Project: I need a name

U

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2[H]4U
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Dec 18, 2000
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2,596
I'm suck at naming things so..

Anyway, I had this full aluminum Skyhawk case since 2003. I've painted it candy blue back then and the rattle can spray I used are crappy and the paint started cracking in some places. I'm in the process of stripping all the old paint and prepping for the new automotive paint.

Heres some pics of the progress so far.

Rice case lol
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I guess some of you might remember the wiring
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I kept the case in storage for ~2 years and God its dusty!
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I've stripped the chassis and painted the components individually. No pics sadly.

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Some bondo work

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Added rear 92mm (largest I can fit there)
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Primered:
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More pics coming up when the primer is cured.

I'm getting it painted the same color as my car, which I painted myself :)
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w00t!

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I messed up with the spray gun settings and the finish is rough. Nothing that a color sand and buff can't fix! Can't wait till the paint fully cured.
 
That looks really badass. Get some heat spreaders on your RAM to match the exterior paint job :)
 
Thanks! I'm working on color coding stuffs to match the exterior paint.

I've sanded and buffed the left and top panels. I had to do it manually by hand since the buffer is too big for the panel and risks damaging the paint at the edges. My hand hurts!

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Front bezel and right panel next!

I'm working on the front bezel with custom switches and power/HDD LEDs. Any ideas on how I should do it? I was thinking on mounting them of the blank 5.25" cover below the DVD drive. I'm looking for a sleek and clean solution to go well with the theme.

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Also, keep in mind that I didn't spend a thing on this project. I have all the paint and supplies left from the car's paintjob. The only thing that I have to spend money on is the rivets, which is just few dollars lol
 
Nicely chosen colour and very shiny! Great job :D
 
that is so cool, it looks amazing, good choice in colour too!, may I ask what you used to paint your car by the way, i am looking to undertake the same project as mine is screwed up and it would cost a fortune i dont have to pay someone, did you use a compressed sprayer or what? sorry i dont want to hijackthread so feel free to pm me :),

but on note you have done a great job! one of the better paint jobs diy ive seen.

-idea: definately find things you can colour match, but dont over do it, an led might look nice with the black interior!
 
carnag3 said:
that is so cool, it looks amazing, good choice in colour too!, may I ask what you used to paint your car by the way, i am looking to undertake the same project as mine is screwed up and it would cost a fortune i dont have to pay someone, did you use a compressed sprayer or what? sorry i dont want to hijackthread so feel free to pm me :),

but on note you have done a great job! one of the better paint jobs diy ive seen.

-idea: definately find things you can colour match, but dont over do it, an led might look nice with the black interior!
Click to expand...

I used spray gun and air compressor for both car and case paintjob. Not the best equipment but it gets the job done.

I need a suggestion about case lightings. I know orange light and LED fan would look sweet but I have tons of blue and red LEDs lying around, and since I'm cheap I'd love to use that instead of spending money on LEDs and fans.

So what do you think of blue or red and orange combination?

As for color match, I have no idea what I should do lol. Ideas guys?!
 
That is a pretty classy case sir. If you must use leftover LEDs, go with the red and orange LEDs. Blue LEDs are just obnoxious and will break the classy look of the case. Nevermind the fact that blue leds are painful to look at.
 
Wow, it's amazing how a classy paintjob and some effort can completely change a case like that. Great fricken' job!
 
I made the switch/LED/USB panel yesterday. I cannibalize the power button from an old ugly case I had in storage and epoxied the switch on the 5.25" cover. I forgot to take pics of the process lol. I'll get some pics when I took the bezel of again to install fan filter.

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Its red LED on the left for the HDD activity and orange on the right and the ring around the button. I should've made a reset button too lol.

That split loom is temporary until I receive my sleeving kit. I have to connect the USB cable to upper USB header since the cable I extended is an inch too short to reach the bottom header. I'll figure out how to hide the cable later.
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Moved my hard disk to the bottom for no reason. All visible wires will be sleeved once I get the sleeving kit, so ignore them for the moment!
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Excuse the quality of the pics.
 
Definitely like the color, and I vote for Project: Rice Repo, whoever posted that sounds spot on!
 
Finally some decent pics!

I've sanded and buffed both right panel and front bezel.

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Comments guys? :)

edit: I should have cleaned the edges before taking the pics. Those are leftover from rubbing compund. Ignore them lol

and those drive bay cover are temporary, so they are crooked a bit.
 
That's one fresh case, if you catch my drift ;)
 
In light of the Mentos you should call it Project Freshmaker.

The automotive paint really is a nice touch. I remember VoodooPCs charging about 10 billion dollars for their computers because they had automotive paint on them...
 
Added 14 red LEDs I had lying around as case lighting. It's bright! Almost as bright as single CCFL. Looks okay I guess. I just bought myself a new (good!) camera. Enjoy the pics!

4 of them at the bottom
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3 mounted near the DVD drive, not pictured is 7 more mounted at the top. It's tricky to get a decent pic of the top LEDs.
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More wiring pics. That split loom is temporary, I really need to sleeve all those wires. I am really broke right now, so that has to wait.
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Back of the mobo tray
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Custom power button, USB ports and power/HDD LEDs
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Night pics
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Haha yeah. I underestimated the power of the LEDs, man they sure is bright!

I'll add couple more near the card reader to illuminate the upper vid card portion.
 
How about Project Orange Box? lol I really like the color and paint job! Very nice!
 
Haha that sounds great too.

Anyway, I sleeved moset exposed wires today.

First is the HDD power cable. I didn't do all the way to the PSU since its going to be hidden and the kit has barely enough sleeves to do the whole case.
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The long ass USB cable for the front mounted ports.
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USB card reader:
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PCI-E power cable, murdermod style. I cheated by doing only parts that is visible lol. Nobody going to see them unless you take off the backside panel.
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Case power switch/LED. Again, cheated a bit:D
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Next is the ATX power cable. I didn't remove the individual pins since its very time consuming, I just cut them off, sleeve individual wires, solder the wires back and heatshrink them. As long as you know how to solder properly, its way easier than to remove the individual pins.
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Done. Man I don't want to see anymore power wires!!
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Backside
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All done:
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Decided not to hide the bottom cables. Instead I opted to show them off. Its too empty without any cables under and looked weird. It looked cool with the sleeves lol. Now I really need to find black SATA cables.
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Also, here are some pics taken with my car few days ago. You can see the pearl effect in action, enjoy!

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Nice attention to details, even if you took some shortcuts ;)
 
I gotta admit, I was not digging the color when you first showed your car... I was thinking, "Yeah it looks good on the car, but on a computer case? No way!"

You definitely pulled it off though, looks very nice and original. Congrats!
 
Mouse and keyboard are still black... wtf? Lets see 'em done in matching orange too! :D
 
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