[Questions] Painting the interior of my case

[macrospect]

Well, after staring at that boring grey primer on the inside of my CM Stacker case, I finally decided to paint it up. I took all of my hardware out of it, and removed what seemed like 80 screws (Kudos to CoolerMaster for using a lot of screws, and not rivets). Also, for those areas where there are rivets, they are easy to remove (IE the PSU bay). I also have a rivet gun so there will be no issues when I go to put it back together.

Anywho, I got the case down to its bare bones. From there I took some 300 grit and gave it a good sanding (figured I would start with bare metal). I sanded for about 4 hours tonight, then called it quits. I will go back and finished some of those rough areas, and give it a good bath.

Now, I must decide what paints I am going to use. In the past I have used DupliColor's paints. I have been impressed with their results. First thing I need to figure out is what primer I am going to use. Since I am going to be painting the inside black (to match the rest of the case), I was hoping to find a black primer. I have been reading regular primers really dont work that well on bear metal. I know Qtip and a few other members mentioned somewhere that self-etching primer should be used. I really want something which bonds well to the metal. What are your guys thoughts on this? I know DupliColor only makes self etching in that ungodly brownish green, but hopefully with enough coats will prevent that from ever show through (the reason I wanted to use black primer, is if it scratch the inside somewhere, I want it to be somewhat discreet).

From there its just a matter of painting it with the main color. I think I am going to go matte black (again to match the outside), but I dont know what my options are as far as paint goes.

For those of you who have painted your cases matte, do you use a clearcoat when you are all finished? Any ideas if DupliColor matte clearcoat even exists? How about MATTE clearcoat enamel?

Thanks for any comments.

Oh, and I will try and post some pics up tomorrow. Should show a better idea of what I am talking about.

 

[Qtip42]

Do you have a Baxter auto parts near by (if you live in Oregon or Washington)? They sell SEM self-etch in a couple of different colors (in rattle can that is). I believe black, red, and gray. If not, try calling all of the auto parts stores in your area, one is bound to have it.

It's hugely important to use self etch. If the can doesn't specifically say self-etch, it's not self-etch. Some say they bond to metal but it's not the same.


edit: It's also important to note that self-etch primer is not a filler in any way. It's only supposed to be use lightly (1-2 light coats) followed by whatever base color you are using.

edit2: If you want to lessen the scratches that show up, use 400grit.

edit3: I've used a matte clear rattle can once (can't remember what brand). Works alright for small parts.

 

[macrospect]

Thanks for the reply Qtip.

Af far as Iknow there is not a Baxter auto parts store around here. If there is I have never heard of it. I will look into SEM self-etching primers though.

One question. Can I use a filler ontop of the self-etching? I have a few scratches here and there that I would like to be filled. If it cannot be used ontop like that then I wont worry about it. Next time I will use a finer grit; allthough what I sanded tonight did not nearly come close to creating any large scratches in the steel.

As for my top coat, how is SEM for their other paints (besides for their primers, that is if you have used them)? I like to keep all of the coats from the same type manufacturer (have had too many weird things happen in the past).

I will have to also look into that matte clearcoat too. I actually have a can of matte Krylon sitting right next to me (use it for sealing my printed CD's). I may test spray that on one of my parts (like the PSU bay) to see how well it turns out.

Thanks again!

 

[Qtip42]

You can use a filler on top but your best bet is just to sand out the deep scratches before you do any spraying. Saves you a few bucks not having to buy a filler primer (which most of them suck). SEM makes all kinds of good stuff. They have spray filler primers I believe which are much better but they also cost more. The self etch I believe runs from $12-15.

Since you don't have a Baxters, try just looking in the yellow pages under auto parts. Call a couple of them and ask if they carry SEM products.

Why not powdercoat btw?

 

[macrospect]

I would have loved to do a powercoat, but there is no way that I have access to a oven. I also am not going to pay someone else to do it for me.

On another note, I think I may have found a supplier who carries SEM paints. I will give them a call today to see what they carry.

 

[macrospect]

Hello everyone. For those of you who are interested in this thread I figured I would give it a little update.

Since I had last posted I went out to my local auto store (Pep Boys) and purchased some Dupli-Color paints. Yes, I did not go with SEM. The only place that carried them around me is only open on the weekdays, and I really wanted to get this mod going. So I ended up with purchasing Dupli-Color's greenish self etching primer. I must say that stuff does an awesome job. It goes on really nice and evenly, dries within minutes, and is ready to sand in 30 mins. It also REALLY sticks. I was actually impressed to see how well it bonded to the steel. I have never used self etching before, so whenever I painted metal the primer always rubs right off.

