Case Mod - In Progress Project : Mozart PC360

I have just found bit tech and must say it is awesome, hi to everyone on here

Well I have just started my project and unlike other projects where the original plan is set and 90% stuck too I have currently changed my ideas a number of times so sadly there is no pictures of what it will look like.

I will tell you my plan and whats going inside

I am taking a Thermaltake Mozart TX case and modding it to take both a PC & Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 ring of lights, controller find, DVD drive, power button, DVD eject button & infrared will all be in th unique 7" drive bay this case offers.

I want to hide every cable the best I can so will make a hidden compartment between the 2 motherboard trays for cables.

The side panels which have 2 windows are to be completely changed, I will make the windows bigger and in the top windows replace the plexi with black mesh and on the mesh will have the nvidia logo on the PC side & Xbox 360 logo on the 360 Side.

The bottom 2 windows will have clear plexi and will have a picture etched on them

Now around all 4 windows I am putting a 2cm aluminium frame, not sure what finish to go with tho.

With adding a 360 I plan on cutting the whole back section out and putting in some 2mm aluminium so I can custom make a Xbox 360 I/O Panel.

Thats a little of my plan, here are the specs for the PC

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.40GHz (1066FSB)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Heatsink
Asus Striker Extreme nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
4GB OCZ (4 x 1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
Seagate Barracuda 7,200RPM 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
Palit GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI-E
Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Soundcard with Fatal1ty Drive Bay
Pioneer DVR-212D 18x18 DVD±RW Serial ATA Dual Layer ReWriter
Thermaltake VE1000BWS Mozart TX Entertainment Tower Case
FSP Sparkle 700W PSU
Dell 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
IDEAZON Zboard MERC Gaming Keyboard
Razer Copperhead Tempest Blue 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse

Here is some of the modding stuff to be used

11 x Akasa Dual Blue Cold Cathodes 1 Inverter
CoolerPlex Clear Plexi 375mm x 400mm x 3mm
5 mtr of Blowhole Trim
ACRyan MeshxPanel 500x500mm Black Bulgin Blue Lighted Vandal Proof Switch
Bulgin Green Lighted Vandal Proof Switch
Chrome Ring Momentary Switch
5mm Chrome LED Holder
5mm Chrome LED Holder
5mm Chrome LED Holder
5mm White LED 3v
5mm Bright Blue LED 3v
5mm Green LED 3v
Akasa AK-FC-03 Fan Controller
Thermaltake Hardcano 12 Fan Controller

This is costing a bomb as you can tell but luckily I have the xbox 360 already

I have done a fair bit of the work so will post everything tonight as I am off to continue more modding

 

Cool can't wait to see the pics.

 

were are the modding pictures?

read this -->http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=113985
and this:->http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2007/09/17/zen_and_the_project_log/1

 

looking forward to it

 

As promised heres an update with what has been done upto now.

I started off by completely stripping the case and marking out the 120mm fan holes

Hard Drive fan hole



Front of case fan hole



Back 4 fan holes



Once marked up I got out my trusty dremel and started cutting



Heres the front hole cut out



The 4 back holes



Now everyone knows that Xbox 360's get extremely hot so another fan hole needed to be cut in the front for an addition 120mm fan for the Xbox 360 side.

Found a template, printed it out and glued it to cardboard to make a template.



Then I lined the template up with the other hole in the front of the case and marked up where needed cutting



Before I could cut anything the inside motherboard tray also needed modifications so I marked out ready to cut that too



Several dremel bits later and here is the result




The fan holes dont need that much prep bar a filing and quick sanding as they are having blowhole trim put on them.

Next up was to change the horrible windows which are on this case, I want them more uniform and larger, heres the result after a little cutting



I think the new window looks much better and for very little work too.

Well with the windows cut out I decided to mark up the mesh and cut them ready



Once marked out and cut, I was very pleased with the result



Thats pretty much all I got done to the side panels at that point because I decided I had to get more organised with this mod and do 1 thing at a time, so the chassis is the 1st thing that needs to be done.

If you look at the previous pictures you will see I spent a fair bit of time cutting out the 4 back 120mm fan holes, well that was a pointless exercise because I have to remove the whole of the back panel so I can get my PC & 360 PSU's in place.

So I marked where I needed to cut and got on with it



I also marked up the new back panel on a 2mm piece of aluminium



Prior to cutting I marked and drilled all the holes for the rivets which will be holding the aluminium sheet to the case.

Once the cut was done I filed and sanded down the edges, the case edges will be showing so I had to spend a fair bit of time on them



Here they are close up, still a little more work to be done but am getting there



Heres the new aluminium back after filing & sanding, I will leave the protective cover on as I need that side to remain aluminium but will be spraying the other side black.



I could have got away with a quick sand of the edges as you wont see them but it got the same treatment as the case.

Heres how everything comes together



I will cut the PSU hole, 2 x 120mm fan holes and the xbox 360 i/o panel out tomorrow and then thats about all I can do to that piece, until we are at the stage of painting the case.

