Project│Red Nineteen :: Custom PC, Readers' Drives - 23/10/06

Thanks for the link! We've ordered a vinyl print from eBay of 'Ferrari'. It should sit on the sidepanel somewhere. Tomorrow I'll scout out a badge to match the one on my Acer F-19.

 

Red Nineteen Project Log 25 - 7th July 2006

The first update for the weekend (expect many more)...


^ My 7800gt stripped bare of its noisy stock cooler.


^ The Arctic Cooling Accelero X1 fitted - it's 100 times better, as it is sooo much quieter!


^ A shot showing the back mounting plate. They didn't supply me with enough thermal pads, so had to use the old ones from the original heatsink.


^ The new cooler in place. The only thing that makes any noise now is the CPU HSF. It's quiet, but not quiet enough for my liking - so I'll wire it into the fan controller too.


^ Remember the front USB ports on the fascia? Well I didn't like the mouth style, so decided to fill it back in. Here's a bracket being glued to form a base for the filler.


^ A second coat of filler on the top panel.


^ Filler on the fascia.


^ Using the orbital sander to smooth it down...


^ Finished, ready for painting!


^ The top blow-hole completely filled in now. There were a few small gaps, but all have been totally filled in now.


^ Some cutting-disc action...


^ Which ends up like this.


^ Some more cutting-disc action. This time on the foxconn provided rear USB/Firewire port blanking plates.


^ The finished article. They should be easier to access in this position.


^ A shot from the inside - they should *just* about reach the motherboard once it is in place.


^ The case can now finally be primed with some grey primer!


^ Another angle. Hopefully I've still got plenty left for the side-panels and fascia.


^ Half of the paint ended up on my fingers. I'll wear gloves next time...

So the painting is finally getting under-way. Tomorrow I'll sand down the primer and give the case a coat or two of the red paint. Or I may prime the side-panels and fascia, leaving me the case to measure up the electrics. That's going to be the most time-consuming part now, as I re-solder and sleeve all of the cabling. Check back for more updates over the weekend!

 

The Freezer Pro is quite a beast eh? I plugged mine into a fan controller and it must be a decent fan as the lowest voltage still makes it spin and is extremely quiet. Loudest thing now is the NB fan but that slows after the case airflow kicks in and cools it down.

Looking good so far, can't wait to see the paint slapped on!

 

I noticed that the usb ports and firewire ports have a raised lip on them. I was wondering if you are going to remove this or leave it.

I was thinking that if you reveresed the blanking plate (lip towards the metal. Than the ports woud be offset fromt the back of the case a mm or so, and it might make an interesting... thing (for lack of better word).

BTW, those cables for the ports arnt going to be in the way of the window are they? Or do you have a plan?

Good job, and i look forward to another update.

I just wasnt sure if you had any plans on this, or were satisfied with the lip.

 

I was originally going to cut off the lip using the cutting disc. But it was late last night, so decided to leave it as I may have made a mistake.

I'll try flipping them over, as you suggest - and see if that works.

As for getting in the way of the window, hopefully not. I'll extend their cables if needed, but they should be OK.

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My ferrari vinyl sign arrived this morning! Purchased it from eBay and the guy has a very quick turn-around.

It should sit just below the window, on the side-panel I think.

 

Why arent you using the dvi connector instead of the vga one?

 

Good question - when I first turned it all on, I couldn't get an image with DVI, so switched to VGA. It turned out that it was the 8-pin ATX connector that wasn't plugged in, so no image.

However, I never switched back to DVI. Though whilst installing XP just now, I can't get a picture with DVI but I can with VGA. I'll try again later to get DVI working.

 

Red Nineteen Project Log 26 - 8th July 2006

A short update, just to show you how the painting is coming along...


^ The side-panels and fascia have all been primed with the grey primer. They're awaiting a few coats of black.


^ The main chassis, with the top panel masked off.


