Red Comet

[SXRguyinMA]

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/header.png

Alright this project just popped into being within the past week. I was looking for a nice vintage style suitcase for an HTPC build. I then thought about it more and decided that I wouldn't use an HTPC as much as I would like to, so I pretty much abandoned the idea for the time being. I had asked my neighbors (who are frequent yard-salers) to keep an eye out for something for me. Well last week my neighbor comes over with this neat little hard luggage case.

It's 1930's -1940's vintage, from a company called Red Comet, that apparently specialized in fire control systems, namely neat glass fire extinguisher grenades. Here's a link (http://www.littletongov.org/history/othertopics/redcomet.asp) to the Littleton, Co. page about Red Comet.


http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBfoHaudWfC2zYRHCNWh2rw5j3CbIod 0WqgNyrypurUGIE8_0&t=1&usg=__joTGk2FXjewCPyiz6uvbLzH-cbA=
Red Comet Fire Grenade


http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSsuI_1JyNM1nbQUkDWbQtXj4k5kKZ5L orl8K8j5RLpPIANfIs&t=1&usg=__LI87QZkwLUFN__NDW4LPucI4iQU=
Red Comet Fire Grenade advertisement

This is just going to become a case to house my spare PC that has been living life sprawled upon a cardboard box :D

Here is the case. The top is held with two latches, and the front also flips down. It seems like it held some sort of testing equipment perhaps at one point, as there are numerous holes in the case.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0445.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0446.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0447.jpg

Someone at one point had apparently re-wallpapered the inside, and it's somewhat torn and peeling. I think I'll leave most of it, it gives it a neat vintage look.

Here is the basic layout of everything. The mobo (the original one from Rockin' Case) will be held in from the bottom by some 4-40 stainless allen head screws. The PSU will be mounted to the side (not in it's case, as there's not enough room) as shown, and a 120mm fan will be mounted on the opposite side for intake. an 80mm fan (from the PSU) will be mounted as an exhaust fan. I'm contemplating cutting open the front flip-down panel, possibly in the shape of a flame or something (think Super Bomberman flame symbol) and making it into a case window, and adding red interior lighting.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0450.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0448.jpg

I marked the part for the rear i/o panel

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0449.jpg

And some drilling, jig-sawing, sanding and filing later, it's mounted

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0451.jpg

I also marked out the cutout for the 120mm intake fan. This will have black mesh on the outside of the case, with the fan mounted on the inside.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0453.jpg

I then disassembled the PSU. I noticed the board grounds through the 4 corner mounts. So I'll need to make jumper wires that connect all 4 corners together and then get soldered to the ground on the plug end.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0454.jpg

This way I'll only have to cut out an 80mm fan hole and the small hole for the power cable, rather than the large intricate design of the PSU hole, as the wood is fairly thick and hard to cut.

Ideas? Opinions? I'm going to try to get some sketchups done of the planned front (top) panel window idea. I also plan on removing the badge plate on the top (front) of the case and flipping it 180º so it reads right-side up when the case is sitting.

The HDD will be mounted to the front (top) part where the handle is, and I'm contemplating finding a way to mount an optical drive, but there's not a ton of room, so I may just pick up an eternal USB one if need be, or I can always open the case and temporarily hook one up to the IDE cable if need be.

[SXRguyinMA]

alright I messed around in sketchup and did a quick idea for a window cutout. I can't figure out how to make the flame part (that's on the surface of the board) push through so it looks like an actual window, but you get the idea. The actual window will look much better than that.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/window.png

[SXRguyinMA]

well while digging for some logos to make up a worklog header, I came across it! It was a carrying case that held salesman's samples.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/1_27e86ac78673dace0b1a465472abb0bc.jpg

and a link with a bunch of neat pics:

http://www.oldfirestuff.com/VintageRedCometFireExtinguisherSalesmanKitexcelent .htm

[SXRguyinMA]

alright I messed around in sketchup and came up with this idea:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/DVD_drive_hinge.png

I'm thinking of finding some old brass door hinges or something for the hinge part, and either find or make the scissor arms. this way the drive will push in to close it up, and to use it you only need to unlatch the case and flip open the top panel.

