

After some grinding with the dremal and grinding stone it’s done beautiful.

10-7-04_021.jpg

Time to mark up those pesky screw hole. I grab my cheap extra fan grill and use it as a guide. Marked and ready.

10-7-04_023.jpg

Drilled them out gave them a quick double check with the fan grill everything lines up. Pulled off the masking tap and found that the hole saw heated the metal up just enough to melt some of the sticky onto the can (the slight dicoloration on the left side there) no problem we will just clean it up with some goof off or something.

10-7-04_024.jpg

One fan down time to work on the other. Looks pretty good if you ask me.
 
Damn! Good job. This is really starting to look sick. I hope you're planning on using aluminum fans for this case. I think plastic would just look fugly after all the work you've spent on the polish. Also, if you're gonna paint the power button, I'd think the chrome paint they sell would be better then just plain silver. Something like this from Krylon would be sweet. Maybe chrome for the power, and brass or gold for the reset.
 
planning on useing the flame fan grills and diffrent fans than those in the pictures just haven't gotten the order yet so still waiting on them.
 
I love this mod, and the way it's going, but I have to say I visualize a better button solution than the cast-off's you've got in there now. After all that polishing (a work of art), I suggest a button in line with your theme. How about...

Starter.jpg


http://www.handa-accessories.com/s2000-03.html Near the botton of the list.

It's a bit pricey, but worth it for the effect I think. Either this, or some of those flip-up toggle-switch covers they use on fighter jets. They would really hot-up your controls.
 
actually now that you mention it i am thinking about adding a tubular lock key switch. personally i miss the days when you could lock a system up. but it would have a chrome finish that would fit perfectly and it would just add some cool to the thing but we will see if i can get it.
 
hey guys i appreciate the support first and for most. It's been taking a bit long in these "final steps" (as is it could be complete its a mod) The interior layout ended up a bit tighter than i would hve liked so i had to redesign the interior from the ground up.

couple of changes first off with the slides in place it makes a regular CD Drive nearly impossible to fit comfortably so i've changed to the slot loading slim drive which will also allow me to not have to hack up the exterior as much as i thought.
but again the placement became an issue. the power supply has moved from the top to nearly the bottom since first the Mobo cable couldn't reach and second i want to keep the interior cables tiddy. My order for fans and grills has gotten delayed due to a lot of bull with the address so thats holding it back to :mad: . also been thinking of a few more mods and so thats been taking a bit of my time (don't worry i plan on posting every mod on here as a worklog) so hopefully we will get some nice days out here so i can do some of the final cutting outside (foot and a half of snow currently) I will post more Pics as soon as i have some to post.
 
Hey Black Cat, how about posting some of your trials and mis-trials fitting it all in? This is a worklog after all ;) Mis-cues are sometimes the best learning tools, and I for one, am really interested in the process you're using for fitting all the bits in there. You did take pictures... didn't you?
 
well the windows has got to get some cleaning but looks cool none the less hope to see how it comes out.
 
actually the window posted is the first one i did out of some scrap i had laying around after trying to clean it up and not really getting anywhere I desided to just forgo sanding and such and make a new one out of a fresh sheet of plexi.
 
Ok so i've been doing some work on it and things were going pretty well till an idea FAILED misserably :mad: :mad: :mad: . So anyway heres some pics for you guys new layout and such. (still no fans or grills :rolleyes: but supposedly they're on there way now.)
Ok first to pics everything but the window in place (nothing solid just mock up)
This first pic you can see the new layout motherboard in place loose light placement (which is actually around the window on the upper wall in this pic.) PSU there at the bottom.
12-01-04009.jpg

next another pic of the PSU and there you can see the CD slot drive on bottom don't know if you can see it but the pins are really tight there against the tray.
12-01-04010.jpg

so to solve this pin problem i'm going to cut out a passthru so you can get to these pins without pulling the entire thing out.
12-01-04012.jpg

A quick pic of the slide mounts that the tray will rest on this will allow the entire tray and all components to slide out the bottom for easy access and trade outs.
12-01-04019.jpg

12-01-04020.jpg

after a few holes drilled and the passtru cut and tray placed on mounts (not secured yet):
12-01-04021.jpg

12-01-04022.jpg

so everything was going well then i went to mount the slides in place since i didn't want to deter from the outside apperance i thought ok how about we secure a few small bolt to the inside. In theory this seemed like it would work wonderfully. allowing me to secure the entire inner workings without drilling any holes.
so out comes the good old JB WELD this stuff has worked for me many times before time for it to do it's job again. got the JB the bolts and the paper to mix this stuff on time to get to work.
12-01-04023.jpg


Mix it all up goo up the bolts really well avoiding the threads of course put them on the marks everything going beautifully now we just take a pic and go to bed since it has to set for 4-6 hours over night being better.

