old tower case upgrade.

[McCoy]

http://gameladder.org/customimages/tuib.jpg


G'day all,
I picked up a musketeer gauge set last week for free, which made me decide to
revisit a hobby that I hadn't done in quite a few years....making beige boxes look good. I havnt modded a case in over 5 years, and it is good to see how things have come along in that time.........There are now Australian suppliers of
the gear I need !!
Anyways, I found an old tower, and started work,
Im not planning on doing anything special, but I do like the muskateer dial gauges, and my current box is a domestic NEC box, so time for a change.

this is the beige box Im starting with.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1.jpg

I actually like the NEC drive bay panel, so ripped it out of its case and started cutting...

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_b4cutting.jpg

After getting it to fit in the bezel, I realsied that the musketeer wouldnt fit in the NEC panel, so had to enlarge the drive bay slot,
(about now, was when I was glad I picked a full sized tower )
I also cut a hole for the blower fan, so I could work out the next bit of my plan....

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_muskclosed.jpg

Next, I didnt like the bottom part of the bezel, ( if you look at top pic, its curved. I wanted it flat, but also to have a similar "triangular" feature to the edges on the top of the case....
A bit of sheet metal work later.....I made a false front, and started work on the obligatory, turbine fan blower hole...(nose cone just sticky taped to fan for effect )

http://gameladder.org/customimages/casebezelwip1.jpg

So far, Im up to "prime it" and see process. I havnt attached the fasle front yet, but this is how it looks so far.... I decided I should probably slot it all together and make sure that its all going to fit .......


http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_primedtest.jpg

Well, Thats 3 afternoons work.....

Ive got some idea's in my head about shapeing the over lap of the blower cowel, and because the case cover is 1 piece, about what Im going to do in the way of a removable side panel, although, the MB chasis does slide out the rear of the case, so I have a few options there.

Hope this is where Im meant to post all this, if not...please move it to where it should be

[OvRiDe]

Welcome to TBCS, and what a great start! I love it when projects take the best parts of other cases and hack them together to make a truly unique piece.

Looking forward to your progress!

[The boy 4rm oz]

With an intro like that you must be Australian lol, welcome to TBCS, it's good to see another one of us on the forums. I know what you mean about modding suppliers, you can basically find anything you need now. You have made a great start so far, I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out.

[TheGreatSatan]

It's interesting that you cut out the hole for the whole fan and not just the circle for intake

[chaksq]

I'm liking this! I like the way you are using parts from the old case too.The front looks good. I notice you have a single piece main cover, I'm looking forward to see how you mod this. Reminds me of few old cases I have had except they were way shorter.

[DZ469]

Nice start so far. Good use of the other drive panel. Cant wait
to see how this goes.

[McCoy]

It's interesting that you cut out the hole for the whole fan and not just the circle for intake

Because of the shape of the original bezel, and the cowl, Im mounting the fan to the case chassis. So I had to cut the square out for clearance. I could have probably cut a much bigger piece out, but like to keep as much as possible of the original bezal till the last minute.
But yeh it does look weird atm.

[McCoy]

Well, its been raining here, which is not as bad as it sounds, cause most of the state is in a pretty bad drought atm. Just means Im a bit restricted on working on the case, the shed has no power and for some reason, the missus dosnt like "bog" dust all in the house......

Oh, I named this case, "tangled up in blue", you prolly noticed the banner up the top of the thread ? I photo-shopped a pic of the case as it is, to the colors Im planning on using, goes with the front drive panel (black) and every thing that "lights up" ..blue. Its also the name of the only Bob Dylan song that I like.
Seems I cant change the title of the thread, maybe a mod can ?
"Project - tangled up in blue" was what I was going to call it.

Anyways, Ive got the bezel looking good enough, that now its time to start work on the chassis, and I have to start planning a few things.
here is a pic of the case up to this point, showing how the MB base slides out the back of the case ( one of the things I love about this case)

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_sideview2.jpg
ignore the pop rivets holding the cowel onto the main bezel, they are just there for construction.
The red square shows where Im planning on cutting the cover and making the side panel, highly unlikely it will be a clear window, but there will be a pattern cut into it to let some "light" out. Im thinking, Im going to hinge it at the bottom with chrome case screws at the top corners, so Its mainly for access to disconnect plugs so I can pull the MB chassis out the back of the case. If a drive or the power supply dies I'll remove the rest of the case cover.

