Case Mod Project: LEXA

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks mate. I am a bit pissed off about that gap on that radiator though. I guess it just learnt my lesson...measure twice, cut once. It will look fine painted up though.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys. I was away all last week and half of this week and to top it all off the house is being painted, not much time for modding. Any way I did manage to get some work on the case feet and spacers done before I went away and finished them today.

On to the pictures.

Ok so I went out and got myself some more bolts and domed nuts:

I also got myself a pair of small clamps:

They are perfect for what I need them for.
I clamped the mesh to the plexi spacers and then through the holes I drilled in the spacers I drilled identical holes in the mesh:


All drilled:

The plexi attached to the mesh with the domed nuts and bolts I brought:


Ok so that's the stuff I did before I went away last week. Now here is what I did today.

The Spacers are FINISHED!!!
All 4 feet with spacers in all their glory:

A close up of the completed case foot:

A pic of the mounting bolts:

Sorry I don't have pics of working towards the finished product but I can run you through it. Basically I just filed down the overhanging mesh while it was still attached to the spacers. Then I removed the protective tape from the spacers and taped off each end. I then painted the center stem of the spacer. Then I removed the protective plastic film from the mesh and bolted it to the spacer followed by the case foot. Quite boring steps, I know you guys like the eye candy lol .

I have also found a way around the gap I made while cutting the hole for my radiator. I will be using 2 mesh strips to cover the gap from the underside. These will be painted black to fit in with the rest of the case. Well that's all I have for now. The last few days of my holidays will be dedicated towards my homework so don't expect another update this week. Until then...

Happy Modding.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for your interest guys. I haven't been on lately cos we have been painting the house. My PC has been out of commission lol.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks mate. I am going to see if I can mount them this weekend.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks mate. Those comments mean a lot coming from someone with your skills. Yeah I like the grommets too. I used them originally to protect the tubing from the rough mesh cuts but it turned out looking awesome.

I will have an update in the afternoon (it's 1.30am here at the moment ).

[The boy 4rm oz]

I will take some pics without the U channel on the mesh. I thought it just made it look a bit cleaner, the mesh is straight it just looks rough when you look at it through the window.

Thanks for your comments guys. It means a lot.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well guess what guys??? UPDATE TIME!!!

I finally got my case feet mounted so here are some pics.

First I masked off the area and marked the holes for drilling:

Holes drilled:

After that it was a simple matter of cutting the mounting bolts down to size and then mounting the completed feet:

Time for the money shots:




Yes it does look awesome (applause lol) but there are still a few problems with them. The feet cover up some rivet holes so I will have to counter sink a hole under some spots on the feet to allow the rivet to fit.
Example:

You can see in the pic the rivet hole in the center of the green part of the spacer.

Another problem (which I already knew about) are the spacers themselves. Yes they did bring the height of the case closer to stock height but they are still about 2-3mm too short.
Example:

You can see the difference in the image above.
I am thinking of adding 1 or 2 washers in between the mesh and the handle (foot) to add the desired height (I think this may look quite good). The other option in cutting the difference off the front fascia itself which I don't want to do.

ModimusPrime here is a pic of part of the mesh without the U channel on it, personally I think it looks better with it on. What do you guys think???
Pic:


Well that's all I have for now. I have got a small order which is almost complete for me to pick up which will allow me to finish mounting the radiator. Until then...

Happy Modding.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That's what I was thinking. It looks unfinished without the U channel.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for your input. Looks like I am staying with the U channel.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well today I was home from school cos I am sick so I thought I may as well try to get my radiator mounted.

First I measured and drilled some holes:

Yes I know that middle lower hole is a bit churned up. There was a hole there already and the drill bit tore away the space in between the hole I was drilling and the existing hole. Don't worry, I hill be hiding the damage with some mesh strips.
Here is the radiator mounted:

And from the underside:

The radiator ended up being just a little bit crooked, you can only notice this if you are looking at it directly like this. I will fiddle with the holes to make it sit perfectly before I finish drilling the holes for the inlet and outlet.
Here is a pic of the distance between the radiator and the actual floor (using my desk an an example):

The gap is around 1.5-2 cm and will probably end up being close to 3cm when the radiator is properly installed and once I make the case feet a bit taller.

I have come up with a solution for my cases height issue. I was thinking of using a few standard metal washers to jack the height up a little but after having so much time on my hands today I got thinking. I really have 4 realistic options.

Option 1:
I use the standard metal washers...looks tacky.

Option 2:
I cut the difference in height off the perfect LEXA front fascia...risk destroying it.

Option 3:
I make 4 mini spacers (same design as the existing ones) to help raise the height, should give me around 3-4mm in extra height...very time consuming, don't think I have enough green plexi left.

Option 4:
I make 8 small washers out of green plexi to use instead of the metal ones...should look AWESOME.