12-01-04024.jpg


So i wake up today and deside to mount the slides looks good they haven't moved all night (two cats in the house you never know when things are going to dissappear on ya)

Line the holes up looks beautiful they are perfectly alligned so i start to bolt it in.....
SNAP!! the first one i try to tighten the nut down pops off... well that sucks lets try the other maybe that one just didn't have enough surface gooed. switch to the other side and start off this sides looks fine no sudden snaps everythings holding. bit of a stress test i push down slightly trying to get a feel if it will hold the tray and all components POP!! both of them pop right off with the slightest downward push.

So.... much to my dismay that idea will not work so at this point i give up my dream of a spotless exterior and give up to a few bolt heads on the outside. Stablility in my opinion is a bit more important than keeping the exterior perfect. besides the bolts will line up nicely with the exterior X on the other side giving a nice accent to it.

Now if anyone out there hase a better idea speak up quick cause i'm itching to get this project moving along so i will hold off till later tonight before i put a drill to it if anyone has a better idea.
 
OK, I got a suggestion. I think your problem here is that the JB-weld lacks surface area to adhere to the steel when applied just to the top of the bolt. I suggest making a thin plate (or giant washer) and counter-sinking a tapered bolt inside it (see pic). This way you'll in essence have a bolt with a huge head, to glue to your wall. I'd really like to see you keep your flawless exterior on this, especially after all your polishing. Don't give in to the dark side! ;)

OctanePic.jpg
 
beautiful illistration thanks for the suggestion It's worth a shot so off to it
 
You're welcome B-Cat. I had one other thought after looking at this again. You might want to bolt the whole assembly together (tray/tracks/bolts/big washers) all tight and smooth and then glue the whole thing into place. That way you can be sure the alignment is perfect, and that you won't glue a bolt or some other potential mishap. As I recall, once JB weld is set, that's it, and this may be such an occasion. Good luck, and post pics when done!

I'm all excited that I might have actually had a good idea on this. :D
 
themark said:
OK, I got a suggestion. I think your problem here is that the JB-weld lacks surface area to adhere to the steel when applied just to the top of the bolt. I suggest making a thin plate (or giant washer) and counter-sinking a tapered bolt inside it (see pic). This way you'll in essence have a bolt with a huge head, to glue to your wall. I'd really like to see you keep your flawless exterior on this, especially after all your polishing. Don't give in to the dark side! ;)

OctanePic.jpg
Click to expand...

om if you want a tip to go with that sand the plate and gas can with 60grit in the spots were the jb weld is going helps the jb weld bond
 
yeah was alredy planing on sanding it given that a smooth surface wouldn't bond very well
 
just a quick update it did work unfortunatly one side was held off by the curve just enough to not let most of the JB connect the two pieces so yet again i must wait another 6 hours while it dries (AGAIN!!!) oh well thank you very much for bringing up the idea
 
so the JB worked fine, found out that the metal pieces i was using for "washers" bridged so well that it didn't let the JB touch except in the few spots so after redoing it it worked wonderfully. no problems. I will be getting pictures up of the progress hopefully tonight but we'll see. in the mean time I thought i would show you a sketch of the control panel (I.E. the passthrough ports) It will be mounted behind a slide plate (i hope) on the back side of the can as to hide the ports when not in use.
ControlP01.jpg


ideas??? thoughts????
 
Hey BlackCat, glad the washer thing worked out. Please post those pics when you can. Did you decide what you're going to do about the switches? Are you going with the keyswitch?
 
sorry i haven't posted lately Xmas and all then on top of that work and work around the house so i haven't had a lot of free time. i will try and get some progress pics up soon.
 
so just a quick update to say no this isn't a dead thread or project but ran into a few set backs

1. The huge order of a buntch of mod materials had some MASSIVE issues and ended up being rolled off. Outcome - didn't get some materials i needed.
2 Xmas came and went and money became a problem. Outcome - I'm broke and can't get the parts i needed.

So the project has been set back until money becomes a little less tight. but fear not i will get this thing done.
 
I'm not sure if you have decided this particular route...making a mobo tray, PS holder and etc, but this site has everything you need. Making these items from scratch provides a tacky cosmetic appearance. The can/case itself is very nice just reffering to the inward parts. I don't know, if its an issue of measurements (hardware not fitting correctly inside the can) than I can understand this approach.
Nonetheless, here the link.
http://www.silverpcs.com/category/cases.lianli.lianlireplacementparts/?p=3
 
This looks like an awesome mod, I think I'll watch it.
 
just read through this log for the first time, looks great man, hope you get everything sorted out. Great idea....
 
Yeah, keep this thread alive and finish up the project....the thing is amazing looking.
 
This thing looks awesome so far, I hope you can get it all together.
 
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