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The Bodyswap (modernizing a classic)
- Thread starter jamsomito
- Start date
Ok, got a lot more progress on the sketchup model. Good thing too because I put the side window where I wanted it and it turns out that there's no way it would have gone where I originally planned lol. The front window is going to be a challenge to figure out... leaving it as-is with no window would be an option, but it would be a shame to not see that green LED fan right in front. The next big step is to play around with that until I get something that looks good. Anyways, here's the progress since last time -
Ok, so one of the ideas I've been struggling with is the one regarding the vent holes at the top of the case. With a positive pressure design, you have to have somewhere for the air to escape to, or else all the power of the intake fans will be wasted. Essentially, you have to have the same airflow in as out. I've been toying around with the idea of putting 2 vent holes near the 120mm fan at the top. See below -
I think it's a good idea, but I just don't know about the location. I don't want to short circuit the airflow for the top fan... i.e. I don't want it pulling in fresh air from the vent holes and blowing it right out the top... that would be pointless. What I want is just for the air built up inside from the excess pressure of more intake than exhaust fans to essentially seep out these holes to relieve the heat buildup at the top.
Does anybody have any experience with this? What do you think about the size and location of these vents? In the end they will be covered with hex mesh for looks (probably painted black). Looking for any and all input here. Thanks for the help.
I think it's a good idea, but I just don't know about the location. I don't want to short circuit the airflow for the top fan... i.e. I don't want it pulling in fresh air from the vent holes and blowing it right out the top... that would be pointless. What I want is just for the air built up inside from the excess pressure of more intake than exhaust fans to essentially seep out these holes to relieve the heat buildup at the top.
Does anybody have any experience with this? What do you think about the size and location of these vents? In the end they will be covered with hex mesh for looks (probably painted black). Looking for any and all input here. Thanks for the help.
I may be wrong, but wouldn't the positive pressure insure the venting holes be venting and not supplying fresh air?
What about making the vent holes closeable. ie: have a sliding "door" to open or close the vents and that may enable you to "tune" the air pressure / air flow as well.
What about making the vent holes closeable. ie: have a sliding "door" to open or close the vents and that may enable you to "tune" the air pressure / air flow as well.
A quick calculation shows that approx 100 cfm of air needs to escape the case somewhere other than through the fans.
INTAKE
140mm - 3x 62.5 cfm
120mm - 1x 69.7 cfm
TOT = 257 cfm
EXHAUST
90mm - 1x 35 cfm
120mm - ~65 cfm
PSU - ~50 cfm
TOT = 150 cfm
Air "Leak" = INTAKE - EXHAUST = 107 cfm
This is of course with all the fans at full blast except the PSU fan, which I can't control.
INTAKE
140mm - 3x 62.5 cfm
120mm - 1x 69.7 cfm
TOT = 257 cfm
EXHAUST
90mm - 1x 35 cfm
120mm - ~65 cfm
PSU - ~50 cfm
TOT = 150 cfm
Air "Leak" = INTAKE - EXHAUST = 107 cfm
This is of course with all the fans at full blast except the PSU fan, which I can't control.
It's an interesting point. The only thing I don't like about it is that it would be "short circuiting" the air flow in the bottom left of the case. Exhausting there wouldn't allow the air any chance to cool the components... except for maybe the video card. I guess I'd like to vent the air as close to the top as possible, but I'll consider it.
Another option, though this would require additional purchases, would be to get some more modders mesh and extend the top vent holes along the entire length of the case.
So this weekend is the big weekend! I'll be taking a trip to my parents; they've let me use their tools and workspaces, so hopefully this will turn out looking better than if I had just done it all on my porch with my dremel tool. That means I need to finalize the sketchup model before friday, so I'll be posting my progress and finished model shortly.
Another option, though this would require additional purchases, would be to get some more modders mesh and extend the top vent holes along the entire length of the case.
So this weekend is the big weekend! I'll be taking a trip to my parents; they've let me use their tools and workspaces, so hopefully this will turn out looking better than if I had just done it all on my porch with my dremel tool. That means I need to finalize the sketchup model before friday, so I'll be posting my progress and finished model shortly.
