Case Mod - In Progress Tech head (Jan, 11th 2013)

So A mother of a friend of mine was kind enough to donate this wonderful case to me

Of course I assumed nothing about the case, as I inspected the case around.
She said it came from her old work they have been using this desktop for the longest time and for some reason it no longer works (She isn't computer friendly)

So I took it because of how beautiful the case is to me.

And i figured out this was an old gateway from the look of the motherboard and shell and little 3 ring icon maybe 2000 or 2001... But it does look very interesting to me

But as I did my check around (view point on how I normally check PC)

left


right


top


front


back


frontside


At this time when I poped the latch on the frontside which is right next to the optical drive I realized how of a computer friendly my friends mother is.

inside


After the check around of what board (speculating) and what processor it might have run with. Still using DDR RAM i do believe it might have been a Pentium 4 processor.

To suspect this power supply has a 160Watt capacity :/ In today standard 160Watt is what a christmas tree light can run on.

power



So from here since she has given me the PC after letting her know how much parts would have cost (Under $300) she decide to let me have it since its out of her spending limit

What I plan on doing since I still have a very workable core2Quad and 5Gb of DDR2 800Mhz RAM I was hoping to look for a micro ATX board to fit in the case.

This is what I found ->GIGABYTE GA-G41MT-S2PT LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard


Ofcourse I will require a new heatsink since I do not care an original OEM LGA775 heatsink and my aftermarket would be to massive to fit well in such a close case
LOGISYS Computer ALPHA 400ST IC4100AST 92mm Hydro Bearing LGA 775 CPU Cooler


To power the new board and processor I needed something stronger then 160Watt and since space is limited :/

I decide to go with this ->Athena Power AP-TFX40 400W TFX12V SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply


So now I want to go ahead and come up with some nice design Idea that I can play around with.


I want to draw out a PC design to go with the shell. Modify some area for more air support maybe draw out some PC mini stand for the side so I can sit it up or lay it down and it will not lay on the bottom scratching the paint job.

 

So I did some quick sketch :/ Not my best work at all

Well its not always in the detail as long as you know what you want to do right?

My idea so far. I do want to make a window on the side panel to look in on the coolness of the parts. Maybe add some stuff for design on the outside and lights if they fit and their enough power going through.


So the top of the case I want to do is cut out fan hole I don't think I can fit anything bigger then a couple 80mm fan but I want to push with a couple 120mm fan. I also don't want to leave just a hole So I want to do is cover it with some small hex mesh maybe some large hex mesh or both.


Here I want to create a slide up cover for the USB and audio hole. Match it on the other side all the way down to the disc drive. I see on the case It has a floppy bay. What I might end up doing is taking it out (since I wont be using floppy) and replacing it with a small fan control or a media card reader.

 

Nice drawings. Nice idea. Good luck

 

lol thanks I will be drawing idea up for now till I can get the main parts of the build like the motherboard.

I am still playing around with cover Idea I defiantly want to cover the push hole and try to adapt a touch sensor for power on/off if I can. If not small tact switch and a soft spot will replace the old switch

As for the USB/Auido I might make a mesh cover instead that can hinge outwards. A lot of design Idea not sure what direction to go on with but I will see if i can draw some things out and see where it can lead me.

As for color scheme Black is always my favorite. But I might just go with Green Maybe Red or Orange so signal out with purple or classic Blue.

 

While I do agree that black is always good, I really like mods that can pull off some nice colors. It makes it stand out so much harder...

And why cover the audio/usb part? if you integrate it in the design it'll be much stronger and more practical, no?

 

Well Yes I love to see good color scheme that does stand out I think that is what attracts me a lot of time beautiful color scheme that go with the case. But my case to me does not speak well in many color. The silver like color panel stands out but not in a way I want it to which is why once I find the way I want to modify the case I will then work on color scheme. The black hides well behind those silver large panel which is awesome to me very interesting like a turtle head in it's shell. I want to run the same black color Inside my case and also run some black sleeving with an additional color that can work well.

Well practical yes and no, back in the old days dell, HP, Gateway would make a PC with cover over its parts called a dust guard. It really didn't do well to guard dust away from the part but it make the case look clean. Nothing poking in or out just Seamless in away. HP desktop still maintain this look with a optical disk cover.

The clean seamless is what I want to go for. Something to hide this parts well enough not to be seen much but known that its their. Practical it still can be because you can hide and protect this parts. It really isn't much work but I need to look around and see how I can come up to finish this puzzle.