I am going to go with option 4 but how to make the washers??? I haven't thought of that part yet. Well I probably have all day tomorrow to think about that so I'll keep you posted. Until then...

Happy Modding.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks budy. Well I am home from school again today so I may see if I can get another update later this arvo.

[The boy 4rm oz]

After thinking about my little problem I think I could use the hole to cut out the smallest circle I can with the hole saws at my disposal and then bolt them all together and grind most of the size off until I get my desired size. The only problem with this is the size the guide makes with the holesaw, this will be much larger than the bolts I am using. Looks like i will have to glue the plexi washers in place.

[The boy 4rm oz]

The only flaw with your plan is I don't have a drill press lol. The school does but because I am not doing Design and Technology this year I am not aloud to use the equipment. Thanks for your input.

Sadly I haven't been able to get started on the washers yet but once I do they shouldn't take long to finish.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for the diagram Cheapskate, that's basically what I was thinking of doing. I would use a file instead of sandpaper though because I don't want a polished edge, the slightly rough edge diffuses light brighter IMO. None of the plexi work in this mod have polished edges.

Thanks TapperSwe. It is a great case, a bit tight for the 8800GTX though, like 4mm gap between the end of the card and the HDD racks. I am glad you like my mod.

Thanks for your input guys.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well guys It's finally time for an update on the case feet. Guess what I did this morning...made the plexi washers YAY.

So I got some scrap pieces of plexi together and measured the size I needed for the washers, about 1.5cm diameter.
Pic:

As it turns out the hole saw I used (3/4") cut the holes exactly the right size for my washers:

Note there are 10 washers in the pic, I only need 8 but 2 cracked so I made 2 extra. No I didn't pull the protective paper off the plexi...the hole saw did that for me lol.
Next I got my drill, a bolt and a nut and this is what I came up with:

Once I got the file in the vice I was ready to go:

I don't need to make the washers any smaller than they are, I just want to tidy them up a little bit.
Here we go:

And after a couple of mins I was left with these:

Time to install them.
Here is a pic of the now complete foot, I may need to add a small metal washer to add a bit more height:

Time for the money shots:



Next I modded the original case foot.
Here is the bottom of the original foot:

I pulled off the rubber stopper:

And ground down the plastic ring:

I know it looks ugly. I will put a piece of mesh under there or paint it.

And last but not least I finished mounting my radiator on the floor of my case.
Here are the holes cut out for the inlet and outlet pass through:

And a pic of the radiator mounted, it is almost perfectly straight now:


Well that's a big update (for me lol). I am waiting for a few things to come in then I can finally finish the bottom panel and get this thing together...finally. Until then...

Happy Modding.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Yeah I really need to read the manual and find out how to activate macro lol. I just figured that the photos weren't fine detail just explanatory so the normal setting would do.

Thanks for the comment.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Oh the flower...I have that on my Sony, I will double check though.

As for the feet. I will be using the original front one. Only because the front foot makes up the rear lower part of the front fascia. If I don't use the existing foot there will be a huge gap and through out the symmetry of the front fascia.
Notice how the foot only appears to be half complete? The other half is the bottom of the front fascia.

I will not be using the original rear feet though. With the radiator installed they won't fit.

[The boy 4rm oz]

A small update before I start modding this weekend.
This arvo I will be picking up another 2GB of RAM for my rig. I will post some pics once I get it home.
Here is a link to the RAM I am getting:
http://www.gskill.com/en/f2-6400cl4d-hk.html
I will now have two of these kits.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well I got my RAM, made it to the store with 5 mins until closing haha. Lucky Me.
Well Here are some pics, as promised.
The box:

The front of the box open showing off the RAM sticks:

The sticks themselves:

I love the design on the heat spreaders (and the colour). The design is minimalistic but looks quite nice I think. The design is part of the actual heat spreader, not stuck on.
The RAM comes with a G.Skill sticker and a slip of paper giving you URLs to the product website and with email addresses to tech support and warranty. The RAM also comes with a small aluminium case badge:


And here is a pic of the RAM installed in my system along with my existing 2GB:

Sorry for the bad pics, the box is weird and reflective and was hard to get a good pic of as was the case badge.
Hopefully I can get some modding done tomorrow, may have another update then. Until then...

Happy Modding.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for your comment Anobis.

Just a minor update.
I have ordered (need to find time to go and pick up) these items.
2x OCZ RAM cooler (1 for my brother)
2x Antec Tri-Cool 120mm Blue Fans
1x TP-Link 108Mbps wireless card (to replace my D-Link 54Mbps one)

I should have these items by the end of next week. Once I get the fans I will make sure the radiator fits nicely then I can get the bottom painted and ready to go.

I also need to place another small order which is basically just cable sleeving, a few more CCFLs and a couple of fan grills.