Case Mod - In Progress Project "Movie Sign!" by E.E.L. Ambiense - March 23rd (7 yrs later) Update!

Watching this Awesome work so far!

 

Awsome design and a well detailed log Wish i had access to a CNC

Been keeping an eye on this one!

 

LOL. Yeah, "Puma Man"... my brother loves that one too. Always pronounces it like the antagonist in the film "Peeeeuuuwwma Man"! LOL.

LOL, big surprise there, man. LOL @ Tor Johnson mural. Hahahahaha!

LOL!

Thanks!

Hahaha, always always!

Thanks!

Hahaha, thanks Craig. The idea just clicked and felt 'right'. As if you the viewer is in the theater watching modding fail the log progress.

Thanks, man!

Thanks!

Thank you!

 

Damn...

I even googled it, and still I have no idea what you're talking about!

I just know that when you start a mod, I gotta subscribe it!
The last you did was just mindblowing!

Quote: "but I keep changing my mind on stuff"
I know that feeling...

 

Thats a very cool idea. And a great show too....

 

Oct. 21st Update

Angel! Hey, man! Haven't seen you around much. Thanks for checking out the project and great to see you back!

Thank you! Yes, it definitely was...and still is. In this digital age, it'll be around forever...unless DVD rot becomes an issue.

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Update time!

I've been busy working on other commitments, but since the majority of it is now out of the way, I can get back to concentrating on this project. But, as usual...I'll get it done when I can. Like Crow says up at the top of the log, my logs are always for the long-haul.

Anyways, on to the update now.

Last we left off, I was planning on making a new plate for the front of the chassis. But first I need to clear the way a bit to allow that to happen. That involves removing a few rivets and some other stuff.

Let's take the top off first. Simple removal of some rivets... I'm wondering if I should bother tapping the holes and using screws when I put it back together. Hmm.



And the rivets now...



I marked out the areas I need to remove as a guide on the front with a simple marker. Blood works as well for the more macabre readers out there. Just make sure it's someone else's.



I need to start taking out those rivets that run along the sides of the 5.25" bays. The cool thing about this chassis is the top two 5.25" bays are 'separate' from the others in the sense of two pieces of aluminum that are held together by two simple rivets. Of course, my design choices for the mod took all this into account. I hate surprises when it comes to mods. And I mean the bad surprises.



Go nice and easy on the speed so you don't blast right through the pop-rivet, the metal, and your waiting (read: unsuspecting) helping hand (if that applies here). That....would suck.



After finishing up the 6-8 rivets on the front, the lower part of the bays are now being held on by two isolated rivets, as mentioned before.



Same procedure here, and it pops off. I suspect probably as easy as it popped on!



And the same thing on the other side of the bays...



And I'm left with this thing.



That'll get a home in the scrap/junk/whatever drawer/box we all have. Don't deny it; you know you do!

In fact, that would be a funny separate thread to make...post pics of your toss-drawer! No, wait-- don't title it that, because you British folks out there probably think that's something else. Never mind!

Now, I'm left with a nice open area that should be plenty for my new friend to drop in there.



Like this...



Man, one thing that makes me cringe on stock cases are the stock casefeet solutions. Most of the time, they blow. Let's be honest here. This case is no exception.



Stuck on with sticky-back junk. Yuck, with a side of mayo! Let's fix this problem, quick!

Luckily, MNPCTech has come to my rescue. Thanks, bro!



Now, THESE are real casefeet.



A nice solid bolt going through the metal; gorgeous brushed anodized finish on the thick solid aluminum; there are even washers embedded inside the rubber inserts themselves. Like I said, real casefeet. MNPCTech's machined casefeet to be exact.

Yeah, these should work just fine!



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Thank you to:
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Thanks for watchin'!

 

Well, great starting picture as usual.

Congrats for the CM Contest, [joking] 2nd place it's something isn't? [/joking]

 

Thank you.

Actually, I was 4th in that category. It was cool just to make it in though.

 

Mankz joke sign in 3...
2...
1...

Edit: This seems like the right place to hijack the thread. Does anyone know if they ever put the OLD (pre-TVs Frank) stuff on disc?

 

An enigmatic yes and no, if you catch my drift. Nah, with the traditional 'tape-trading' (now disc-trading) every episode is available in some way. Many commercial-releases have hit the shelves as well, to my surprise, and continue to come out. Here's to hoping every ep makes it to some kind of digital format!

 

Oct. 22nd Update

Update!

Alrighty, I have another little update to release like a sparrow into the night sky.

Let's get to it.

Last we left off, I needed to mark off and drill holes for the MNPCTech casefeet. Let's do that. First I cleaned off the sticky crap from the stock psuedo-feet with an orange-based cleaner of choice. Alcohol works too for this. Or a grenade.

