My How-To stealth Shuttle G2 drive

[BigBadBiologist]

Here's a little rundown on how I stealthed my DVD drive on my SB65G2V3.

So here's what it looked like to start (OK, but nothing special):

First thing I did was marked approximately where the screws go through the SB65 bay blank (you can see the pencil marks):

Second, I covered each edge (making sure to go past where the pencil marks were) with a nice thick coat of JB Weld:

Next, I broke one of those plastic things that are at the top of CD packs so that each side of the tray cover was on the plastic and squished the tray cover face down onto the plastic:

When the glue was dry, I peeled the plastic off of the tray cover:

This leaves a nice flat surface for the blank to sit on:

From here I sort of stopped taking pics, but basically I just sanded the edges flat and the hardened JBWeld through the holes of the SB65 bay blank. Then I drilled holes through the tray and used the SB65 bay blank screws to attach the blank to the DVD tray cover and snapped it back onto the drive:

I need to get a couple better pics of the done project, but you get the idea.

Questions:
-Why not just use double sided tape? -Well, I've tried that and it feels flimsy to me. Plus, this bay blank is actually two pieces (plastic and aluminum) and two screws.

-What about the eject? -Well, I haven't totally figured that out yet. For now, I'm just using eject from within windows. *PROBLEM SOLVED, CHECK MY POST BELOW*

 

[k1114]

The idea with eject is that you put some sort of materal between the faceplate and the eject button, and the snug fit causes the eject button to be pressed if you tap on the corner of the drive. I did this on my last project with a drop of hot glue, I just cut down the glue with a razor until it was the correct thickness.

 

[BigBadBiologist]

yeah, the problem is that this mod is a little less pliable than the normal DS tape mod so the cover doesn't really flex much.

 

[plasman]

hey man thx for the pics...if i steath my ss56g any time soon i will try and post how i did that as well..( i am planning on adding a fiber optic/clear plastic tube thru the cover for the activity led and maybe some sort of better idea for teh button than just pushin the bottom corner). I have an old button for a keyboard that i think would do nicely. just gotta figure out how to do this. but *sigh* im at college right now and dont have access to all the stuff i need to mod it.

 

[zeusenergy]

-What about the eject? -Well, I haven't totally figured that out yet. For now, I'm just using eject from within windows.

You might be best served by taking the drive apart and soldering wires onto the switch contacts. Then you can mount a switch anywhere you want. On something like your SFF, the reset button could be used and of course the original power switch when held will take over reset tasks. A connector pigtail coming out of the drive would be easy to add, then use a connector on the end to plug into the switch wiring, so the drive can still be removed from the case. This way your PERFECT stealth mod will not look compromised with some hole or switch in it! I really like your method of flattening the front door to mount the panel, it's much more robust than double- sided tape for sure! And it looks great...

 

[DarkMonkey]

Why go through all that effort of epoxy just to make a flat surface? Pop the front bezel off and you're left with the perfectly flat surface of the drive bay itself. Easier, faster, cheaper.

 

[BigBadBiologist]

The screw holes for the bay cover are wider (and a bit lower) than the tray alone. Also, there is a gap between the front of the tray and the rest of the drive face plate.

 

[Troney1169]

I just hotglue mine 3 years and going no reglue'n. And for the eject button with a shuttle i'd just reroute it but for my tower i used those clicky erasers (the ones that are about the size of a inside of a bic pen well they are the same size round as the button) and i just cut off a length of that and glued it to the button itself works great way better than that sticky foam tape cause that compresses over time.

 

[BigBadBiologist]

You might be best served by taking the drive apart and soldering wires onto the switch contacts. Then you can mount a switch anywhere you want. On something like your SFF, the reset button could be used and of course the original power switch when held will take over reset tasks. A connector pigtail coming out of the drive would be easy to add, then use a connector on the end to plug into the switch wiring, so the drive can still be removed from the case. This way your PERFECT stealth mod will not look compromised with some hole or switch in it! I really like your method of flattening the front door to mount the panel, it's much more robust than double- sided tape for sure! And it looks great...

I actually found a way for the eject to work. I loosened up the right screw just a very tiny bit. Then I super glued a little piece of zip tie onto the eject button. The spacing is perfect so that you just have to push on the lower right front of the drive lightly and it will eject.

 

[AMD T-type]

damn i wish i could do that to my SV45GV2

the 5.25 bay cover is just a clear peice of plastic with silver paper behind it, almost impossible to mod and still look like the original because of the paper