STellY's Newest Mid-Tower Project - UPDATE FINALLY! - 6/14

OK guys this project is coming together slowly but surely and i will post updates regularly and try 2 keep everyone happy.

This project is going to be done with an ENlight Mid-Tower

There will be 3 main colors incorporated in the theme:
Silver/Aluminum metalic color (much of this project will be polished aluminum)
Copper Color: A lot more on this later
Black: simple black, this will mainly just be the outside of the case, but there will be hints of it on the interior as well.

The case doesnt look like much now, i know. But it will, worry not.

If you look in that newegg link on the pictures, you will notice that the chassis looks quite different than what they have pictured...... (sigh, ah well. probably the ONE flaw i have found with newegg)

here is the un-modded pics:






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OK well i did most of this before i even recieved the case. As some of you know, and a lot of you may not know, a long time ago (around the 80s) Panasonic (makers of the famous case fans with high performance/noise ratios, "Panaflo") made a 120mm L1A model fan with an aluminum frame. Now dubbed "ULTRA-RARE"
you can find them on ebay sometimes, if youre lucky. I, unbelievably, have gotten ahold of 3. 2 thanks to ebay, and 1 thanks to mnpctech.

They dont look too great at first, but once u polish em up, they are beeyootifull....

If you are looking for some the model #'s on them are "FBH-12G12L"

now so far i will only be using 1 or 2 of them, but i figure ill keep the last one or 2 for future mods or something.

So i got em, disassembled them, and got to polishing.

First what you do, is use a wire-wheel at low-RPMs on ur dremel.... and get it nice and smooth, and kinda shiny....

Then you take your polish (i got mother's blue aluminum polish, proclaimed the best) and you take a felt-wheel for your dremel (correct me if you know wut u are supposed to call them) and get a nice black film over your aluminum.... You want to get the film almost gone at some angles.... just keep grindin at it, wont hurt it..... and just keep on puttin more and more on it.

Once your done, it should be pretty nice and shiny, i will show you my feeble attempts so far.


Before getting polished, i only had 2 at the time. (mnpctech's hadnt come in


After the wire wheel and some light polishing... bah, i was tired :roll:






In those last 3 pics u can see where im at now.... better (i think so) but still not perfect.

When i get time i will have to sand them so they are flat and go at polishing again.... but on to the case and other mods....

 

i did some of the bondo work on the floppy/power portion so it is smooth

this is actually the one portion of the project im not sure what to do with yet.... power buttons going somewhere else (ull see in a sec) and i dont know anything that could use up this space.... if u guys got ne ideas please say them.... however i will come up with something....

heres the pics:



now the next pictures show where i am going to use mnpctech's modders mesh on the front panel





more in a few secs

 

OK this has had only slightly started yet.... but is something i have wanted to do...

most controls to the computer will be built in this little "box" type thing protruding out the top of the top panel....



it was actually off my RF mouse in my HTPC mod... since i built the reciever into the case, i didnt need the enclosure for it

i then drilled out the rivets holding the top panel on







you can see where it will be placed.... the next thing i am going to do is cut out an area of the top panel and then bondo it on....

also, sorry for any blurriness or bad quality pics.... this is from b4 i got my new camera....

 

got a box from d-tek... its my pro-core radiator and shroud....



now one thing i wasnt prepared for... was to find that the shroud is.... plastic?! (ghey)

ergh, i wanted metal so i could polish it up and have it all shiny i will atleast paint it some sort of silver or something... ill figure it out later.

now the radiator is going to be a tough fit... and i knew it would be.

i am going to have to shave off part of the top panel as you cas see here so it will fit the radiator sideways (no having it the other way wont work... there isnt enough room)



i guess that is all, i have marked off a few pieces to cut... but havnt cut them yet.

 

That front looks really nice , seems to me a great project, keep up the good work.

btw i see that you have a lot of spare cases to take parts of...

 

my new stuff.....

a special thanks to the guys at crazypc for helping provide me with some of the following products:






there is what i got....

PaxMate sound dampening material (more on this later)
3/8 stem for swiftech block (more on this later)
Arctic Silver 5
2 evercool aluminum 80mm fans (more on this later)
Tubing
12" White Cold Cathode
Clear 12v inverter
sound activated CC module (more later.... maybe)
rubber grommets (noise reduction....)

as you can see a lot of the parts will have modifications done to them later.....


i struggled with the front mesh for awhile, and went through a few test mounting procedures.... i found the one i felt would be the best and went through with it:





sorry for the bad pics....

but anyway thats how i mounted it, i bent the sides in, and then superglued using liquid nails plastic adhesive.... and thats where it is now


next was the fans.... the one thing i dont like about these fans.... is that crap blue writing on the sides.... so i took it to the wirewheel to take off (no pics on how it is right now, but here is them disassembled:

 

i wierd the LCD and also did a wiring guide (HD44780) for anyone who wants it:

http://www.moddershq.net/guides.asp?guideid=13

this will go in a somewhat interesting place on the case so keep pacient

 

took my swifty block to the sandblaster







i was originally going to polish it, but i like it this way and think i will leave it like this.... less chance for small imperfections...

