Case Mod - In Progress Project: LEXA

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

 

Normally I'm not a fan of U-channel. But in this instance it fits n perfectly. Also, loving the green acrylic

 

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

 

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.

 

Thats amazing! Really nice work!

Congrats

 

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

 

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.

 

One way you can grind the washers is to put them in a bolt and use them in the drill press as a lathe. U can have some amazing results in that way.

I mean, u rough cut a circle of green plexi. Drill a hole in the middle and use the drill pressa as a lathe.

 

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.

 

Dang! I forgot that!

 

Looking awesome dude, I'm loving the black and green. A power drill in a vice would probably work but then we're getting a bit risky.

 

The best results would come from sanding them into shape. Make a bunch of scraps with holes in them, and bolt them together using a long, small threaded rod. On the end pieces you should have the circle size you want to cut to. Another good trick would be to have 2 blocks the same height that the ends of the treaded rod could rest on. The blocks should stop you from sanding the plexi past the desired radius.
...It looks like I explained something in gibberish again.
Edit:

That should help. It took longer to upload it to my bloated image host site than it did to paint.

 

I use to own a Lexa case before and i loved it,you have done a nice job with this one so far ,i like the mesh and green plexi, the paint job and color of choice looks realy good to.

Regards.

 

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.

 

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 washer came along very nicely! Good job on them

Just one tip on the photos: Macro is your friend

Great update, very instructive

 

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.

 

Nice work on the new case feet. Are you still going to use the originals aswell?

In regards to the macro, just look for a picture of a flower that's the usual icon for macro

 

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.

 

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.