Case Mod - In Progress Stacker 810 Work Station

Since I have a new case for my Gamer I've decided to use my old CM Stacker at my office. I'm not really sure exactly what I'm going to do to it. I guess I'll be making all the decisions as I go. So far I've decided to paint it completely Black. I have a new side panel with a built-in window, but I don't really like Acrylic. I have a piece of Honeycomb Mesh I'll be using instead. I'll be adding handles, castors, LED fans, all the basics. For the hardware I have a QX9650 with a True 120, Asus P5K Deluxe WiFi, 4GB DDR2 1150 with Thermalright Coolers, EVGA 9800GTX+, 750 watt Modular Power Supply.

So far I've disassembled the chassis, cut a few holes for wire management and started sanding it down.

 

good start!

 

Today I worked on the Top Panel pieces. I cut an exhaust hole for a 120mm fan to replace the stock 80mm fan. And for some reason the top had some serious scratches in it. I sanded them down and applied some spot putty to the blemishes. Then I sanded it down smooth again and primed it, more sanding, more priming, again and again. They are now a smooth primer gray just waiting for paint

 

Today I worked on the side panel with the factory acrylic window. I removed the window and fitted in a piece of Honeycomb Mesh.



The window is thicker than the mesh so I bent some flat panel nuts to hold the mesh in place.



With the side panel primered I can look for blemishes that might affect the paint finish. I like the looks of the honeycomb mesh instead of the acrylic window.



The side panel was brand new, never used, so it's in good shape. But with primer applied you can see the heads of the recessed window retention nuts.



It wasn't noticeable as a plain alumimun panel but it will be visible painted so I'm going to smooth them out. Using my dremel I grind the area down to produce a slight indentation.



I probably should of used fiberstrand body filler, but it's such a small area I just used a dab of body putty.



I let it dry for about 30 minutes and sanded it down with 600 grit sandpaper.



I primed the panel and sanded it down with 800 grit paper and then I primed and sanded again. It must be magic because I just don't see the blemishes anymore.



And the panel is ready for some paint

 

Today I got a package full of Thermalright goodies that I'll be using in this mod. Heatsinks for the NB, SB and the Mosfets.



The next picture is the the rest of the hardware that will be going into this mod. I already have a True-120 and the Thermalright Memory Sinks so it will be dressed up when I'm finished

 

looking great

nice work on the painting

 

Excellent job! Very nice work!

 

Nice Hardware and nice work.You could go with a thermalright vga heatsink to match the rest.

 

nice work with the mesh on the window, im assuming ur gona put sum clear perspex behind it otherwise it have massive amounts of dust apearing on ur nice heatsinks

 

Nice work but the cabels are a bit messy xD

 

That's my old case. Hopefully this mod will cure that clutter

I will, but I'm probably going to upgrade the card so I'll buy that cooler last.

 

I painted the interior shell of the case Gloss Black today. It looks pretty good for spray cans.





















And I leaned the unpainted side panel up against it to see what the window was going to look like

 

Great painting and body work. Should be really nice when it's done

 

wow... love that side pannel design!!!

 

A really nice start.

The paint turned out nicely and you have some nice tech going into the rig. I can't wait to see all that Thermalright gear attached.

 

I've gotten a few more parts painted and the Top Panel is back in place

 

The paint job looks really nice, well done.

 

The case is starting to look pretty. I've painted it and clear coated it but it was streaky so I sanded it down and did a repeat. Needless to say I still wasn't satisfied so it's got about 6 or 7 coats on the top and sides. I should have some new pictures of the case tomorrow.

I've changed my mind with the hardware. Since Intel is phasing out the i7 920 I decided to go ahead and do a complete upgrade. NewEgg sent me a D stepping i7 920, HeHeHe

 

The mobo looks awesome, love Thermalright coolers .

 

+1 esp that last shot.