Case Mod - In Progress Project KnuckleDuster

I have been away from the workshop and modding in general for a while, out of the loop isnt the word!

The picture at the top is my old system, its a Lian Li pc7b. The plan is to take this case and in the spirit of hot rodders and custom builders, chop cut and rebuild!

I guess this will be more of a restyle, than a new build. All of the componants will be the same.

The paint will be satin black, with as little shiny bits as possible. All fittings and bits that are shiny will be rubbed down to a satin/matt finish. Open air design, no top panel, no side panels.

Stripped out the watercooling, i will be using as much as possible from this case, to cut down on costs.



Started cleaning the paint off of a few parts, some will be painted and some will be made matt



I seem to have lost a few pictures of what happened next, but ill summerise!

I used a pair of snips, these faithfull snips!




To cut around 4 inches out of the chassis





As you can see the paint is coming off of the inner chassis support and I will be cutting this down, losing the 5.25 bays.

Here is the overall size for the chassis



The screws on the bottom front will be replaced as soon as I can get the correct size rivets.

Thats all for now, Im modding on the fly, so no plans/drawings to be shared, just an overall idea im working towards.

I must say sorry for the picture quality. my camera has been broken, so the iphone is its replacement.

Any comments, good or bad, appreciated!

 

When I saw the pic with the cut off piece of the case,I thought "wtf it fell off???",then noticed that you wrote it.
May i suggest a theme,it will have less work on the visual,Rat PC.

Modding on the fly,that's the spirit.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I wanted a beat up looking case, but not too ratty.

To the case!

The next update will involve more chopping and shortening!

 

Update time!

As I said, made a few cuts to get close to where I need to be with the chassis


Also gave it a clean with a sanding disc to get the most paint off I could.

Did a few measurements, marked it out and made the final trim



Then I cut some Alu angle and rivited it to the chassis.



Then took it to work to do riveting as I ran out!

Got it all put together, gave it a sand down and taped up the pieces i dont want to paint...



So next update will be primer and paint prep!

 

Another update!

I decided I wanted my res to be at the top, instead of the top, so I made a bracket out of some scrap Alu and cut a 120mm hole in it for mounting an MNPCTECH Blow hole/res mount. The date on the Blow hole I think says 2005! Had it a few years...Anyway, PICTURES!







I have also managed to get a camera sorted and can now edit my own pictures(instead of using PB. Which sucks a big fat donkey ****. IMHO. )So as soon as progress with pictures catches to my real progress, the photos should be of better quality!

Thanks for viewing, dont be affraid to reply!

 

WoW, very interesting project! I like this kind of modding!

 

Thanks for the reply!

Weather is all over the place at the minute, so as soon as I can, i'll update!

c and c welcome!

 

Getting rid of the unneeded space and making the case more compact is cool idea. I'm sure it will look good when it's done.

Is the taped over part going to stay bare metal?

 

Thanks for the reply Ocelot!

Yes the taped over part of the chassis will be bare Alu. It was a pain to get the paint off, but a combination of nitromoors, air grinder and sanding discs, I got it clean. Gave it a pattern, too. But im going to sand it down with 1000grit to flatten it.

Im in the midst of deciding how to run the wires, as I have very lttle space, so Im thinking of making them more of a feature than I normally would. I'll probably think of something overcomplicated and a pain to fit!

 

Hello, Bit-tech! Another small update!

I have the chassis base painted, but not finished. Onto progress!

Here Im mocking up the res



Just noticed I have the fillport going to the wrong hole!

Had an MNPCtech fan grill to hand. Im not 100% on it for this case. It doesnt fit my theme. Cool though!



MNPCtech case feet, in black. Now they fit the theme!



Mocking up the rad and pump lines.



My favorite view of this case (so far?) The res



Thanks for watching! Comments and Criticism welcome!

 

New update, for the 2 people!

On to the HDD cage, no money for SSDs, so my old maxtor 500gb will do.

Im using an old Alu cage I have hanging around. thought this project needed something for its namesake.

PICTURES!





Drill


Cut


Needs some detailing and cleaning


I decided to try to incorporate some spades in the body


Still a little cleaning and straightening, but its getting there.

Thanks for viewing!