Cool. Have fun modding! And if you're looking for modder's mesh on the cheap and quick, look at staples or target for those mesh office accessories; like the mesh trash can or desktop file organizer. You can get decent sized pieces of mesh out of stuff like that for cheap. Just something to consider
Ok, this week turned out to be a little busier than I had planned, which means my sketchup model is not done
It's close, though. I'll be flying by the seat of my pants on some of the work this weekend, but I know there will be some stuff that would have come up even if I HAD completed the 3D model beforehand... nothing ever just seems to work out perfectly.
Anyway, I've got everything all packed up, ready for the big trip to the workshop! (excuse the horrible phone pics)
Can't wait!
It's close, though. I'll be flying by the seat of my pants on some of the work this weekend, but I know there will be some stuff that would have come up even if I HAD completed the 3D model beforehand... nothing ever just seems to work out perfectly.
Anyway, I've got everything all packed up, ready for the big trip to the workshop! (excuse the horrible phone pics)
Can't wait!
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Alright; a long weekend of working in the garage and the mod is about 90% done. The last 10% always takes the longest though... All the holes are cut and most of the pieces are painted. I'm still working on sanding and re-painting to get the areas that have drips or uneven paint. As a perfectionist by nature, these little things really annoy me; sooner or later I'll call it good enough and just put it all together. I can tell you it's close though.
I'm really happy with how everything turned out for the most part. The rubber u-channel on the white paint really looks good.
I'll leave you all with a teaser till I have more time to edit pics and put the whole thing together.
I'm really happy with how everything turned out for the most part. The rubber u-channel on the white paint really looks good.
I'll leave you all with a teaser till I have more time to edit pics and put the whole thing together.
As promised, here's some more pics with the progress:
My mobile workstation; my parents were kind enough to let me take over their dining room table and garage for the weekend. I've got the case all marked up, ready for cutting.
Rear 90mm hole - no template
Bottom 140mm holes - no template
Front 120mm hole - used PSU enclosure for template
Top 120mm hole - used PSU enclosure for template
Starting to mark mobo tray cable holes - note my trusty dinosaur ruler I got in 3rd grade... can't believe my parents still have it!
All marked up
I only have a couple pics of the "manufacturing" process... here's one of me using one of my dad's fancy tools (he has everything...) on the plastic front plate.
All done. Plexiglass was cut on the table saw (same with the side window). Most of the other parts were cut with a jigsaw and flexible metal blade. Holes were drilled on a drill press. I used my dremel for some of the touchup work where screws holes didn't line up, etc... I spent about 6 hours in the garage cutting, drilling, and sawing everything.
PAINT
Optical drive face plate
Finished mobo tray
Placement mock-up
u-channel was tough to get around the bends... I wouldn't go any tighter than that in the future. It lays nice now that it's on.
HDD mounted and mock-up cabling. It fits!
System wiring mock-up. I also wouldn't go any smaller on the mobo holes because the big mobo power connector almost didn't fit after I put the u-channel on.
Unfortunately, the finish was not turning out the way I wanted it to before I had to pack up and come home. I grabbed some cardboard so I could finish painting back at my place. Here's the parts that needed sanding and re-coating. There's still a few coats to do, but I'm at the mercy of the weather here, so it may be a little bit before I wrap everything up.
I decided that the internal components were good enough to assemble, so today I started putting things back together. Here's the frame
Riveted back together (with white rivets even!)
Rear 90mm inside
Rear 90mm from the back
Front 120mm
Bottom 140mm's - in the future, I'd come up with some kind of object to trace that's approximately the size of the hole I want. The template I had was made out of paper, which could flex and probably was not perfectly circle to start with, so the holes turned out a little off-circular. I still think it looks good, and it probably won't be seen much anyway considering it's under the fans... you don't usually show off the bottom of your case. Here's how they turned out
Case assembled
So that's where I'm at today. Much more exciting updates to come once the weather holds out long enough for a few more coats of paint. I'd love to hear your comments and criticisms too, so don't be shy. Thanks for viewing!
My mobile workstation; my parents were kind enough to let me take over their dining room table and garage for the weekend. I've got the case all marked up, ready for cutting.
Rear 90mm hole - no template
Bottom 140mm holes - no template
Front 120mm hole - used PSU enclosure for template
Top 120mm hole - used PSU enclosure for template
Starting to mark mobo tray cable holes - note my trusty dinosaur ruler I got in 3rd grade... can't believe my parents still have it!