Any who the steps involved:

Sorry I didn’t take pictures before. I sort of forgot.
First step is to break down your whole case. This means where ever there is a screw which you can remove, take it out. Many cases are riveted but mine for the most part is held together with screws. Once you get it down to the barebones check to see if removing the rivets will make your job any easier. For reference I went to sears and bought a rivet gun for $20, and rivets for $2. Seeing my case is so large I did not have to break it down to the point where I had to remove the drive bays. I did however remove the PSU bay to make painting the upper back easier.
From there I attacked it with some 300 grit sandpaper to roughen it up. As Qtip mentioned, you should use 400. I went out today and bought some 400 and re-sanded everything.
After that break out the garden hose, a scrub brush, and a toothbrush. I wet sanded some of mine (keeps the dust down), so there was a mess inside the case. After I cleaned it for 30 minutes or so I was satisfied it was clean. I then proceeded by drying it off with a non linty towel. I used an air compressor to make quick work.
Make sure it is dry and lint free! This will ruin your paint job right off if it is not.
After your naked case is all shiny and dry you can now start with the primer. As I said above I used Dupli-Color's. MAKE SURE TO WEAR A MASK! Primer has some REALYL nasty chemicals in it, and it also becomes airborne MUCH easier than regular top-coat paint does. Also, work somewhere where you know you arent going to get overspray all over the place. This stuff makes a mess, and you can easily cover a car with the overspray if you are working in a garage.
Now, I didn’t go too sanding crazy as most of you do. I just did some basic sanding on the primer. I basically laid 3 coats on; each 3 minutes a piece (as the can said). I let it cure for 30 mins and then went to work on wet sanding it. The can recommended 400 grit (I thought that was way too rough for the nice priming job I did (let alone I did not want to have to go through repainting it again (that stuff really IS toxic!)). So I decided on some 600 grit wet sand that I had lying around. As it turns out that was the perfect stuff to use. It took the very top overspray layer right off, giving me a nice even surface. If you notice that you have some bear spots (IE where the primer got a little light), hit it with another coat and re-sand it.
Again, since I made a mess with the wet sand I took my case out 11 o'clock at night to give it a bath . Good thing it was nice outside tonight!
From there I re-dried it and masked off a few areas which I did not want to paint (IE the rails for the doors). So, this is basically where I left off tonight. It is all ready to be hit with some black semi-gloss tomorrow. I am hoping that won’t be too much of a problem.
I did take some pics of the work which I did tonight:

The primed stacker:

The primed parts which I removed from the stacker:

The paint I am going to use for my topcoat

Yes, it is hi-temp paint which is good for 500F. I used that so I can get a extra 30mhz over clock out of my cpu.



Until next time!
DaRkF0g

PS. If there are any grammatikel errors, its the primers fault.

 

[Qtip42]

I didnt actually know duplicolor made a self etch. Never seen it before. I figured you meant one of their other primers. Good work.

 

[macrospect]

Yep. As I said before they only make it in that one color though. Since I got lucky enough to find semi gloss black enamel (the real reason I got the hi temp was because Pep Boys did not have regular seli gloss enamel) in Dupli-Color I just decided to use their self etch primer as well. I wanted enamel becuase it cures harder than other spray paints do.

The only thing that is bugging me about this project is the wire managment. Before I had a bunch of ashesive wire fasteners. I dont know what they are called. They are little adhesive black squares, which on the top side you can put a wire tie through to secure wires to the side of the case. What is bugging me is if I ever decided that I wanted to remove one of those things I would have one heck of a mess on my hands. When I went to remove the existing ones I had to use pliers, then after that carb cleaner to remove the adhesive residue. I could see that taking all the paint away in this case. I guess I will just have to do some thoughtfull placment.

On the other hand, I did decide to revise my USB headers a bit. I am sure some of you know how there are 6 USB ports on the front of the stacker. Since their wires are a little too bulky to be running to the headers, I decided to use a hub. The way I figure it is I am going to take a hub and wire each of the 6 ports up to a respective port on the hub. I will then run the hub off of the 5V rail from my PSU. Finally, I will run a wire from the hub to a single header on my mainboard. This should help eliminate some clutter in my case. I am trying to shoot for as few cables as possible.

Ill post back here tomorrow if I get the time. Hopefully the weather will hold up for me (IE not be too humid or rain).

 

[macrospect]

Allright I just finished putting the black on. Man was that stuff dusty. It actually contains ceramic, so I think thats what went all over the place. It rankesd pretty close to primer- in terms of messyness, although it did not smell as bad.

Turns out 4 cans was just enough. I have about a 1/4 of a can left.

Anyway, now I have to wait 7 days or so for the stuff to fully cure. It dried pretty fast, but it needs to harden up a bit. Plus I would have 100 little nicks if I were to put it together right now. Ill have to post some pics up later. I dont have my camera with me atm.

Overall I am pretty satisified. I mean its a spraycan. I could have had a lot more troubles if I were to use gloss. On a little side note there was this carpenter bee right above where I was working. I started working and was wondering what the hell all the little specs were in my paint. Turns out it was pine shavings from the bee. Go figure!

Lastly, anyone know how to clean semigloss? It is fairly rough. Its allmost like a thick flat paint. I have a lot of overspray in some areas. I dont think I want to use sandpaper, as it may ruin my paint (IE it will put a bunch of swirls in the paint). If it comes to that I will try sanding the PSU bay first. Ultimately I just want to knock off some of that overspray. The tower has more than any other piece does.

Be back soon with the photos!