Case Mod - In Progress Lian-Li PC-A05 Quick Mod - Assembled case PICS

Hello again!
While Project "CUBE" is waiting for the powdercoating, I have some free time to look at my friends' LIAN LI.
So here starts a very quick and basic mod for the PC-A05.



The main goal is to achieve maximum cooling in this tiny case. The PSU location and lack of ventilation holes make the front panel become very hot after a very short time of gaming. There is a solution and I'm going to use it.

Let's start with the case itself. Nothing special, a very common black version of PC-A05. Here's the unboxing process:







There is a good solution for the better cooling of the case and all the hardware (if only we do not watercool it) - making blowholes on the top panel of the case for the hot air to be blown out by the fans. So starting with the marking the future cuts. First applying the layer of masking tape.



Then drawing the hole to be cut.



Here I'm going to use my own lasercut Fan/Rad grill. It has standard spacing between fans' mounting holes (15 mm) and can be used in future (watercooling, for example).





It's made from 3mm thick black glossy acrylic. Very shiny



Another hole is going to be placed in the lower part of the front panel - it's for the PSU to blow hot air outside of the case.



I'm going to cover it with the "modders mesh". But there is no "modders mesh" here, in Odessa. But there is a lot of TRUE Recycle Bins sold everywhere. And they have an amusing price - around 5$. And it's great!



And what a casemod is it without window on the side panel?
Masking and marking the sidepanel window



Everything is ready, let's begin cutting and drilling!

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4 hours later...

Damn! My jigsaw crashed and I had to cut everything with my dremel And you know how it is, to cut thick aluminum with dremel

After the initial cuts we have this:











I decided ti leave the LIAN LI logo on the front panel just because I like it very much

Tomorrow I'm going to file and sand all the cuts, place the mesh and acrylic, and it's done! Not the biggest mod, but this is going to be an elegant case without "Christmas-tree-lights" and other ugly things

 

Looking very nice so far. Looking forward to the update!

 

+1

 

stuartwood89, perplekks45
Thanks guys! Update is coming

 

+1

 

I truly, truly feel for you.

Great project. Looking forward to more updates.

 

wbdog206
Thank you!
I really appreciate your feedback, guys!

stonedsurd
It wasn't very easy, but I managed to do that

 

1st of 2 updates

Today I had lots of things to do except modding But I found some 2 hours to sand the panels of the case.

First the front panel. Here is the pre-finished result of its ventilation hole





Then moving onto the top panel with its fan grill. As Imentioned earler the grill is very glossy and shiny! ^__^
(Damn that dust! I swear, final pics will be dust-free!)







I had to make a decision which bolts should I use - philips or allen? Thought that allen headed bolts will look better



-----------------------------------
Offtop
-----------------------------------
I've got a "virgin" screw nut



-----------------------------------
/Offtop
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Then moving onto the side panel. It isn't finished yet, but it has only to be sanded fo a couple of minutes, mainly the corners of the window.



And now, for the end of this update - one more "eye candy" photo of the case in 3/4:

 

Beautiful laser cut grill, dude.

Must be a day of the A-05, mine was posted slightly after yours.

Will be tracking this build, so hard to find mods of the A-05!

 

I would always go for allen screws over phillips in a PC build, the just look so much cleaner.

 

Pazu
I saw 3 new project logs for the A05 yesterday This really could be the "Day of PC-A05"

stuartwood89
sphere headed allen bolts are the most beautiful, but I can't find where to buy them

 

I like what you have done to the front.

LOL@ the virgin nut hahaha.

 

The boy 4rm oz
TY
I like the front most of all :-[

 

edit

 

??? lol

love the custom fangrill. your cuts are very clean
id have to agree with stuart. allen key bolts. no question. (unless torx or tamperproof torx)

 

Update #1 1/2

Being a PhD student is very painful And it doesn't leave any time to modding
Today I only managed to cut and form the front panel mesh. I'm going to glue it to the panel with epoxy adhesive. So the front panel will look like this -



Hopefully tomorrow I'll finish with the front and pay attention to the side panel.

BTW, guys, what can I use to attach clear acrylic to the side panel? Some double-sided tape or epoxy, maybe there's something else?

 

Oreon_237
Thanks!
The grill is lasercut, so the edges are very clean and straight

 

Is it just me or does the mesh bulge out a little? nice touch.

Also, for the window, both tape and epoxy will do fine but I prefer tape because it's a little less permanent.

 

stonedsurd
yes, the mesh is bent to be in one level with the panel

 

Update #2. Front Mesh and Side Window

Okay, it's the last update before the final pics!

Attached previously bent mesh to the front panel using 2 monstrous drops of epoxy glue



Then used "super-duper-strong" double-sided tape made in china to hold the clear acrylic of the side panel



After that - it's time for the final assembly pf the case. Removing all the glue left after the masking tape, cleaning of the dust and aluminum pieces after filing and sanding. And here we go -

FINAL PICS (in the next post)