All marked up
I only have a couple pics of the "manufacturing" process... here's one of me using one of my dad's fancy tools (he has everything...) on the plastic front plate.
All done. Plexiglass was cut on the table saw (same with the side window). Most of the other parts were cut with a jigsaw and flexible metal blade. Holes were drilled on a drill press. I used my dremel for some of the touchup work where screws holes didn't line up, etc... I spent about 6 hours in the garage cutting, drilling, and sawing everything.
PAINT
Optical drive face plate
Finished mobo tray
Placement mock-up
u-channel was tough to get around the bends... I wouldn't go any tighter than that in the future. It lays nice now that it's on.
HDD mounted and mock-up cabling. It fits!
System wiring mock-up. I also wouldn't go any smaller on the mobo holes because the big mobo power connector almost didn't fit after I put the u-channel on.
Unfortunately, the finish was not turning out the way I wanted it to before I had to pack up and come home. I grabbed some cardboard so I could finish painting back at my place. Here's the parts that needed sanding and re-coating. There's still a few coats to do, but I'm at the mercy of the weather here, so it may be a little bit before I wrap everything up.
I decided that the internal components were good enough to assemble, so today I started putting things back together. Here's the frame
Riveted back together (with white rivets even!)
Rear 90mm inside
Rear 90mm from the back
Front 120mm
Bottom 140mm's - in the future, I'd come up with some kind of object to trace that's approximately the size of the hole I want. The template I had was made out of paper, which could flex and probably was not perfectly circle to start with, so the holes turned out a little off-circular. I still think it looks good, and it probably won't be seen much anyway considering it's under the fans... you don't usually show off the bottom of your case. Here's how they turned out
Case assembled
So that's where I'm at today. Much more exciting updates to come once the weather holds out long enough for a few more coats of paint. I'd love to hear your comments and criticisms too, so don't be shy. Thanks for viewing!
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kschaffner
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Jan 2, 2006
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- 1,099
Looks pretty damn sick
Flyinfinni
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Nov 24, 2009
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- 1,300
Very slick. Nice work man.
Happy Friday!
The Good
I got a few more parts' finishes to the way I'd like them. The top section turned out AWESOME! I'm really happy with it. You'll also notice in the pics that I decided to cut the vent holes the length of the piece, to match the width of the side panel window. I figured there was going to be enough excess air in the case that I wanted someplace for it to go, and for it to go upwards... not just out any old cracks in the case. I haven't picked up any mesh yet, but I'm really close to just going to OfficeMax or something like that and picking up a cheap black mesh paper organizer like cmadki4 said. Anyway, here's how it turned out:
(after I took the pics I realized my camera was set to ISO 1600 sorry for the bad quality)
Likewise, the side panel came out really well too... I'm really happy with how everything looks.
And the whole thing put together -
Also, I'm pretty happy with the amount of u-channel I ordered. This is all I have left after applying everywhere it was needed (20ft!) -
The Bad
So, I've ran into my first big problem... THE SIDE PANEL DOESN'T FIT!
I believe my reaction went something like this:
I completely neglected the fact that rivets actually stick through the other side, and that they may not have been contained entirely inside the case (i.e. not in the way of the frame). So, I got to thinking. McMaster has some "rivet" threaded inserts... I was thinking about getting some of these, inserting them from the back, and then screwing them in from the front... check it out here:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=bsapkb
But I'm still not sure the best way of going about fastening the acrylic panel to the metal side panel. If you have any suggestions, please let me know, I'm all ears!
The Ugly
So this is the kind of trouble I'm having with the finish...
This happened when I applied the clear coat. My initial thoughts were that either I applied too much in one layer, or the metal was too cold (it was a little chilly outside). Has anyone had any experience with something like this? Are my assumptions correct? I'm hoping just sanding it down and re-applying the clear will be good enough and it didn't affect all my layers of color underneath...
Also, there was a small problem with the acrylic panel and the table saw:
Looks like there was some grit on the table when it was being pushed through for the cut and it scratched through the protective plastic on the window... It's kind of hard to see; the scratches could be worse, and at least they're in nice perpendicular angles (not like a screw was loose in the case it was shipped in or anything like that). And you really have to hit just the right angle to see them. Most of the time they're unnoticeable. I just hope that when I get my cold cathodes running inside that they don't pop out like a sore thumb.