Im interested in input as to what I should do, where the "red arrow" points at the top of the case, I can either use it as a hard drive bay, or wack a 120mm intake fan there. From the angle of the pic (sry) its hard to imagine, but, I also have room to fit a fan in the top, between the bay the arrow is pointing at and the front bays, but Im a bit conserned about having a HD sitting 15mm above the PSU,........comments most welcomed on this point.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well in the Thermaltake cases I have seen people mount their HDDs up the back next to the PSU so I can't see why you shouldn't be able to. What if you mount a HDD there with a 120mm exhaust fan installed above it to keep it nice and chilly?

[McCoy]

cool,
no room for HDD and fan though,
so, its either, or..
I should still get decent enough air flow with the fan blowing down "between" the PSU and HDD and the front drive bays is what I was thinking,and if Thermaltake do it, all should be good ;).
I just want sure about the current idea's on having a HDD sitting on top of a PSU, thanks for the answer.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well with the HDD being directly above the PSU it may need some additional cooling. I was thinking you could cut a grill out on the back of the case in line with where the HDD will be mounted. Then you mount a 120mm fan (or any other fan) at the top of the case, just behind the musketeer panel and make a duct that encloses the the HDD area and and leads to the fan installed on top. This way you are drawing cool...well semi-cool air from the rear of the case, dragging it over the HDD and then pushing it out the top of the case.

Another alternative is to use a PSU with a bottom mounted 120mm exhaust fan and modify the case so you can mount the PSU upside down so the fan is facing towards the roof of the case and hey presto the PSU is now cooling your HDD.

Or you could just get yourself a HDD cooler for around $20 or just leave it be.

[McCoy]

<quote> Another alternative is to use a PSU with a bottom mounted 120mm exhaust fan and modify the case so you can mount the PSU upside down so the fan is facing towards the roof of the case and hey presto the PSU is now cooling your HDD.</quote>

I had the same thoughts...My coolermaster PSU suits the idea,

although, modifying the rear of the case is no problem, as Im planning on having a 1 piece stainless steel perforated mesh back on it.... Allready have enough perforated stainless to do that, and a few other things Im planning.

I was thinking that the down flow, if I mount the fan in the middle ( between the psu/HDD and the drive bay ) should do a pretty good job of directing the heat down into the case enough for the front fan to suck it all out.
I just didnt want to do it that way, and find that others had tried and had problems ;).

Us Aussies think alike eh ;)

[The boy 4rm oz]

Yeah we sure do lol, good idea, should work perfectly.

[McCoy]

Adjusted the chassis tonight,
I had to move the 3.5" front bay 5mm to the right, so the card reader would match the bezel position, and add a plate for the audio jacks.

this is the NEC audio/ usb jack set up...card reader goes in the empty bay to left.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_necaudio.jpg

here is chassis after moving bay and adding a plate for the above audio/usb jacks.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_audiopanel.jpg

Test fit, to see If my messurments were Ok, . Ive found I will have to cut another few mm from the bottom of the bezel, to allow the bezel to shift up a bit.
I also stuck an old cd drive in the bay to see how it lined up with the NEC panel, which is the white, the one Im using is black.
But so far so good.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_frontcardreader.jpg
Tomorrow, I should have the audio/usb jacks mounted. Then I can work out the intake fan on the top of the case.

