yes thats right another chieftec/antec mod! altho when this one is done you will hardly be able to tell. I am not going to devoldge too much about the mods planned, but you will see as I go along. Well lets get started on the pics. The case I took this picture of a 3 foot by 3 foot sheet of aluminum i got for 12 dollars, ironicly the flash and minor bends in it kinda made it look like a lightning bolt going down it (and no that is not where i got the idea for the name, you will see why.....) The first thing to go was the door and those nasty looking finger holes around the bays. and of coase one coat of bondo is never enough and as for the top, I didnt want to go for a traditonal blow hole. So a rectangle is about as far away from a circle as you can get. The rough cut before any filing or perfecting. and after the filing (dont worry about the screw ups in the corners they will be taken care of, as you will see in tomorows post) There is going to be a false top to hide wires and other nasties. and a shot from the side of the false top. Much much more to come, i will try to post an update every day (seeing as how i do nothing but go to work and come home and work on this case). As always i am open to suggestions. within the next 3 days you will have the jist of what I am going for. Until then you will have to do with these. JEEVES
instead of having a completely false top, how about just having an aluminum in front of the powersupple where all the cable go through, and you have the option of stuffing the unused cables in the box.
well i am actualy going to be modding the power supply as well so that all the cables go straight out the top and into the false top. plus you will have to see what that blow hole looks like. also i am going to have to hide 2 project boxes for some things on the front as well as wires leading to the rack. lol and you are going to love the bottom of the case. JEEVES
Or cut off the unused wires. I did that, no problems. I put duct tape over the ends of the indiviudal wires though, one day I'll get around to desoldering them. Anyways, this looks pretty good man. I'll have to drive up there (since I now have an actual working car that no one can borrow) and see it in person. My question: are you going to have the wires all over the top or just under the top of the case...like, will you be able to see the false top through the hole you just cut, or will that be off to the side and you can see through the rectangle (since there will be fans there...). Ok, you know what? I don't know WTF I'm talking about, just ignore me. I don't understand where the false top is going, basically. Good luck
Not be able to tell... hard to say, You are doing a good job so far. What are you planning for the drives, You can not use the normal sliders now as you filled the holes? Looking good...
Ok since I know you are all confused on the blow hole and false top, this update will have alot of pictures. I will be painting the case black but that is far down the road. first off here is what will be in the rectangle hole. then of coarse comes the bondo (rember when i said dont worry about the screw ups in the corners they will be taken care of) This will insure a nice smooth edge to the angled "flue". Then comes the sanding, just wanted to get a semi smooth feel to it. I always seem to do two coats of bondo to get it perfectly smooth (sometimes 3) Then comes the second coat, to get out all the minor imperfections. then after sanding that coat I get (for the most part) the finished product. I will have to back over everything with a 200 grit sand paper to make it uber smooth before painting. But i am going to wait till right before I paint to do the whole case at once. Here is a downward shot of it. Now i know what you are thinking, that looks horrible. Well what I am doing with the blow hole now is adding this to the top of that. I am adding a piece of lexan (that i will be tinting with car window tint on both sides at a later time). Those fricken bolts cost 4 dollars and I had to buy 8 (4 are going somewhere else) but the nuts that fit them only cost 89 cents for 12 (and i needed 24). Anyways Here is a picture of how the lexan fits into the top. And a picture of it straight down. you can see how i left a a gap along the edges of it so that airflow will not be restricted (its about a half inch, so that one idiot at lan parties wont stick his finger in it) And here is how the false bottom and the two 80mm fans (i know in the picture there is only one but you can see where the second one goes) fit into place with the blow hole. The fans attach to the flue and the lexan is bolted into the 2 outside edges of the fans. And the flase bottom will be screwed into the other side of the fans (with fan grills) so that you get a nice flush look to the under side of the top of the case. I will be using 2 coolermaster quad white led fans in the top, so you get a nice white glow coming out of the sides around the semi litup tinted lexan. I hope this helps explain the top of the case a bit better. I know I was kinda brief in yesterdays post, but it would of taken me 10 pages to try and describe what i did. Prob sat. I will post the pics of what is going on with the front of the case. until then enjoy, and please feel free to constructivly criticize on what i have so far. Jeeves
because this case was originally mine that i was going to do, and im "letting" him do this now. me and him (brothers) have both put a quite a bit of time and work into this case as it is now... we were both originally gunna do this, but i started on "Project: Ignis" and i am handed the project over to him... though we are both still working on this, but its mainly him working on it now... working on mine and his, we are working on a "portfolio" for a modding company and what not... that is all... keep it up
that is one wicked idea.... way to be original.... and hey, a chieftech is a chieftech if ur findin new ways to mod it, go for it
The whole reason I chose a chieftec was simply becuase it has been sitting in the corner for around a year and i got sick of looking at it. It was enigma's old case that we were going to mod together. we would sit there and toss ideas back and forth of what to do with it. So we started working on it and then enigma got all crazy about this micro atx (that has been sitting in the closet for about as long) and gave up on the chieftec and started working on the micro case. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=54482 So I continued the work (and thrown around 250 dollars into it). Alot of the ideas for this case have come from enigma, and alot have come from me (I am doing all the work now). So yes we must give some credit (i stress the some ) to enigma. Here is a pic of my case now (I am very bored with it and wanted a bigger case) As you see very bland and no too hard of mods. So now I am doing this complete makeover of a chieftec. but it doesnt seem like too many people care . anyways I will give an update tomorow on the front of the case. You guys should like it. JEEVES
keep going, it's an awesome mod! (at least until now! ) BTW, i've noticed that you've a ZALMAN WB, how does it perform?!
It seems to work great for me my ******* brother came over and logged on my computer again....... JEEVES
Well thanks Jeeves. I like how you recessed the fans on top to make them near flush with that cover you made. It will be interesting to see how the air flow is. It appears you left enough space for the fans to blow the air out ok without restricting the flow. I at first thought they were too close and it would mess things up, but it looks like you mounted them lower than I originally thought you would. Can't wait to see how the bondo comes out with paint and sanding. Should be cool. Any chance you will cut some holes or a pattern into the lexan?
The Lexan will actualy be tinted with car window tint (80%). and the two fans in the blow hole will be coolermaster white led fans, so you will get a nice glow from around the edges of the lexan and the tinted lexan itself will glow. As for airflow there is about a 3/8in gap all around, I think that should be sufficiant enough. On the front of the case there will be something similar I will have pictures of it up sometime this week (I have been extremely busy). Until then JEEVES
Really nice looking mod on the top of the case i like what youve done with the bit of plexi as well can't wait to see it tinted and the fans through it. Btw whats that pink bondo stuff and where do i get it in the UK ie whats its real name.