...the scratches are deep enough to feel by running your finger over the surface.
Anyway, these are probably typical problems for all you experienced modders out there, but it's the first time I've seen them. I'm still thinking about how to solve these issues while waiting for a good calm, warm day to go finish my painting, so in the meantime feel free to offer any suggestions.
Thanks again. Till next time!
The Good
I got a few more parts' finishes to the way I'd like them. The top section turned out AWESOME! I'm really happy with it. You'll also notice in the pics that I decided to cut the vent holes the length of the piece, to match the width of the side panel window. I figured there was going to be enough excess air in the case that I wanted someplace for it to go, and for it to go upwards... not just out any old cracks in the case. I haven't picked up any mesh yet, but I'm really close to just going to OfficeMax or something like that and picking up a cheap black mesh paper organizer like cmadki4 said. Anyway, here's how it turned out:
(after I took the pics I realized my camera was set to ISO 1600
sorry for the bad quality)
Likewise, the side panel came out really well too... I'm really happy with how everything looks.
And the whole thing put together -
Also, I'm pretty happy with the amount of u-channel I ordered. This is all I have left after applying everywhere it was needed (20ft!) -
The Bad
So, I've ran into my first big problem... THE SIDE PANEL DOESN'T FIT!
I believe my reaction went something like this:
I completely neglected the fact that rivets actually stick through the other side, and that they may not have been contained entirely inside the case (i.e. not in the way of the frame). So, I got to thinking. McMaster has some "rivet" threaded inserts... I was thinking about getting some of these, inserting them from the back, and then screwing them in from the front... check it out here:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=bsapkb
But I'm still not sure the best way of going about fastening the acrylic panel to the metal side panel. If you have any suggestions, please let me know, I'm all ears!
The Ugly
So this is the kind of trouble I'm having with the finish...
This happened when I applied the clear coat. My initial thoughts were that either I applied too much in one layer, or the metal was too cold (it was a little chilly outside). Has anyone had any experience with something like this? Are my assumptions correct? I'm hoping just sanding it down and re-applying the clear will be good enough and it didn't affect all my layers of color underneath...
Also, there was a small problem with the acrylic panel and the table saw:
Looks like there was some grit on the table when it was being pushed through for the cut and it scratched through the protective plastic on the window... It's kind of hard to see; the scratches could be worse, and at least they're in nice perpendicular angles (not like a screw was loose in the case it was shipped in or anything like that). And you really have to hit just the right angle to see them. Most of the time they're unnoticeable. I just hope that when I get my cold cathodes running inside that they don't pop out like a sore thumb.
...the scratches are deep enough to feel by running your finger over the surface.
Anyway, these are probably typical problems for all you experienced modders out there, but it's the first time I've seen them. I'm still thinking about how to solve these issues while waiting for a good calm, warm day to go finish my painting, so in the meantime feel free to offer any suggestions.
Thanks again. Till next time!
Don't be discouraged! It is still coming out really nicely. Modding can be a pain and you can't expect it to go right the first time all the time. Your quality of work has been great so far!
For the paint, I'd say it's either one of two things. One, the paint may have been laid down too fast, not enough time between coats. Two, the clear coat may not be compatible with the paint. Honestly, I've never used clear coating on a case because I'm more of a fan of flat/satin finish, plus gloss paint is usually shiny enough for my liking.
The scratches in the plex aren't all that bad. You may notice them more when there is light inside the case. You may notice a small colored line where the scratch is. If it really ends up bothering you, just cut a new piece, keeping the protective sheets on and add some masking tape to it as well. DO NOT try to buff or polish the scratch out. You'll end up with a semi-smokey look with sanding swirls, because plex is less forgiving than polycarbonate or Lexan(c).
But keep up the great work! Loving the white!
For the paint, I'd say it's either one of two things. One, the paint may have been laid down too fast, not enough time between coats. Two, the clear coat may not be compatible with the paint. Honestly, I've never used clear coating on a case because I'm more of a fan of flat/satin finish, plus gloss paint is usually shiny enough for my liking.
