Case Mod - In Progress Project: HeckaFresh Apple G5 Mod

For four grand I could build a rig that would make all the uni girls crazy for me, and work.

 

Hi there, no, I haven't abandoned this project....yet....here's an update. So I was working on the back panel part and struggled to get things to go right...soooooo, I'm going to put that to the side for now and continue working on the rest of the case until I figure things out some more...so the work became a little overwhelming, so I had to get some help from a computer specialist









He was able to tell me that I am going to have a difficult time getting the ports for the back to fit properly & that I should stop hiding his bear. hmmm....

So I decided to leave the back part til another time, but I was able to get some parts to make it the back part work, which for now I only have the ethernet port....



I bought this on ebay, 2 for about $6.50ish, which are ethernet extension cables. Not bad eh? I stripped the rubber coating of this thing, (took me a while) and shortened it to the size I needed it. This will be attached to the mobo and will attach somehow to the back panel where I will plug in ethernet cables. Since my mobo has 2 ethernets, I will use 2 cables.

SEVERAL DAYS LATER

I am now in the process of try to mount and stick my motherboard to my tower, since I have been thinking about a way to do it. But I was thinking I didn't just want to JB weld the tray to my tower directly, cuz what if I decide that the tray isn't working for me in the future, so I thought to myself, how can I make it so I can remove the mobo tray whenever I wanted yet have it be strong enough to hold my mobo and a cpu fan without budging? This my friends is the answer (in which my cousin Garry had advised me to do):



Which was then used to do this:



The standoffs for the underside of the tray are now stuck to the tray using these screw nuts, size #6-32 (bought from Home Depot for $1) which allows me to weld the standoff to the board, yet, when I unscrew these nuts, will allow me to take the tray off the case easy! (I hope I explained that well) Anyhow, this solution to the problem I had took a huge load off my mind.

SEVERAL MORE DAYS LATER

Now, I'm ready to JB weld the tray to the case, so I started off my exacto knifing all the little dips, using a kriskross pattern, making deep cuts in the case that I'll be using to put the standoff into:



Hopefully this will help bond to the JB weld better, giving a better grip. I also sand papered the standoff bottoms to take away the smooth metal finish. I then went on to acetone the surface of the case dips and the standoffs to remove any oil or grease or dirt that would weaken the bond. Then I went ahead and put enough JB weld into the holes, about a few drops worth, hopefully not too much or it may touch and bond to the tray, (don't want that)...



Then I went ahead and put my tray into the case, making sure I don't make a mess of things.



Then I went ahead, quickly, to screw on my motherboard and the pci cards to ensure that they install perfectly, and it helps to hold the position of the motherboard/tray in place while the JB weld cures for the next day or 2. I put some extra weights to ensure that the tray standoffs are all securely pressed down to the case. Sweet!!



Then I'll be getting ready to put my parts in for testing, cuz most of them have come in!! YEAYYY!!



I'm still waiting for my PSU, and once it does, it'll be able to test all my parts to ensure they're all working properly, so I don't have to send anything back for replacement.

NEXT: Wait for PSU for a power on test while waiting for the bond to cure!!!!

 

what are you bonding together?

 

The mobo tray

 

AHHH I don't like the look of that weight platter leaning against the expansion card!

Sweet mod though, G5s are sexy. The perspex mobo tray is a good idea.

 

This case is original or replica is, I think it perfect for mods!

Good luck with your project!

 

Hi guys,

I bonded the mobo tray to the case to give it a super strong bond like 007. Because it's gonna hold my gigabyte mobo and noctua cpu fan, and those things are heavy...the bond has cured and it holds my tray with so much power, i tried, softly, pulling my tray off the case, but it's pretty strong, so I'm not worried. There's about 9 standoffs all together, so its pretty sufficient. I was also able to remove my tray after unscrewing the nuts, so that'll give me some flexibility when I have to remove the tray to try and hide all the cables under the tray to make it all nice and clean looking.

The 5lb weight looks like its leaning on the card, but it's actually not, it's touching the case a little bit, but all those cards are just placeholders for when I get in the real deal stuff. weeeehheee!!

The case is an original G5 Mac case, with all the innards removed, so I have an empty space to mod to my liking. I'm going for the clean and customizable, yet removable features, so nothing will be glued on permanently. I'm thinking towards the future that any of these parts can be easily removed if they need replacement. I know that my log right now is kinda boring cuz it's all internal work, and nothing pretty yet, but I'll get there, don't u guys worry.

 

Phew! now I can sleep tonight

Looking foward to the next update.

 

/\ rofl

looking great mate.. the mb tray looks great

 

Great choice on the motherboard

 

I love the G5, my uni uses the actual Mac G5 as a media PC, they are gonna get rid of them soon, I might see if I can get one.

 

/\ get me one too

 

And me too!

My uni actually uses the G5s. Dual Xeons in them for Maya rendering...

Anyways, I really like how you are getting the MB tray to work good luck with the rear IO, it seems really tricky...

Laz

 

I might see if I can grab em all and flog em off on Ebay lol.

 

You'd have a buyer in me. They're WAY too expensive on eBay for what they essentially are.

 

Looks like I gotta buy the head of media a few beers HAHAHA.

 

Thanks for the comments guys, I would like a Mac Pro Case, but a G5 will do...I hope my methods will give you guys a better idea if you decide to mod a g5 yourself. I'm very budget minded, so a lot of what I do with be homemade...yeay for recession!!

and yes, i'd like some beer...please send some to meee!

 

Alrighty...so I've done a little bit more work here...

I started working on the rear fans, because I had an idea of how I wanted to do it...I decided to take that grill and clean off the fuzzies around it. Seems to be a sponge ring, but decided to remove it because it looks cleaner and wouldn't be as much of a magnet for dust. I took a flathead screw driver and scratched it off all the way around. I tried several home adhesive removers like oil, goo gone, soap/water, scratching with my finger nails, but it proved to be a tedious task and too many chemicals going around, so the screwdriver proved to be the cleanest quickest way.



Then I went ahead and taped my fan to the grill. I think this is the best method of doing so, hopefully the tape won't restrict the airflow as much....



haha, joked u!! I have drilled holes into the grill as you can see from the reverse side for where screws should go to mount the fan to the grill. Easy!



Fantastico! I didn't have screws to mount them to the grill at the time so no test shots of it on the case...(sadface goes here)

 

1 Day later

I brought this little tray thing on the case to a cutting facility (aka parents house) and drew lines where I needed to cut it as the tray thing restricts my motherboard from fitting in the case without hitting this thing, so since my mobo didn't want to get a cuttin', I decided to cut this tray thing instead.



30 minutes + 1 dad laters (Thanks dad, I love you, but I didn't tell you at the time because we don't have that kind of relationship where I can tell you my feelings)

Hacksawed, filed and beautified

 

Back to the modding plant

Here it is installed into the case with a little breathing room for my motherboard...cool huh? I think so...



And here are my rear fans installed with screws:





And Also to add to my parts list, I have a Sony DVD-ROM drive tucked away in my closet...forgot about it , it's still brand new too, cool huh? So I have it installed and also my rear fan installed...and for the first time, it's standing up, no mobo's flying around, yuppiedoodie!! I was worried that the DVD-ROM drive would hit the motherboard, but it fits perfectly. There's a distance of less than an inch between them, so no worries there.



I hope you guys like my progress so far...I think i'm ready for a power on test...