Ever since the P180 first came out I was a huge fan of the case and now that I have gotten older, My quest for a more silent pc has increased. So I have started a little project to bring the P180 up to modern standards and make it even more quite. I have sourced a 2nd hand P180 for around 11pounds This case has been in the walls a little bit but all the major bits are here, I am going to have to come up with a new mounting solution for the side panels as most of the clips have broken off. Case will be black and white, with the chassis been white and with black highlights. I will try and build in water cooling for a tripple rad but that I might leave until the next upgrade of the case. Lets get started
Yup Antec P180 Here is the case as I got it, as you can see it has got mostly everything. Case is stripped but not cleaned yet. Bottom Fan Bracket is removed Both Stiffy drive and fan backet are removed and will not be put back. Marking of front fan grills to be cut out, to help the air flow into the case but keep the filters in place. Extra steel cut out on both grills using a dremel. I started to striped all the old paint off the case at this point and I came to realize that there is a bit of rust in the bottom of the case and I cant get to it. So I broke out the drill and started to drill out all of the rivets to break the case down into its component parts. Here is the case broken down into its parts about to be washed to get most of the dirt off it. I have also used a wire brush in my drill to strip most of the paint off or at the least to scuff the old paint a lot to make the new paint stick better to the case. Here is the case taken apart into its base form. All the bits were washed in warm soapy water and given a good scurb. Here is the bottom of the case prior to cleaning and you clearly see that this is need of some TLC I also went and bought myself a new tool 25mm Bimetal hole saw. I forgot to take pictures of me marking of where I want cut on the steel. Also I know that my cuts are not perfect but I am very much a novice in working with steel. I do have a plan to pretty up the cuts but that will come later. All cuts were started with the hole saw, then the dremel cut out the smaller holes using a reinforced cutting wheels (Lots) I then started the cut the hole for the behind the cpu cooler and found that a using a dremel to cut this is not a good idea. So I went and bought some new blades. Much cutting and filling later I ended with this All cuts were filed using a grining stone on the dremel and then I used a hand file to smooth out the cuts some more.
haha reminds me of when i did my P182 HERE that floppy bay comes in handy yano, you can hide cables in it and a card reader
Good start but I would suggest if you don't already have it a good jigsaw to help with nice strait cuts and a good set of files to smooth out the edges I have a P180 and it is a nice case but I do agree about the cheap clips breaking off I am looking forward to see how you attache the panels. Let us know if cutting the mesh out of the fan holes changes the amount of noise in the case.
Very nice, your case came out very nicely. The black material you used on yours cuts what is it? I am only removing the insides of the floppy drive and I intend to use it to hide all the cables As for the doors, I have an idea of using rare earth magnets to keep it in place I do have a jigaw already not as nice as I would like but it gets the job done for now.
its called "U channel" you can get it off ebay. TIP: the foam on the edges of the case can be removed totally with articlean replacement foam can be found on ebay too
Time For a huge update. I have been making good progress on the case and its coming alone nicely, here are some details. Also had to make some changes to where I paint, so painting outside is a big no no here in South Africa, either birds crap on it or bugs land on the wet paint or dirt gets into it. So some of the painting has been redone 4 or 5 times now due to that, I can be a bit of a perfectionist. So I converted a cupboard inside into a painting area. Painting is now done, but I bought the wrong kind Lacquer paint, I bought matt when I wanted to buy Gloss. I have also bought a Spray gun as using spray paint for 3 coats its nuts on this much metal. So I will also look at getting car Lacquer if its cheap enough. I need to get the foam still that I want as well. Time for the pics. Here is the new Spray gun, cheap but works £15 PPE and the metal undercoat. First coat of paint, also first mistake. Parts been wet sanded and drying in the sun Mobo tray coat 1 Parts on the line for 2nd coat much better but parts move due to wind and air pressure of the spray gun More parts drying the sun after been wet sanded. The painting Cupboard works like a dream Also threw together this wet sanding and drying rack as well. Rivets in a block of foam ? Yup rivets are also getting painted as well. 2nd coat of paint Black Bolts, you painted the bolts as well. 2nd Coat + Clear Coat Parts drying in painting Cupboard Side Panel final coat of paint, does not have the gloss on it yet. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Sorry about the light in some of pics I am using a cell phone camera.