The scratches in the plex aren't all that bad. You may notice them more when there is light inside the case. You may notice a small colored line where the scratch is. If it really ends up bothering you, just cut a new piece, keeping the protective sheets on and add some masking tape to it as well. DO NOT try to buff or polish the scratch out. You'll end up with a semi-smokey look with sanding swirls, because plex is less forgiving than polycarbonate or Lexan(c).
But keep up the great work! Loving the white!
Wahoomcdaniel
Weaksauce
- Joined
- May 2, 2005
- Messages
- 117
Rivet problem solution is to buy shorter rivets.
Measure the entire depth from outside plexi to the interior side of your panel and buy the proper rivet size.
A standard rivet will still have a bump on the inside, but it shouldn't be a ¼ inch projection like you have.
Measure the entire depth from outside plexi to the interior side of your panel and buy the proper rivet size.
A standard rivet will still have a bump on the inside, but it shouldn't be a ¼ inch projection like you have.
Thanks, Wahoomcdaniel... I've considered that, but the problem is that the side panel needs to be almost flush with the frame when sliding on. Maybe I could bend the panel to get it on, but it seems like even a properly sized rivet would be protruding too much.
Do you think a good test would be to dremel the excess down on my current rivet? If so, how far can I go before the rivet fails?
Do you think a good test would be to dremel the excess down on my current rivet? If so, how far can I go before the rivet fails?
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jojo69
[H]F Junkie
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- Sep 13, 2009
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Hey now, this is shaping up really nice...good job!
Wahoomcdaniel
Weaksauce
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- May 2, 2005
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One photo makes it look like you are using a truss head rivet and another looks like a standard rivet.
If using a truss head rivet, I don't know how far you can trim to the end before it looses holding ability. Rivets are cheap - try cutting off the the end off and see what the result is.
If the friction is further towards the head, you're good to go.
Also, you can buy different lengths of truss rivets if that is what you are using.
On a standard rivet, if you trim off the nub completely, you loose the gripping ability. If you use a standard rivet, you may have to drill a hole or oval to provide clearance to insert the panel and lock it in place.
Ok, I've made a bit more progress, but I'll have to wait till another time to write it all up... things have been busy lately.
Turns out the clear coat cracking did ruin the paint down to the primer. I tried sanding it all down, but I only have hand tools and it would have taken forever. I'll have to wait until I can make another trip to my parent's or a friend's place who has a power sander to grind it all off and start over. In the meantime though I checked the fit... with all the cables behind the mobo tray, it took 2 people to cram the side panel on, but it fits!
Basically all that's left is to grind down the excess on the rivets for the side window, see if that works, and if not, try a different fastener. That along with find some mesh for the top vents. Oh, and I can't seem to find one of my 3.5" drive bay covers I could have sworn I had two. I may end up having to put the drive cage back in and installing a floppy drive in it's place or something.
With regards to the types of rivets I'm using... does this help?
The white ones were for the frame; the steel ones were for the side and front panel windows. AFAIK they're just "standard" rivet heads.
Turns out the clear coat cracking did ruin the paint down to the primer. I tried sanding it all down, but I only have hand tools and it would have taken forever. I'll have to wait until I can make another trip to my parent's or a friend's place who has a power sander to grind it all off and start over. In the meantime though I checked the fit... with all the cables behind the mobo tray, it took 2 people to cram the side panel on, but it fits!
Basically all that's left is to grind down the excess on the rivets for the side window, see if that works, and if not, try a different fastener. That along with find some mesh for the top vents. Oh, and I can't seem to find one of my 3.5" drive bay covers
I could have sworn I had two. I may end up having to put the drive cage back in and installing a floppy drive in it's place or something.With regards to the types of rivets I'm using... does this help?
The white ones were for the frame; the steel ones were for the side and front panel windows. AFAIK they're just "standard" rivet heads.
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Wahoomcdaniel
Weaksauce
- Joined
- May 2, 2005
- Messages
- 117
You are using what are called pop rivets. The mandrel is the steel shaft that is pulled towards the rivet gun, expanding the shaft of the softer rivet material (usually aluminum or soft steel) until it shortens and expands as far as it can, and the mandrel snaps off. There is a nub at the end that you may be able to flatten somewhat, but that is the point that attaches the two materials together, other than the rivet head. If you cut off the nub completely, you lose the holding grip.
You may have to leave the nub and make an allowance for its length by notching out the case frame.