So I marked off with a marker through the feet themselves and began drilling a bit with a smaller drillbit to mark the spot I needed to drill. Next I switched out the larger bit to use and began drilling.



And a quick finger-tightening of the nut/bolt through the piece secures it. I'm not locking it down just yet though; things need a bit of a splash of color before doing so!



I do the same thing for the other 3 spots and it's all done.



Looks good and even. Sturdy now when sitting upright.



I needed to drill the two holes for the eventual rocker switches to control god-knows-what, so I marked out and began a pilot-hole to work off of.



Next I begin drilling out with a small holesaw. Alternatively, a large drillbit for that size works fine, or again, a grenade.



And the holes are done! I'll give the whole chassis a sanding down and blasting before painting it though.



Now to begin preparation for the new custom plate for the front of the chassis. A quick going-through in my metal scrap-pile (that we all probably have) I come across a piece of aluminum the same thickness as the chassis here. I think it's from CheckMate's side panel, to be honest.



Should be enough metal there, but I may go through the pile and go for a larger piece.



There are full panels untouched in the pile so I may just go for a larger solid piece. Who knows! I'm like Tom Servo, "I'm the wind, baby!"

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Thank you to:
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Thanks for watchin'!

 

Yippee!
Lot's of marked out lines. Looks like another "E.E.L. whacks a gaping hole"(tm) coming up. You do that well.
I watch.

jogn

 

I really wanna see that front fan mounted up

 

Oct. 27th Update

Update time!

I spent some time working on the new front mounting plate for the big-ass fan. Here's what I did.

Using my source drawing, I created a complimenting template that matches up with the original for measurement accuracy.



I also began to mark out the area I'm going to install the HDD rack at. Here's my test HDD. Any dead HDD is a good thing to keep around if you need a visual-aid sometimes. Kind of like having adult marital-aid paraphernalia when the marriage is feeling a bit stale!



When the fan is installed, it should have plenty of clearance. One of the things I love about this chassis is the depth of it. It's not as long as a typical full-tower LiLi, but it's long enough. I don't plan on installing a hyper-extended ATX board anyways. The HDD rack will be 'next' to the mobo when it's installed, meaning it won't cover any of it up. Even if it did, there's still an inch or more space between the mobo tray and the rack itself. Plus, I just got word that the mobo will be a MATX board too, so that's perfect!



Looks good! I mark out the holes on the bottom side of the chassis and begin to drill. Because it's a Lian Li HDD rack, I know that the bracket's bottom is going to have 3mm-tapped holes, so I drilled specifically for them. The nice thing is, I can install the rack with simple thumbscrews!





And a quick install of the test-HDD backwards, I have just enough clearance for wiring, considering the HDDs will be SATA-based, and by installing backwards it makes wire-management a bit more clean looking.



Now that that's done, I move on to the front fan plate work.

I used my front fan template I just made to mark out my cuts on an aluminum scrap panel I had laying around. I love old cases for that!



A few mins. with the jigsaw, I'm left with this. I spent some time cleaning up the edges and removing burs from it. It's not perfect, but it'll be completely covered up soon anyways so it doesn't matter.



After marking out the corresponding cuts on the front of the chassis itself, I went to town with a jigsaw.



After that, I spent some time sanding and removing burs from that as well, and began to merge the two. A little trick I use is double-sided tape the piece in place, and carefully drill the first hole for riveting. Once I have one rivet in it, it makes things much easier. I think I sunk probably 20 rivets in the plate once it was all done! That's good though, because it makes sure the plate is sturdy and strong.



I then rechecked my measurements, and marked out and drilled the final four holes for the fan itself, and screwed her in for a quick test!



Looks good! Now, let's use my test hotwired PSU for a fan-air-noise-speed test...





Wow, can't even hear her without having my head right against it. And if I did that, I'd have a real nasty accident considering the length of my hair.

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Thank you to:
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Thanks for watchin'!

 

"Big Gaping Hole"(tm)! Am I getting good or what?

That fan just sort of snuggles down in there like it belongs. Do they come with flat sides or did you enhance it? Too tired to look for myself, I was up after midnight waiting for Ryan to get done at Papa Roach concert.

john

 

Hahaha! Yes, you know me well, John.

Yeah, the fans come stock like that. It's not really an industry-standard size, but they're made specifically for CM's HAF series, etc. Good fans from what I've seen so far.

 

Looking good!.

PS: This is soooooo different from things i read in the "Chaos Central"

 

Hah!

 

I love every meticulous step on this project Bro.

Your work presentation and photos have risen the bar for the rest of us too

 

Thanks!

Shhhhh.... that's another place and another time....

LOL.

Thanks, bro! It means a lot to me to hear that from you. I won't let you down!