It suddenly dawned on me this morning that I have never checked any of my system to see if theres any problems so I quick set it up and after major messing on with the Asus Striker Extreme motherboard everything finally worked



After the relief of that it was time to mark up the new panel ready to take the 360 psu, pc psu and 2 x 120mm fans. I made templates for them all so as not to waste aluminium sheets and alot of my time




Heres the Xbox 360 I/O Panel, I cant mark up the audio jack until it arrives



Then after loads of dremeling, filing and sanding this is the end product



Here is some close ups of the cuts, the protective cover makes them look worse than they are, in actual fact they are very smooth and ready to go

 

To get it to that stage I started by filing using a needle file set, then went over that with some heavy sandpaper, then sanded using 600 grit, then 1200 grit then 1500 grit.
Heres all the cuts in the aluminium and it put in the case



I could only cut the VGA socket as I am waiting for the USB & RJ45 connectors to arrive.
At this stage I thought it would be a good idea to make sure everything fits correctly and all the screws line up etc



To my surprise everything fitted like a glove, i'm well happy with that
Heres the top section close up



Now with the weight of the PC PSU I am having to put a holding strut in place, I was expecting this anyway so no big problem



It will be riveted into place and I'm getting the rivet gun tomorrow so it was pretty pointless cutting it etc at the moment. The front will have 3 rivets and the back 2 rivets, should be sturdy enough



I made the marks needed on the strut and got ready to cut



After getting a little sick of making mistakes I have decide to eliminate them as much as possible



After bending the piece on the strut for added strength I decided to take a pic to show where it will go in the case



I cant actually rivet this place yet as it needs spraying and will also attach to the back aluminium piece so to make sure it doesnt get damaged i decided to leave it off until I finally ready.
Now the task I have kinder been dreading, how to manage the cables.
I want it so the cables are hidden as much as possible and I mean hidden.
So first up I had to decide where everything is going in the case



Straight after finally deciding whats happening I go on a well known auction site and find a shiny Newq Platinum, instantly had to buy it so everything in that pic will drop down 1 slot and the 7" bay at the top will house the 360 stuff.
Once everything was decided where the cables are going it was time to hack the case up some more, 1st up the bottom of the hard drive bay, so I marked it all up ready



And then cut the bottom right out, the hard drives will hold it together and this case comes with dampeners so no probs



Now I get sick of sticking my hands into steel cases and them coming out like freddy kruger has attacked them so all cuts have rounded corners etc



I decided the best way to hide all the cables was to add a new 360 tray, this will be mounted onto the existing tray buy using spacers, thus leaving a void between each tray for cables to be hidden.
I marked out the outline of my motherboard and marked where all connections were, then marked 1 cm in and cut holes near the connections for the cables to come out.
When the motherboard is in the cables will come out underneath it and onto there connections making it uber tidy



Obviously the cables will need a way of entering the void so the best place is right up underneath the drive bays



Once cut out I lined up where the psu of the 360 will need to enter the void and marked that up.
With it being away from the edge I decided to hide it a bit better buy leaving the front of the tray on



You can see above the entrance point for the 360 psu to go into the void. On this pic you will see where it enters the tray



Now I had to cut out the 120mm fan hole for the fan going near the pc i/o panel



Its time to move onto the side panels.
I have wasted alot of time on the side panel window frames and decided to make a proper template.
Once made I clamped it down and marked out 4 frames



Now a disaster happened almost instantly when I started to cut the aluminium. My father in laws jigsaw sort of started smoking then then blade stopped moving.
I had to replace it and let me tell you this has been the best thing that has happened on this mod cause enter the uber stonking jigsaw



It has saved me loads of time and seeing as I broke it and he's allowing me to use any of his tools I got him the best in the shop.
Anyway soon after my 4 frames were cut ready to be filed and sanded



Now these frames are going to be a main feature of the side panels so they have to have time taken on them.
I started off filing everything right down to my template line.
Then I used needle files to smoothen out the hard files marks.
Then moved to 70 grit sandpaper, then 600 grit, then 1200 grit and this is the result of all my efforts




I am still a little undecided whether to sand them down more and leave them in a dull state as a final finish or brush them, loads of time for those decisions tho, what do you's guys think on that one ?
Anyway I couldnt resist seeing what they will look like on the panel with the black mesh installed



I couldnt be happier with the frames at this point, they are turning out far better than i expected



Although they arent lined up or attached properly I can see that the extra time spent on the frame has certainly paid off



Only 3 more to go.
It was almost 10pm when I finished that so thats were this update ends, I did however spend a full day on some 120mm grills that I have scrapped cause I wasnt happy with how they came out. I had a better idea.
Anyway earlier I mentioned the NewQ Platinum I ordered. Well it came this morning and I just had to takle a pic of it to show everyone.



and oh yes thats getting modded too.

Well it was time to get everything that needed sprayed completed
So I started off by body filling the parts i had been grinding and anything else that was unsightly like these




Jesus body filler goes off far too quickly but I got there, just needed sanding smooth now



Once done everything needed going over with a fine coarse steel wool pad for the paint to properly adhere to it





Just as I finished the full chassis I decided that this wasnt going to be good enough and to get the best outcome possible decided to complete strip down the full chassis.
So out came the drill and I went through every rivet, never done a pic cause you will see it all stripped later.