One alternative would be something along the lines of a thread insert rive or a flush fastener, if you don't wish to drill the case. There will still be some thickness of a fastener though on the metal side. See links to see the fasteners I am thinking about:
http://www.pemnet.com/fastening_products/pdf/fdata.pdf or www.alibaba.com/showroom/flush-fasteners.html
The problem with these alternatives is that the flush side must be on the metal case side of the sandwiched plexi, and anything that holds from that side will have to have some minimum thickness. Your window, if a hair smaller, may have cleared the edges of your case and the extra wouldn't have mattered. (should have, would have, could have...but it's too late to lament that)
The more I think about it, I agree with MannyMan that you should just notch the case frame for clearance, use regular pop rivets, and touch up the paint in those areas.
You may have to leave the nub and make an allowance for its length by notching out the case frame.
One alternative would be something along the lines of a thread insert rive or a flush fastener, if you don't wish to drill the case. There will still be some thickness of a fastener though on the metal side. See links to see the fasteners I am thinking about:
http://www.pemnet.com/fastening_products/pdf/fdata.pdf or www.alibaba.com/showroom/flush-fasteners.html
The problem with these alternatives is that the flush side must be on the metal case side of the sandwiched plexi, and anything that holds from that side will have to have some minimum thickness. Your window, if a hair smaller, may have cleared the edges of your case and the extra wouldn't have mattered. (should have, would have, could have...but it's too late to lament that)
The more I think about it, I agree with MannyMan that you should just notch the case frame for clearance, use regular pop rivets, and touch up the paint in those areas.
Yes! I was agreed with, You should be able to notch the frame without making it any less durable.
Or you could:
- use shorter pop rivets; less sticking out the other side
- use a nice button head allen bolt and a nut to secure your panel
- cut off some of the excess length on the backside of the rivet and spread it back out. I do it by cutting it with a dremel then bell it back out with a jewelers hammer and a steel rod ground round on the end. You could probably get away with using a regular hammer and screw driver.
Wow, thanks for all the input guys! I'm leaning towards some sort of threaded insert right now (like this http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=bvok5h)... but I'm going to try dremeling down the excess on the current rivets first. I'm also warming up to the idea of notching out the frame. I'll have to think about it a bit more.
I took some time a bit ago to assemble some more parts. I mounted all the components and put in the mobo tray, snapped on the front panel, as well as checked to see if the top would fit. Turns out it does! But I'm finding just how tricky good cable management is... Especially in a case that was never designed for it in the first place.
Looking good -
A bit of a disaster behind the mobo tray... the trick will be getting the side panel on with the heap of wires behind it -
I was able to clean up really well around the top fan though. I'm really happy with the amount of space available for it to "breathe."
Next was the front plexiglass (this was actually Lexan, not Acrylic. We made a mistake when cutting my sheet of acrylic on the table saw... long way first instead of wide way first if that makes any sense. Luckily my dad had some Lexan left over from a router table he made a while back. You can definitely tell a difference when working with the 2 different resins!)
Then I added my black switches and -single- ( ) 3.5" drive bay cover.
I installed the expansion slot covers I had to work with (will pick up a few more at microcenter this weekend)
And lastly, I crammed the side panel on over all the wires behind the mobo tray (that wasn't designed to do that...). It took me and my wife both pushing down the edges for the latching mechanism while I pulled it into place. But it fits! Bulge doesn't look too bad either, so I'm guessing the resistance came from the electrical tape on the paint or something.
I'm going to have to wait for another warm day to re-paint this side panel, or wait for another trip to my parents or a friend's who has a power sander to start completely over, so I decided I'd install the panel and take it off again when I had time to finish it up.
You can see a slight bulge in this pic -
And here's some pics of it up and running -
I also ran into one other problem... the middle fan on the bottom is of rather poor quality. The fan blades wobble like the motor isn't centered properly, so some blades will pass lower/higher than others. There was a problem spot somewhere around the cutout where one of the lower blades would hit the rubber u-channel lining the hole. Taking the u-channel off fixed the problem temporarily, but I went back in and bent down the lip around the cut-out and re-applied the u-channel. It's better now, but still was annoying that the fans wobbled. I feel like this will seriously affect the life of the fan in the long run, but then again, operating them in this orientation may do the same. They were cheap fans, so I can't complain too much...
