My first attempt at case modding 56k no no no

[rousegk7]

Well, I got really bored one day and decided that my case (Armor 8003) was to plain, and not to my liking.
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0808081811.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0808081811a.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0813081947.jpg
A little Cable managing:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0808081807.jpg
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So I decided to completely disassemble the entire thing, and get it powdercoated and updated a few components to help clean it up.

Dis-assembly pics:
Complete case minus side panels, and front:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/1228081605.jpg
IO Panel:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/1228081606.jpg
IO Panel, Front Hard-drive drawer, Power Supply Adapter:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/1228081606b.jpg
Front header bracket, Floppy Drive => 5.25 bracket:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/1228081605b.jpg
IO Panel Dissected:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/1229081004.jpg
HDD Drawer de-riveted:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/1229081005.jpg

More to come when I get home from work later!

[Jabyaeye]

It looks like a nice project. What color you getting it powdercoated?

[Twigsoffury]

make sure you put screws in all the screw holes or you'll never get a screw in that hole again after powercoating.

[rousegk7]

make sure you put screws in all the screw holes or you'll never get a screw in that hole again after powercoating.

Done, and done. I had a problem when I had the intake manifold for my car powdered and the guy powdered all the mating surfaces :evil:


It looks like a nice project. What color you getting it powdercoated?

The outside is called "Mirror Black" It is a very high gloss black, kinda like a black chrome.

I am torn about what to do the motherboard tray and a few other parts.
A dark red would be nice, but black/red is so played out. Any suggestions?

I use two antec spotcools which have blue leds, but I can switch those out if I go red, and I dont think alot of blue would look that good.

Maybe like a Dark grey metallic or something like that?

[Twigsoffury]

Done, and done. I had a problem when I had the intake manifold for my car powdered and the guy powdered all the mating surfaces :evil:



The outside is called "Mirror Black" It is a very high gloss black, kinda like a black chrome.

I am torn about what to do the motherboard tray and a few other parts.
A dark red would be nice, but black/red is so played out. Any suggestions?

I use two antec spotcools which have blue leds, but I can switch those out if I go red, and I dont think alot of blue would look that good.

Maybe like a Dark grey metallic or something like that?

hell i thought blue was played out. my chassis is red/black. but i guess its the only one of its kind.

what about Green lights and a smoke silver metallic color?

or white and green.

frozencpu sells just about every color bar light under the sun

[rousegk7]

Small update:
I removed the blue LED's out of the Spot cools, and bought new case fans (non-led).

Still trying to figure out what color to go for the other parts, but my powdercoated told me he has a color called blood red candy that turns out a very deep red/crimson color that looks like it was anodized so he is spraying me a test panel to compare to the black. Should have pictures of the case fresh from powdercoating later today.

[XcOM]

if that red is a candy/crimson red, i would say go for that, it always looks soooo sexy, you can't go wrong.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Black/red is popular for a reason: it looks gorgeous. Watch out for orange/pink lighting and you'll be set.

[blueonblack]

I am torn about what to do the motherboard tray and a few other parts.
A dark red would be nice, but black/red is so played out. Any suggestions?

Ooo! Ooo! Blue! Blue!

Kidding, blue is overdone unless you can somehow get a very dark blue effect. I'm with Twigs on the green, though. The right shade of green looks excellent with black.

[rousegk7]

1-16-09: small update.

Alright so a few small parts arrived yesterday and I got a little bit done.
A big thanks to Performance-pcs for awesome shipping.

*edit* Anyone know how to paint or color the heatsink on a cpu? Would like it to be black if possible.
The new cooler: something simple
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0111090822a.jpg

Some new case fans:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0111090822.jpg

Black zip ties and cradle mounts:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0111090821.jpg

A ton of black rivets to replace the bare metal finished ones:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0111090820.jpg

I also repainted the 80mm fans that came with the case. They had an orange center which will not due, so I followed the tutorial on this site to pull em apart and paint them!
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0110090931.jpg

After first coat(you can see the old color in the housing):
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0110090927.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0110090926.jpg

And back together:
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/0111090822b.jpg

O, I almost forgot. . . I got the first batch of parts back from my powdercoater last night! :banana:

I will upload those pictures when I get home from work.

Also, sorry about the quality of photos! My camera took a poo on me, so these are all taken from my phone. 3.2 Megapixel for the suck! :down:

[Twigsoffury]

I'd highly recommend not painting the central processor heatsink.

there are ways to anodize metals but i'm not sure if its at all possible with copper. but aluminum can be anodized all day long.
it's not really a paint as it is a dye for metals.

but i'd also recommend getting it professionally done.

[rousegk7]

I think im just gonna leave it silver, I re-assembled the motherboard etc, and it looks fine on there. Pics later tonight.

[moon111]

I don't think you'd have much of a problem painting the top fin of the cooler. But I wouldn't paint the rest.

[SXRguyinMA]

lookin good so far :up:

I've got that same case

[rousegk7]

So I know I have not kept this thread up to date, and I apologize for that, but I have been real busy and I still don't have a new camera. I finished this case and comp about 1 month ago, and it is running solid at 3.4 on Air atm.

Onto the pictures.... Once I get a new camera I plan on taking some better ones, but this will atleast give an idea.

Side Panel
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0115091705.jpg

Side Panel w/ Window
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0115091704.jpg

HDD Drawer
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0115092009.jpg

I/O Panel Comparison between Old and New
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0115091706.jpg

I/O Back together
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0204092145.jpg

Frame Back together
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0116091813.jpg

Mached up the Motherboard for hole marking
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0116091933.jpg

Holes marked
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0116091933a.jpg

Rear I/O In place
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0206091928b.jpg

Side Support
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0206091928a.jpg

Side support 2
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0206091928.jpg

Assembled 1
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0215091258a.jpg

Assembled 2
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/rousegk7/My%20Computer/0215091258.jpg

Again, these pictures don't do it justice. Hopefully I will be getting a new camera soon, and will post some pics of the wire managing.

[SXRguyinMA]

looks neat, love the combo :up: howd it go together with the powdercoat? I just painted mine and that 3-HDD tray with the fan was hard to slide back in with just a couple coats of paint, I cant imagine how it was with powdercoat. looks great though

[DonT-FeaR]

looks very nice... good work man loving that red

[rousegk7]

It was an absolute PITA with the powder lol.... But a little sanding in some area's that you wont see helped alot... It took probably 6-7 hours to re-assemble everything, then another 3-4 for the wire managing. Like I said I will get some better pics soon hopefully.