Case Mod - In Progress Project: LEXA

Yep sure is. It has never been cleaned lol. I will blow out all of the dust this weekend with the air compressor.

 

Hurrah, an old TI4200 indeed. It's a real shame to see that motherboard without the added IDE headers, or USB/Firewire headers tho.

 

Yeah a real low end board. From what I can see it already has 2 IDE channels though because it uses 2 IDE disk drives plus a IDE HDD. I may use it as a media server in the home or beef up the RAM a bit and use it for a games server for LANs.

 

Well I got my order guys. It came in on Monday but due to it getting shipped to my Aunties place I only received it yesterday.
Lets have a look:

Not a big order but it contains most of the stuff I need to finish this mod. There is only one thing I need to get which is UV green nail polish lol. No not for me, I am going to re do my fans because the gell pen blows off them when they dry leaving UV dust everywhere.
So this is what's in my order:
3x 120mm black mesh dust traps
2x 120mm wire fan grills
1x 80mm wire fan grill
2x 20 packs of black cable ties
3x 1 meter 6mm black cable sleeving
1x 1 meter 6mm heatshrink
1x 20cm UV CCFL
1x AC Ryan duel 30cm CCFL extension cable, UV green
2x 3 pin 'Y' splitter
2x 30cm 3 pin extension cable
1x pack of 10 black thumbscrews

First up I installed the two 120mm fan grills on my 240mm radiator fans:

I then put 2 of the dust traps on the underside of the radiator. The thumbscrews were originally going to be used on the dust traps for easy cleaning but they are just a little too big and don't fit.

I then installed the third dust trap on the front intake fan, replacing the stock NZXT one that comes with the case.
Looks much better now:


Here is a summary of where the other stuff will be going:

I was going to install the 20cm UV CCFL into the case support bar today but like the 10CM CCFL this one is replacing the block on the ends are too wide. Easily fixed though, I will just grind some of the plastic off with the Dremel later.

The 80mm fan grill is for the top 80mm exhaust fan. This fan will be one of the last things that will be installed.

The cable sleeving will be used on any cable I can find that isn't already sleeved.

I already have some black cable ties but at $1.50 a pack these were a bargain.

The UV green AC Ryan duel 30cm CCFL extension cable was bought just in case I needed one. I didn't want to get the UV green but there were no plain ones in stock. At $4.00 for the pair they are fairly cheap and when I replace the green sleeving with the black I get some spare green sleeving lol.

The 3 pin 'Y' splitters and extension cables were also bought just in case I needed them. Sometimes having extra length of cable available makes cable routing much easier.

Last but not least the thumbscrews. They were going to be used for the dust traps on the radiator but are a little too big so they are going to be spares for the time being.

Sorry there are no more pics guys but with only 7 weeks left until I finish high school I got a lot of work to do. May get a little bit done during the week but don't hold your breath. Until then...

Happy Modding.

 

Dude its getting better by every update
Keep it up cant w8 to see the end results

 

Nice work. why not do green fans? to match the green on case. Looks good. waiting for next update.

 

I am painting the blades of the fans UV green, believe me it looks really good. I have already tried it with a gel highlighter but once it dried it blew off. I will be using UV green nail polish to paint the blades...if I can find it.

 

http://www.legionenterprises.co.nz/...an-blackmagic2-uv-paint-uvgreen/prod_701.html

 

I looked at the AC Ryan paint but I only have access to the 5 pack of colours not just the individual green paint. My auntie is a beautician running her own salon so she will be able to do a special order for me at wholesale price for the nail polish. IT will also be much cheaper than the AC Ryan paint.

 

Nice one,looking good

 

Thanks Skullen.

 

God I remember when the first MosterGL cards came out. I cranked up one hell of bill with ozemail trying to download this patch for Quake, OVER DIAL-UP, to turn on a mirror effect... hehehe
Things were so much simpler back then. Sigh...

 

Lol yeah they sure were.

 

Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys but I have been really busy with school. I have 2 2000 word essays due on Friday lol. Anyway I have been busy so here we go.

I went to an automotive shop with my mate because he needed to get some cable to wire up his sound system and I found these:

They are chrome plastic cable spacers. Cost me $20 for the pack but IMO it was well worth it.
Even thought they looked so good they still needed to be modded slightly. I took apart all of the spacers.
Close up pic of a disassembled spacer:

As you can see the Allen bolt passes through to the nut which sits in a recess. These nuts aren't glued in so that's what I did next.
All glued:

Now all the spacers are good to go for when I need them during the installation phase.

Next up we have the mobo tray:

Yes very plain I know. I am going to cut some holes into the tray to make cable management easier and to allow greater access to the CPU cooler (underside) and a CCFL inverter.
All my cuts marked on the tray:

Cuts all done and paint touched up a bit:

"U" channel on the cuts:

I guess I better explain what each hole is for so here we go.
Hole 1:

This hole sits directly behind the CPU area of the mobo. By cutting this hole I have allowed myself the freedom of being able to remove my CPU water block without removing the motherboard from the case. Not really needed but always good to have the flexibility.

Hole 2:

This is the entrance hole for the motherboard 24pin power cord. This allows me to route the cable under the mobo tray instead of straight under the mobo.

Hole 3:

The exit hole for the 24 pin mobo power cable. This hole sits directly on the edge of the motherboard allowing only the head of the cable to be seen.

Hole 4:

This hole gives me access to the CCFL inverter I mounted on the motherboard side of the case. It basically allows me to replace the inverter if it breaks without pulling half the case apart.

While I was doing all of this I thought I would treat you all to a progress shot:

Nearly all of the structural work is now complete. Only the wiring and W/C loop to go now.

While I had the case like this I figured now was a good a time than any to make my pump mounting plate.
Here is the general area the pump will be mounted in:

And here is the pump, a Danger Den MAG II LE:

This was my design for the mounting plate, pretty simple ey:

I cut out the design and stuck it to a piece of scrap alu I had laying around (yes that is the cut out from mounting the 240mm radiator lol):

Plate cut out using the Dremel:

Edges fixed up once again using the Dremel:

Holes drilled:

Plate bent into shape with the vice:

A few shots of the pump sitting on the plate, perfect:


A shot of where the plate will be installed:

The pump will be held in place with a Velcro strip and this mounting plate I made. I will be using these spare bits from my Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II to mount the mounting plate:

A pic of the mounting plate:

Yes I know it's mesh but it is just for added support.
And here it is all together:

It looks a bit loose but I didn't really tighten it up much and the Velcro isn't stuck on yet.

Now that the construction phase is complete I can start with the painting.
Plate and bracket primed:

And painted:

I am sad to say that is as far as I got today. The paint is still drying so there are no final construction pics but I should have them for you all tomorrow. Until then...

Happy Modding.

 

Nice work man. Glad its not me doing 2 2000 word essays. lol.

Could you have made it more rounded? The corners?


Just a idea why not use a oval grommet.

 

Yeah I know it looks bad but it won't bee seen so it doesn't bother me that much. I intend to re do that section anyway. Because it's so tight the "U" channel doesn't like to bend in the given space so I will have to do it in sections anyway.

 

Bummer. yeh to be honest it looks bad but if you dont see it thats ok. Man i better go to bed. Night bro and cannot wait for more mods

 

Yep, u-channel molding doesn't like straight edges, you must make all of your cuts curved, one trick, for applying u-channel to small curves, is cut the lip down, like OCBlue did in this guide

I like all of the green acrylic accents, very cool!

 

dude this one has come a long way! and thats one sexy little pump xD

like all the little details! cant wait to see it together. especially digg the feets :O

 

Thanks pOPe. She is almost ready for the final construction now.