Project NN (beigeboxbuild)

[tominox]

It’s time again to build a new system. I am quite poor, so the idea is to save as much money as possible on the build. I don’t plan on skimping out on essential components, but certain things, such as the case and certain modding supplies, I’m not spending a dime on. I have a ton of random scrap around...speaker grills, plexiglass, copper sheets and copper tubing, vinyl hose, etc...that I plan on using in the build.

I acquired an old p3 tower that I plan to use for this build. It comes with a removable ATX motherboard tray, two 5.75” drive bays, and six 3.5” drive bays (three of which are housed in a removable tray). The spot for the power supply is at the top back.

The construction of the case is very solid – it is 1mm thick steel and weighs 8 kg (17lbs) empty. Both sides of the case as well as the top are removable.

I don't want to give too much away on what my build plan is, but my timeline for completion is a few months. In that time, I plan to transform this very generic looking case into something truly unique and spectacular.

 

[cputeki]

case looks pretty big. will be checking in on your work to see how it goes along.

 

[tominox]

I used a jigaw, dremel tool, hand files and a wire wheel to remove excess metal on the front of the case and to debur the edges. The cuts are relatively straight, not perfect, but they won't be visible anyways.

I have a sheet of 1/4" plexiglass that is a bit scratched up from which I will be creating the new front panel. The scratches don't matter much - they will not be visible. I taped off the required area, and cut it out. Next I measured the required openings for the optical drive bays and cut those out too. The plexiglass I cut with a jigsaw on low speed, and fine tuned the cuts using metal files.

The front panel is far from done - as you can see there are going to be a pair of fans there. Originally I planned on 120mm fans, but then I realized that there was enough room for 2 140mm fans while still leaving hopefully just enough room for fan speed switches, front USB ports, power and reset buttons. The fans will sit on the outside of the new front panel, and they will be covered with another sheet of plexiglass. For that, I will be modifying an old toaster to make a plexiglass bender.

Here is how the front panel is going to look with 2x 140mm fans. Those metal brackets I'm using to help me visualize the fan placement, as they are the same height as the fans I will be using (25mm):

 

[tominox]

A quick sketchup showing the next part of the front panel I am going to be working on:

 

[Crispy002]

Make the fan holes the full 120mm size imo. Losing airflow and causing turbulence with it any smaller.

 

[tominox]

Make the fan holes the full 120mm size imo. Losing airflow and causing turbulence with it any smaller.

Yes, the fan holes will be full size - the 3d image was mostly to help me figure out how I am going to create the front panel.

Small update today. I found some 4" speaker enclosures and took the meshing out from them. These will be used on the two 140mm fans. They are large enough to cover the fan, but not wide enough at the corners to reach the fan mounting holes. I will come up with a way to mount them when I get to that part of the front panel.

As for mounting the front panel to the case, I kept and reused the original mounting hardware - 4 pronged clips that fit into holes on the front of the case. I marked and drilled holes including a countersink in the plexiglass, and attached them using aluminium rivets. These holes will later be filled with bondo or covered up by some other means.

 

[tominox]

Finished shaping the first layer of the plexiglass front. I also found some different types of meshing material - a speaker cover from a 12" sub, and a small metal cart that has perforated steel shelves. For the plexiglass, the outside edges as well as the opening for the optical drives need to be as smooth as possible, as they will be visible. After jigsawing the openings, I filed them with a rough file until they were straight, then sanded with 80, 100, 150, 300 and 400 grit sand paper. I had troubles with the cutting, but in the end it came out looking great. I did not finish the fan openings to such a high degree as I did with the edges and optical drive openings, as the fan openings will not be visible.

 

[nlancaster]

Looks pretty kewl. maybe it would look better if those 4 prong retainers were screwed on? instead of a visible rivet on the front?

Wish I could find a place to buy these. I have wanted some for some custom case work i want to do, and have been unable to fine them.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Power5]

Beautiful work on that front panel. Those front clips are perfect too.

 

[tominox]

Looks pretty kewl. maybe it would look better if those 4 prong retainers were screwed on? instead of a visible rivet on the front?

The hole for the rivet is countersunk, I plan on making the rivet not visible from the front. One idea involves filling the outside hole with bondo, and painting the front panel. The other idea is a bit more unconventional.... Either way, it's not going to be visible.

Today I decided to create ventilation in the top panel using some of the perforated meshing I had acquired the other day (it was rusting in a back alley, I liberated it). The pictures speak for themselves:

I am not happy with how the rivets look in the top. I will be keeping an eye out for some other mounting hardware, and if I find some then I will drill the rivets out and install it with the screws instead. All this is also going to get painted eventually - so I'm thinking that when its all one color, the rivet heads wont stand out as much. Of course the simple solution would be to run to the hardware store and get the hardware I need, but part of the idea behind this build is to be as cheap as possible if I can get away with it. So far everything has been free.

 

[Power5]

Heh, I read the PSU label as Krapo....

Top looks great.

 

[tominox]

Just one small update for today:

The original motherboard tray had these removable pieces above the motherboard rear plate. I cut this area out, and riveted in some meshing. Unfortunately, due to clearance issues, I was only able to rivet on the one side, but it sits flush on the opposite side as well, and it is quite sturdy.

I am working on a few other things right now, and my next update will be a much larger one.

 

[ekuest]

that mesh looks hella restrictive. youre probably gonna want to space the fans a little away if you have any up there. looks interesting though! also love the free stuff part. i like free also.

 

[Power5]

JB weld baby. I bet that will vibrate if you don't do something.

 

[tominox]

I got a few more things done with this build.

First of all, the plexiglass front panel broke, due to careless drilling on my part. I ended up finding a large sheet of metal, from what appears to be an industrial furnace, that I will use to make the new front.

I also decided to solder on the meshing that is above the I/O back panel of the motherboard:

I started modifying the side panel:

Here I marked the opening for the 120mm fans, and drilled out the holes, to give more air flow.

Next I worked on the plexiglass window:

Finally I hit it with a quick coat of high gloss black, just to see what its gonna look like. When it comes to painting I will prime it and sand it and paint it properly, but I was being impatient and wanted to see a preview of it.

 

[Cursed]

Looking good. Those cuts are really clean.