 

So I have returned with slow news

I am working on several things at once.

My work with an Ipad has turned into a struggle >.<

Anyways while I get more parts to "repair" a faulty unit


Mean while I was able to disassemble My new case In full. Took a little time to get all the plastic off



One of the downside about the case has to do with the motherboard tray, One of the coolest thing also, included to the tray is very cool lock thread, which allow an expansion of the tray to fit a micro ATX to a full ATX. But the downside has to do with the tray that cover the processor back. This will make slapping a stock or none stock heat sink to the motherboard very difficult. it also limits what kind of motherboard sit's into the tray :/ This sucks
















One other downside about the case has to be the back, the mobo shield is not an easy swap so I might have to do is cut it out or look for a motherboard tray with back sheild with small short expansion slot.




At this point I was finally able to get the front face off and look at the back end







In order to take the front panel off the face I had to pop the spring cap power button



I want to focus on removing this icon . I want to reuse this so I will need to take time with removing it





Anyways now that I was able to take the unit apart I was able to start a rendering model

This is a very basic Model using Google sketch. I will be trying to work around and with the model more then do different split of my work to make different mod and choose the best one.







This is all for today, I will be updating it every now and then. I guess my work is not cut out, one of the hardest thing to think about is rather or not I should cut the tray or un-riveter the entire shell and find a new tray and back with short expansion slot

Anyways I am glad to be working on a new project.

 

Depending on what you will do with the sides, you can just cut out a part of the MB tray to accomodate a backplate?. The backplate is the same, if you need a removable, remove it Just cut out a hole the size of the normal removable backplates, no?

Anyway, mod on!

 

Yeh I was think of that I posted this all last night very late lol so I was not thinking straight Now that I have good sleep It will be easy to cut out a back plate. I have a after market plate one for AMD and one for Intel so i will be making a cut hole soon

 

So today I take a close look at the back end of the business

I compare the back I/O plate to the one on the case


From here I start to strip off the small parts





The the front


And compare..Hmm will be a tight cut, Will need to buy a caliper and do proper measurements


Mean while I went ahead and did more detailing into the model




I want to get as much detailing as I can before I start to modify on the model

Day 2

So I spent time working on my model design trying to squeeze a little more detail from Google sketch.

I spent a lot more time working on the internal due to the factor of the bay drive being off at an angel due to the curve of the face on the housing.

I did not go into to much detail on the mother board tray. I will eventually do the measurement and cut out the tray port for the back of the motherboard.


I did how ever work on the back removing the I/O for the motherboard. I still yet to get myself a caliper. I am right now between work and trying to earn enough to pay for bills so tools will have to come later on


Anyways spent the greater late afternoon to early evening working on the model in Google sketch. It is not much I know but I have to take it easy for a couple days, I seem to pinch a nerve in my back. I am on bed rest and medication while the nerve flare subside.

Till then

 

That's starting to be something, isn't it? Nice

 

Thank you it really is starting to look very nice. I am about to start the mod on the model. Get the information needed now

 

So I have returned, Bed rest was short but the healing of a pinch nerve goes on.

Anyways going back to the model and starting slow but stead on modding

So I went ahead and started to work on the fan hole in my model

Had some question on positioning the 80 mm fan


After going back and forth between the model and actual case and shell top

I had some issue that I figure I would run into


After awhile I got the position It is a shame I can only fit one 80 mm fan

But this wont stop me I think I can fit a 40 mm fan and work around that maybe a chain of 3?


I have a couple set of this 80 mm fan that require 24 volt (DC) or 120 volt (AC) to function, Since I know the PC will not be able to push this amount of power I was thinking of using the outer diameter as a fan duct. I was going to throw them out or sell them on eBay but I think i have better use for them now.


Well it's difficult still do work on the front :/

So I wont be able to model the front like I wanted to


None the less, Here I have a way around figuring out how to curve plexi or sheet metal


This little thing is an I/O cover I guess the company added this just in case someone wanted to add more USB or Firewire


With this I might be able to make a representation of what kind of cover to look like in the model.

Anyways this is all for now


Oh wow I didn't see it but I do now A simple solution to my problem with the face

With the port cover I finally figured out what it is I wanted to do

A simple arch port cover for the USB, optical drive, and card reader port as well as the audio cover





So now the last and actual first thing to order now is one of this pin and pivot spring

Wow this is awesome.