Next job was to make the new motherboard try for the Xbox 360 with a void behind to hide all the wires.
So I lined up the PC tray as I want the 2 to be identical and made my markings



I am using motherboard spacers to hold the tray in place so I relined up the pc tray and found a nail the same size as the holes where the spacers were going and gave a slight tap to mark where its needed to drill



All marked up with markings of where to drill ready to cut



I have only used 1mm Aluminium for this tray so filing was a dream



Heres the tray all cut out and with the holes drilled



Obviously just needed to do a quick test to make sure everything lined up, 1 or 2 were slightly out but that was soon rectified

 

love the idea you came up with and cant wait for the end result. will the 360 power brick be in the case or will it be left outside?

 

It was time to take the Xbox 360 apart so that I can mock everything up



once apart I then placed the 360 motherboard and front panel were they needed to be and marked the holes for there spacers to go



I then got out my tap & dye kit and put threads in the holes to screw the spacers into, once done I made sure they fit properly



Once done I test to make sure everything lined up and that the 360 motherboard hid all the screws holding the tray in place.
Was really happy with the way this turned out




Next up was marking were all the connectors were and where I was going to place the holes for the wires to come through



Once everything was cut out I sanded all the edges etc and preped the tray for paint.
Thats another job finished



I have hunted high and low for some smart 120mm fan grills but am just not happy with anything I saw so I decided to design my own.
Now seeing as 1 of the grills will need to be sprayed black as its going just below the PSU on an aluminium background, I need to make it now.

Heres my design



I then cut out and sanded the edges smooth, behind the slots there will be aluminium hex mesh, should look smart



Time to move onto the 360 I/O panel seeing as finally all my connectors have arrived.
Many hours of thinking had gone into how to attach these and they came good in the end.

The 2 audio jacks I got the tap and dye set back out and added a 3 mm thread to end jack




Then added a thread to the holes I drilled and checked they fitted



The optical couldnt get a thread as my set wasnt that big so I removed 2mm of rubber from the middle section



Then cut the outer plastic cover in half



And drilled the hole slightly smaller and everthing seems to fit tight, along with JB weld I dont think its going anywhere



I gotta snazzy RJ45 Port (dont know why cause u wont see it ), so lined it up, cut the hole and checked for fit, now ignore the fact the outside cover is a little wonky, its very hard to hold this and take a pic at the same time, it does line up correctly



Finally was the USB port, this was very easy as it came with screws



Now that everything was cut I can make a template to scan so I can make the I/O panel cover, that will come later tho

 

inside m8 at the top of the case

 

Nice work so far. I really like the Mozart Case, so i hope you will offer us something nice in the Future too.

And welcome to the forum, i think nobody said it yet.

 

Sadly my father in law loves his garden and theres no way he would allow me to spray in it so a friend came to the rescue

I got everything on his washing line held by cable ties so I can get to all surfaces




To make sure I get no splatters of spray that will ruin my paint job I put the primer into hot tap water for 10 minutes prior to spraying



Everything was sprayed with primer 3 times and a very light sanding with 1500 grit wet sandpaper in between coats



This was then left over night so its got time to go hard prior top giving the last light sanding for the main color tio go on, but heres a pic of the fan grill i made close up, seems everything is going well



With that drying I decided to move back onto the side panels and mainly the logos.
I got large jpgs of the logos I wanted and printed them the size needed, I then cut them out and glued them onto cardboard to make my templates



Here they are all cut out so they can be used as templates



Now I am planning to use 1mm aluminum so it was pointless buying 3mm green plexi glass as it would look odd, plus I wanted a dull surface for the green plastic.
I went to my local PC shop and got some green dvd cases, these will be perfect.

Heres the logos outlined ready to cut




Everything else will be aluminium, so I got my 1mm sheet of aluminium and masked it up first as it never came with a protective cover



Once done I marked up everything using the templates I made ready to be cut out.



Straight away I noticed that it will be a nightmare filing inside the numbers and letters so decided to make the holes and file them first



Now 1 job at a time, so I decided to do the nvidia logo first

Once cut out with the jigsaw I had to file the edges and remove the masking tape for the final filing and sanding process.



An hour later and everything is done to my satisfaction, like the frames I am still undecided on the final finish so I cleaned the lettering all up and tried everything out to see what it looked like.




I am very happy with this logo and hope the xbox 360 one will look as good.

Well thats it for now, more updates will come soon, you guys are now upto where I am with the mod.

I very much need your suggestions and advice for this because as I said the design is changing everyday

 

thanks m8

 

ahhh i get it now.... i misunderstood wot you meant about being the psu

 

superb work so far PC360 cant wait for some more updates .

 

loving it keep it up!

 

Wow.

This is looking pretty special. Very clean cuts.

I love the washing line photos

 

wow, some nice work there, really do like what you are doing with the side panels.

Some nice initial modding there and a good idea.

 

Really loving it keep it up

 

this thing looks amazing!

 

I love this mod man, it's like a dream, your console and your gaming pc in one, it's like i don't have to chose, i can do both. I love the concept, and i love the execution.