this was an interesting mod and im glad i did it

 

the new products i got:

Abit AI7
Enermax Silent 350w PSU
Tubing
Hydor L30

now lets start with the front panel again.... i finished mounting the other side of mesh but still havnt done the bondo.... that will be done very soon.





next i got the AI7..... its a motherboard perfect for this mod..... great board layout.... good functionality, price, and performance....





it came very neatly packaged with not the most goodies ever, but enough for the price.... and heres the board:



next the window.....

i had this design in my head for awhile.... i like this window more than my usual square window or so.... this was fun to do and came out pretty good....





after jigsaw



after filing it down..... there will be black molding on the edges of the window cut.... in the bottom left will be a fan mount so my zalman/9800 pro stays cool enough.... i will bondo up all of the vent holes as well...

after that i had a go at some of the wiring strategy.... i put the PSU up and the already braided cables are extremely fat and are going to be a challenge to wire effectively....

i ran over where everything would go and how i would organize the wires.... made a few pencil marks, and cut up some of the case....



i cut various parts of the motherboard tray..... the big hole on the top right will not be visible when completed..... i had to make various top cuts that arent exactly visible.... and of course the standard holes for the power, reset, etc....

there will be a few more cuts on the cassis that i will do.... but nothing big...

here is what it amounts to when put in....







my final analysis:

guys, im having some pretty good feelings about this mod..... it will be quiet, sleek, and practical.... so far everything has fit in with little, no, or not enough room.... and ive made up for it and it looks as if everything will fit perfectly (knock on wood)

i will be doing a lot more work for this whole week and might even get it finished with besides the chrome (if i still decide to do it)

up next: fitting the rad..... more wiring stuff.... sanding, bondoing, and priming the front panel....

 

ok last post today

been a bit more work..... though i didnt get too much more done ....

FRONT PANEL:

i applied more bondo to the left side and certain imperfections



then i sanded down



and primered...





this is just the first primer coat and i am going to do some more bondo on the imperfections and touch it up a bit more before doing the color coats....

RAD MOUNTING:



i cut away part of the top lid so the radiator can fit in comfortably.... fits fine now although i am still stumped on how i want to mount it..... its killin me

WIERD PANEL MOD:

this mod has been an idea of mine for awhile so i decided to try it out.... i cut out this panel of aluminum



then i put it in the case like so:



this will be mounted in there (i have made a second piece of aluminum a different chape and i dont think i will need the black molding)

it will be a panel to hold the LCD so i can view it sort of through the case.... and also will have 2 barbs mounted on it (more on this later)

WHY? well i know it kinda goes against a few things.... one being front intake.... well this will be an extremely quiet case for me and i found i dont really need front intake....

second..... if i dont need front intake why in the hell would i do all of that modders mesh molding??

well thats a good question.... one because its stylish, 2 because i have a little mod planned for that, and 3 because if i end up needing more airflow i can easily upgrade to front intake with sweet front intake styles

well after that i cut up the front portion of the case for better wiring and to have opening up there....
before:


after:


then the only other modding i did (that im showing you) was i used some of the paxmate on the drive cage (inside) to dampen the vibrations that will be coming from the pump (Hydor L30) which i am still having a bit of trouble mounting....

if you are wondering a lot of this has just been slightly edited posts from my worklog over at ModdersHQ (my site):

http://www.moddershq.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=202

i got enough work done that i thought i would show you guys too....

questions/comments/criticism welcome guys.... thanks

 

wow that seems to be a really good start with this project I love the front mesh , good luck with this mod

 

Always nice to see someone start off with a very simple case - really like what you have done with the mesh on the front panel - looks the biznuss matey.

 

Nice working project you got there.

The front with the mesh looks "sweet"

Keeping an eye on this one for sure.

 

That looks really good. I'm getting tired of my miditower myself cause theres so many limits in the space, but it's good to see that someone else is modding theirs

Love the work you did on those fans, looks schweet.

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Looks excellent
i really like the window and the work youve done on the front!

 

thanks guys.... glad ya like it so far....

there is still some things holding me back, once i find a good way to mount the pump and get some of the parts that i ordered in (more later ) then i will be able to do all of the water working....

then im not sure if im going to chrome the chassis or not.... if not then i will probably out the aluminum through the sandblaster so it matches the case....

does anyone know a good place to send metal out to be chromed for a good price??? im going to see if i can find anything local.

keep the comments comin guys, thx for the support

 

Looks cool, with regard to the power and reset button, i always thought of putting mine in the Keyboard or mouse, a couple of microswitches.

Not sure if its possible, but i think it is just extended cables.......???

Looking good so far, nice one.

FT

 

Lools really nice, I am looking forward 'til the next update.

 

Looking good... I always like to see different cases instead of the normal chieftec, antex, li lian, etc, just like my project baby bliss. I really like the front mesh but it needs something behind it to have the "look", kind of like an intercooler on a car. Why the hole in the MB tray? Are you going to route wires there?

Over all the case looks really good and I will also be watching this very closly.

I also really like the window but please do not use molding (unless it is chrome). You can file it down and make it look really nice how it is. I have always liked the look of non standard windows in cases and your design looks nice.

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