Project: Christine

[bschott]

I did this case mod back in 2003 but I figured I'd post it up here per the request of CrimsonSky. I finally got those PM's from you ;-)

Anyway, I am a pc nut but I also love cars, classics to the imports to the exotics... Well talking with my good friend David Groth (a well known sybex author) in his shop, we came up with an idea to create a case mod based on a car. I first wanted to do a tuner but Dave suggested a Hotrod. During this brainstorming, I remember watching the movie 'Christine' the night before and thinking how nice the old fury looked.

So was born Christine...My original gaming PC.

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2066.JPG
I started out with this. (True geeks will remember this as the original dual 5 1/4 floppy IBM PC) You can see Dave's suggestion of a 'Hot Rod' with flames drawn onto the top. I found this old case collecting dust among faded 1980's style mountain dew case and playboy magazines in the back of a friends garage.


Well after I had a base case I started to get to work with Dave at the basic metal working. Dave does classic car restorations so his help with the welding and painting was INVALUABLE.


Some basic metel work, getting the grill fitted (which btw is from a 1960's Studebaker hawk), and the headlights installed (which work btw!) we had this....

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2072.JPG

While dave was getting that basic metel shaping done, I started stripping the paint from the case with an air-driven stone stripper and then I dremeled out the hood while dave got his paint booth ready.

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2075.JPG

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2074.JPG

Some bondo to fill the gaps, sanding by both dave and I to get the case ready for painting,


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2082.JPG


and a few coats of primer had us set to paint.....

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2084.JPG


After the paint booth we had a basic paint scheme down...

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2092.JPG

The final white stripe was put on, along with the 'windshield'...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2097.JPG

For fun, dave added a keyboard and speakers for display only. We felt that if we were restoring an old PC, let's go all out....and not waste any mixed automotive paint.

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2115.JPG

I got the internals installed, including the watercooling setup, and we had this...
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN3185.JPG

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN3182.JPG

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN3186.JPG

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN3189.JPG

On Feb 04, 2004, Christine was featured on the pre-G4 Tech TV show "Screen Savers" along with other mods. linky here (http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/modtips/story/0,24330,3608735,00.html)

Christine has also been featured in Dave's book "PC Chop Shop', Atomic PC Magazine 'Rig of the month', Gruntville's Feature Case of the month (two months running), Pimp Rig's Pimper's choice of the month rig, and a 2006 Case Mod Calender (May's Pinup case).

Current Internals:

AMD Athlon 3200XP, watercooled
2GB 3700 DDR
ATI X700
TruBlue 580Watt PSU
DVD-RW
200GB SATA HDD

Christine now running as a backup rig to my new main PC: Ultimedia Blue point Oh which I have just completed and has it's own case log here ;)


http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/christine/DSCN2121.JPG
THANKS TO DAVE FOR ALL THE HELP!

[Computer-Geek]

wow that is so amazing! +rep man.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That is awesome dude. +rep

[rendermandan]

Great metal work! -And welcome to TBCS.

[bschott]

Thank you all for your comments and kudos. I just like sharing this mod to inspire someone to get creative with their own case :)

[Boddaker]

I remember seeing this case a while back. Good to see it's still alive and kicking!

[shooter05]

Holy smokes! That is super! I have been a mustang fan since I could reach the door handles. I've been thinking about trying something like this. You and your team are truely inspiring!

[danthegeek]

Wow... Would you mind if I did something similar to that, a 57 chevy? That would be awesome for the garage.

[bschott]

Wow... Would you mind if I did something similar to that, a 57 chevy? That would be awesome for the garage. Check Shoprite Specials (https://www.especials.co.za/shoprite/) and Spar Specials (https://www.especials.co.za/spar/).

I don't mind at all if you did something like christine. I would probably be it's second biggest fan behind you :)

[bschott]

Holy smokes! That is super! I have been a mustang fan since I could reach the door handles. I've been thinking about trying something like this. You and your team are truely inspiring!

Thanks! It's not really a team so much as two friends that worked on a PC mod together. If you want to try your hand at a case like this, feel free :)

[jdbnsn]

That's pretty damned nice! I love the look of the car man!

[SgtM]

I don't know how this slipped my radar for the last few days, but I'm glad I stumbled on it. Welcome to TBCS, and thanks for sharing.


Wow... Would you mind if I did something similar to that, a 57 chevy? That would be awesome for the garage.

Dude, that is my ALL TIME favorite and dream car. I vote that you do it.

[jdbnsn]

Great job dude! This landed front page (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com) headlines courtesy of Spawn-Inc!

[billygoat333]

i love the working headlights on this mod. very very cool.

[Luke122]

Absolutely cool! I missed this one until today as well, but I'm glad I checked it out. :)