[McCoy]

After looking at the "box" for the last week, in regards as to how I was going to work on the case cover, I finaly took the plunge and cut the side off it.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_covercut.jpg

No matter how I thought about it, the cover needed to have a removable side panel. In the next few days, I'll be adding hooks ( like a modern case has ) to hold it on. Then I have to do something about the MB chassis slides, they are too tight, and I keep on having visions of my paint scraping off every time I slide it in or out, which wont be often....but, hey ! " it will be nice paint" ! .
Once I sort these 2 things out, It will be time to start thinking about prep for painting,

Ive just been given a dead line for this mod, there is a LAN I would like to take this box to on the 25th April... Hi to any NHN guys reading this.
I like deadlines, gives me a target ;)

[McCoy]

Discovered I can get these things for free (2nd hand) today,

http://gameladder.org/customimages/lcdfront.jpg

Shame about the green, Ide rather blue,to match the color scheme, but hey, they are free. I can get a few, so I might be-able to hack one to make it blue back lit. but I have to work out the wiring to the paralell port first.

Im not sure how to hook them up, and have asked in this post.....
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=168593#post168593

So if you can help answer there.

I most likely wont be-able to do anymore work on the case till next week as its a long weekend here in Australia, and I need to talk to someone with a "spot welder" to finalise the side panel "attachments"

[The boy 4rm oz]

If you want it blue try making a blue plexi cover for it, that should make it look blue. Yay long weekend, Australia Day here I come lol.

[McCoy]

That was what Im thinking, or change what ever the back lighting globe is,
but I want to hook it up and get it working before I destroy it lol,
that way I just have to plug the next one in to the wiring and start again ;)

[McCoy]

Well, wired the led up over the weekend, didnt work :(
I could get another, but it side tracks the original project, so it can wait..

Helped my brother move form Sydney to the Central coast today, I live in Newcastle
( 2 hour drive down to Sydney, 1 hour drive back to his new place, 1 hour drive back to my place, for non Aussies)
Normally I would have made up some excuse not to , because Im a bastard, but, he is a pro spray painter for a job so............

I tuned him to come up and visit when its time to paint the box when its ready.
No need to buy paint now :) or worry about me doing a bodgy job of it :D
Also, as I was unpacking the car, I found some stuff that looked promising.
Self adhesive felt. Its about 1.5 mm thick, so its "short weave", not like shag pile or anything.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_felt.jpg
1 meter wide, 3 meters long,

So I grabbed it, could make good sound deadening material for the inside of the case, anti vibration pads etc.etc.

If all goes well, I should have finalized the side panel in the next few days,
seeing the guy with the spot welder tomorrow.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Haha awesome, wish I had a pro painter in the family.

[McCoy]

Had alot of wet weather lately, but I managed to get the side cover over lap lip welded on,
My camera is almost dead so pics are not great, but that should be fixed for next update ......
I decided to put it all together to see what it would look like and how the MB would fit. These are pics of it turned on and running.
http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_sidecuton.jpg
I had to remove the powdercoat to spot weld the retaining lip to the top of the cover, if you look close you should see 7 grey spots about 2" below the join.
I love spot welding, no distortion.

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_sidefrontlights.jpg
No nice wiring yet, I just wanted to see it all together before the paint job.
Lots of room for big hands in this box :D.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looking nice buddy.

[McCoy]

Update time....
Well been working hard but no posting , so here is a bit of an pictorial updpate

Took case to spray booth and undercoated it.....
http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_spraybooth.jpg

Then painted it ........................

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_paitin.jpg

Time to start puting in together........

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case_together.jpg

wonder if it will work when I plug it in.................

http://gameladder.org/customimages/case1_together%20working.jpg
Yep............

Still got to finish off a few things, some wireing, the side window, UV lights and adjust dvd and dial guages, .......

But me thinks its starting to look OK.
Side window should be finished the next couple of days... I got a sticker on its way from the USofA which should add the finishing touch.

Im happy that its starting to look finished.

[Cheron]

Looks great really nice looking case +rep:up:

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looks great buddy, nice paint.

[McCoy]

Side panel finished,
I have a love hate relationship with side windows......
http://www.gameladder.org/customimages/case1_sidepanel1.jpg
http://www.gameladder.org/customimages/case1_sidepanel2.jpg

I like them but find that they are boring to look at and into :eek:
so I came up with this design.

Im currently looking about for some feet, still need to hook up light switch and put graphics on the "off side" of the box.
And Ive got some more perforated stainless mesh that I am going to use on the rear panel.

Almost all done now though.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That window looks awesome, perfectly flush.