That's it for now. Thanks again for all the thoughts on the side panel window mounting. I'm definitely going to let the ideas sink in before I make a decision, but in the meantime I'm going to try dremeling the excess off of the rivets that are already on there.
Till next time...
I took some time a bit ago to assemble some more parts. I mounted all the components and put in the mobo tray, snapped on the front panel, as well as checked to see if the top would fit. Turns out it does! But I'm finding just how tricky good cable management is... Especially in a case that was never designed for it in the first place.
Looking good -
A bit of a disaster behind the mobo tray... the trick will be getting the side panel on with the heap of wires behind it -
I was able to clean up really well around the top fan though. I'm really happy with the amount of space available for it to "breathe."
Next was the front plexiglass (this was actually Lexan, not Acrylic. We made a mistake when cutting my sheet of acrylic on the table saw... long way first instead of wide way first if that makes any sense. Luckily my dad had some Lexan left over from a router table he made a while back. You can definitely tell a difference when working with the 2 different resins!)
Then I added my black switches and -single- (
) 3.5" drive bay cover.
I installed the expansion slot covers I had to work with (will pick up a few more at microcenter this weekend)
And lastly, I crammed the side panel on over all the wires behind the mobo tray (that wasn't designed to do that...). It took me and my wife both pushing down the edges for the latching mechanism while I pulled it into place. But it fits! Bulge doesn't look too bad either, so I'm guessing the resistance came from the electrical tape on the paint or something.
I'm going to have to wait for another warm day to re-paint this side panel, or wait for another trip to my parents or a friend's who has a power sander to start completely over, so I decided I'd install the panel and take it off again when I had time to finish it up.
You can see a slight bulge in this pic -
And here's some pics of it up and running -
I also ran into one other problem... the middle fan on the bottom is of rather poor quality. The fan blades wobble like the motor isn't centered properly, so some blades will pass lower/higher than others. There was a problem spot somewhere around the cutout where one of the lower blades would hit the rubber u-channel lining the hole. Taking the u-channel off fixed the problem temporarily, but I went back in and bent down the lip around the cut-out and re-applied the u-channel. It's better now, but still was annoying that the fans wobbled. I feel like this will seriously affect the life of the fan in the long run, but then again, operating them in this orientation may do the same. They were cheap fans, so I can't complain too much...
That's it for now. Thanks again for all the thoughts on the side panel window mounting. I'm definitely going to let the ideas sink in before I make a decision, but in the meantime I'm going to try dremeling the excess off of the rivets that are already on there.
Till next time...
Savi
Gawd
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2009
- Messages
- 657
wow man that looks great, good job! nice paint job to
and i agree with mannyman get a fan controller for that missing 3.5 cover, or one of those sd card readers im sure you can find a while one
and i agree with mannyman get a fan controller for that missing 3.5 cover, or one of those sd card readers im sure you can find a while one
Thanks for the comments guys. I've been leaning in this direction. The only reason I'm hesitant is because then I would have to put the drive cage back in to mount it. Not sure how much this would affect the air flow.
It would be better looking than a gaping hole in the front of my case. Does anyone know where I might be able to find a replacement 3.5" drive bay cover? I'm 99% positive that they don't make them for this case any more.
A bit of an update - I dremeled down the excess on the rivets; took some pics I'll upload when I get a chance. The panel fits better, but it still won't completely slide on.
Also, I got some feet! They're just el-cheapo ones I found at Frys for $0.50 a piece, nothing special, and they're just taped on with double sided mounting tape, but they do the job. I'll take some pics for those too in a bit.
I reaaaaaaaally like this project.... from the idea of adding great new funcitonality to a tired old generic case to the stormtrooper color theme
For clearcoat I personally almost always use an acrylic clear (mostly becuase I got about 5 cans of it for free years ago). It gives a nice matte finish and I've never had an adverse reaction. I always wait at least a day before applying clearcoat, and at least a couple hours between multiple coats of paint.
For clearcoat I personally almost always use an acrylic clear (mostly becuase I got about 5 cans of it for free years ago). It gives a nice matte finish and I've never had an adverse reaction. I always wait at least a day before applying clearcoat, and at least a couple hours between multiple coats of paint.