Hard part is actually making or finding a optical disc and curved cover. I might have to try and make one out of pexi and parts So excited I got my answer

 

The first cut

Well, I went ahead and started off the mod

Like I said I would i went ahead and used the fan parameter

Had to sand down the edge take the nibs offs



So I went ahead and started the cut on the top housing

The first cut is very difficult haha especially when making a free hand circle



I ended up cutting the recess because the fan was not able to fit in


So now a test fit


I still need to grind down the surrounding to fit the internal diameter of the fan



I wanted to see if the hole line up. I was sweating not to hard


Aparently the holes line up nicely.




But I think I need to make the circle wider to fit the diameter of my circle


Next step is to cut this guy out.


So I still need to keep grinding down the outer diameter of the top housing and then I grind down the side of the fan till it fits easily without pushing it down and glue it down finally body fill and sand

Then the second cut

I want to look for a small size fan... I was thinking a half size 40 mm but i believe i can fit a good 60 mm in

I love the way this looks

I of course will swap out the LED to fit the color theme of the PC.

I am still deciding on color schemes and I always tend to follow the easiest blue and black theme. I want to go with green but I am blank on which other color to go with beside green.

 

So back again

Took a backplate off an aftermarket Intel/AMD heatsink


Using it as a template I went and drew an outline of the AMD/Intel then setup a parameter rectangle


Setup my corner for more rounded edges. I also punched the center of each circle for next time drill then jigsaw cut


Back to the top housing I went ahead and hot glued the duct in place after filing away at the edge going from flush (|) to incline (\) on each end so the duct sits in perfectly



Taking my time I begin to file down the hole down to the ducts edge


The scratch lines means that I was flush to the duct internal wall



I went ahead at this point and set the top back on the shell and using a red paint marker I went and did some outline.

I went back with a purple permanent marker and fine line the outline :/ Didn't seem all that straight



So I've decide to instead cut around the circle, this will show less of the sheet metal and more of the fan. btw The cut you see their was a testing of my dremel new tool saw blade :/ Not strong enough really to withstand the sheet metal. Oh well Jig saw and the drill will take care of that


So that is it for today, been not so productive :/ feel like today ways an off day not sure why that is.

Not much of an update today

Just wanted to make something on my side panel that I think I will go with




I think I should move this to the project logs now since its no longer planing its now modding

 

So, I had a problem copying my design to mimic the other end. Question I personally face was...How?

The answer was very simple.


Peel it off the shell and stick it on cardboard


cut and bend That simple


the outcome looks very nice


Of course the eyes will also have to be cut out.

Not a problem


The circle was done using a simple glass bowl. Glass is nice Easier to work with


And finally a design I want to do on my case as well as integrate it to my cut out.


I will be ordering a few things for my mod

a 16 inch x 16 inch (406 mm x 406 mm) of modder mesh


UV Green Acrylic


Uv Orange Acrylic


1 inch Grommet



I finally figure out my color scheme Green, Orange and white. I love the color and the key is to make the shell as visible and interesting as possible

 

starting to look good You should pm one of the mods to get your project placed over to project logs. Putting it in the comments does not help if they don't see it

 

thank you it is starting to appear as I wanted to. I really should focus on the front more then all around.


lol Yes I think I should PM one of the modder. I wanted to run my Mod into the contest using the information on this thread

But I have to have my work in the project log forum and have my mod completed.

 

So today I started with the side panel cutting. I know I should have waited but I felt like I should not lol

Using my trusty dremel tool and a nice cutting blade I took care of the bulk of the cutting.

Going back with some grinding disc and small grinding stone I went in back and trimmed the edges and some parts


Of course I had to go in with my hobby files and my rasp to get in on those corner


One thing I learned... Pen ink + sweaty hand on masking tape = :/ Bad smug and lost of detail.


I am glad I still have my template

At this point I decide to cut away on my template to make my smaller template for the plexi


Using my favorite now dulling exco knife


I was able to peel away the strips needed for the other mod


And a quick test fit on the other side looks very nice near mimic


So using the template I went ahead this time in permanent marker and did the outline of the section I will use on plexi glass.


The eye will be cut out tomorrow as well as the nose. The nose will be a challenge one of which I will accept



So that is it for today, I plan on tomorrow setting up to do my other cut on plexi then a sand down and finally a quick polish up using a pen torch (first time using one)

Wish me luck on not burning down the house

 

Nice work. I like your dremel work.
Its seem we have the same set of fine files.