^ And after a couple of coats of the Nissan Red paint.


^ A shot from the side. The red is perfect and should match the Acer F-19 well.


^ A shot from the back.


^ And the inside of the side-panel. I unfortunately ran out of paint at this stage.

The red is currently drying - once it has, I will apply the first coat of black to the side-panels and top panel. Then tomorrow morning I'll finish it all off and lacquer it.

Whilst I've been waiting for paint to dry, I partitioned the 250gb Samsung - and installed two instances of XP. It will end up as a triple-boot with XP (x2) and Vista Beta 2. I've also had time to run a few benchmarks, but will post results of them once the modding has finished.

 

This is just a weird question. What are you going to do on the sidepanels where the red meets the black at the edges? I imagine nothing at all, although i have never seen a panel painted different colors on different sides, so i wasnt sure if there would be a problem or not...
as in the edge not ending up with paint on it, or splotches...

Also, i hope the paint doesnt cause tolerance issues with the latching mechanisms that hold the panels on... IE scrapage or not fitage...

Anyways, i cant wait to see the ifnished paint job

 

I'll mask off the edges, so that they meet equally. Though the panels are quite thin, so it shouldn't matter.

 

Ok, i dont know why i thought of that, or if its evena concern...

Anyways, keep up the good work

 

Looking great!

 

Red Nineteen Project Log 27 - 8th July 2006

I know I'm posting this on the 9th, but I completed most of it before midnight.

I've been working on this project for over 12 hours straight today too! The end is so close, that I am using all my free time to get as much done as I can...


^ I sleeved the Arctic Cooling Accelero X1's power cable, as it was multi-coloured and a bit 'in your face'. You can also see the 2 Bulgin vandal-proof switches sleeved and ready-to-go too.


^ The top panel uncovered, ready for painting black.


^ The sides masked up. I have also sprayed the front, top and side panels black, but haven't taken any pictures tonight of them.


^ The two rear 80mm fans have been wired up together, so that they can be controlled as one.


^ And finally, I modified the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 power cable too. Now the yellow wire goes to the motherboard header and the red/black go to the fan controller/switch. This will allow me to adjust the speed or turn it off altogether, whilst the motherboard still records the RPM.

The cooling will be controlled by the 4 switches and 4 fan controller knobs. One for the 2 x rear 80mm fans, one for the CPU fan, one for the lower 120mm fan and one for the upper 120mm fan. Simple. Tomorrow morning I'll apply another coat of black and hopefully get onto lacquering where needed. I just have the two 120mm fans to re-wire and sleeve, then it is just a case of putting it all together!

 

You can turn of the alarm for the CPU in your bios, I did it for a friend on a similar asus mobo

 

Well, a stupid question but where can I buy those sleeves? Acryan?

 

I'm not sure where in Germany, but I've purchased all my sleeving from Kustom PCs, here in the UK. They sell braiding kits and also heatshrink seperately. I would purchase additional heatshrink if I were you, as I ran out very quickly.

Link here, or check the front page where I've got links to all retailers I have used.

 

most electronics stores selll heatshrink and braiding

 

Red Nineteen Project Log 28 - 9th July 2006

Another quick update...


^ The side-panel after one coat of black and a wet/dry going over.


^ The fascia, awaiting a second coat after wet/dry.


^ The top panel after a second coat.


^ The other side-panel after one coat (and the fascia after a second).


^ After a second coat.

The paint is coming along well, but I think I should go and grab another can of black and another of lacquer. I want a nice thick coat of paint, which will be glossy too. Another trip to Halfords it is then (the paint is costing more than some of the components!).

 

This is looking freaking great! Im anxious to see more progress!

 

I hate painting side panels and the like, if I see a slight problem with the finish, I sand it down and put another coat of paint and it takes alot of time!!! Glad to see that the painting is coming along nicely - I am loving that Nissan Red!! Looks da bLiNg!!

Can't wait till next update!!!

OldY