thoughts? :think:

[SXRguyinMA]

ok so the idea with the dvd drive isn't going to work. the drive fits perfectly in the top panel cutout, so there is zero room for the cables and hinge. oh well. I don't sue the drive much anyways. and this computer will be mainly just for browsing and internet radio for my work area

[SXRguyinMA]

I'd jump on it but this board (Socket A, Athlon XP 2600+ Barton) doesn't have any SATA ports. thanks though :D I'll just leave it out. I don't use an ODD enough to have it permanently, especially in this rig. Hell in my main rig I bought a new one (to upgrade from an IDE ODD to a SATA ODD) and I think the only time I've used it was to install windows. I've got a 160GB drive that'll go into this unit, so I'll only need it to install XP, then after that it's not really needed.

[SXRguyinMA]

So I transferred the fan cutouts to the outside of the case

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0456.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0457.jpg

And used the Dremel circle cutter (one of my FAVORITE Dremel attachments) and cut out the holes

120mm hole:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0458.jpg

Here you can see just how thick this wood is

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0459.jpg

80mm hole:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0462.jpg

I then sanded the edges of the holes to clean them up and smooth them out a tad. Here is the 120mm fan in it's resting position:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0460.jpg

And with the grill in place:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0461.jpg

I then placed the PSU board in it's final resting spot and marked the holes. I drilled the holes about 1/4" in rather than all the way through. Then I threaded in some short standoffs to mount the PSU to.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0464.jpg

I then took care of connecting all the grounds on the board with some wire.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0463.jpg

All that will be left will be to extend the ground wire to the power socket, but I'll do that once I finalize the mounting location for the socket. That's it for today!

I'm trying to scrounge up some dough to get some red cable sleeving and black connectors, so I can replace the UV green sleeving and UV green connectors that are currently on this PSU assembly. This way it'll look nice and tidy inside.

I'm sorting out the details on lighting as well. At this point I've settled on red LEDs. I'll wire them and group them to give some nice lighting effects to the interior. Plus I've got a bag of 100 5mm clear/red LEDs laying around I've been dying to use :D

Here's what's left to do:

Cut hole for PSU power connector
Mount PSU and related components to case
Create some sort of cover for the PSU (for aesthetics mostly)
Install Motherboard
Cut out slot for VGA card connections
Re-sleeve PSU wiring and replace connectors
Mount 120mm fan and grill to case
Mount hard drive
Devise wiring loom for PWR/Reset buttons and PWR/HDD LEDs
Make cutout(s) for front panel USB connector(s)
Design and cut out opening for panel window
Design and create wiring loom(s) for interior LED lighting
Flip "Red Comet" badge 180º so it reads properly when the case is sitting

[SXRguyinMA]

Alright so after messing with SketchUp for a bit, I've got the design for the PSU cover pretty much how I want it.

I've got some scrap carbon leftover, so I'll start by making a big "C" out of it. Then I'll cut out 2 pieces of clear polycarbonate in the flame shapes shown. One will be slightly taller, and I'll flip one 180º so they don't match up.

I'm going to put red LEDs under the first one, and amber ones under the back one. I'm going to frost the fronts and all edges with maybe 600 or 800 grit sandpaper. Then I'm going to figure out how to make the LED's blink randomly, so it'll look like fire :D

:EDIT: THIS is what I plan to use (http://pcboard.ca/kits/ledfx/effectschip01-018.html) to generate the fire effect. One bank will be the red LEDs and the other the amber :D

Thoughts? Opinions? :think:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/psucover1.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/psucover2.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/psucover3.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/psucover4.png

[SXRguyinMA]

Thanks!

A minor update tonight :D

I got this neat LCD screen from TGS's Great Giveaway.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0465.jpg

I proceeded to dismantle it.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0466.jpg

And mark out what needed to be cut from the front panel

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0467.jpg

And cut and drilled:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0468.jpg

I also cut out the hole for the power cable. The notch on the topside is where I'll feed the USB/serial cable through for the LCD screen.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0469.jpg

I marked for the front panel USB ports:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0471.jpg

And cut and drilled:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0472.jpg

I then proceeded to paint my 120mm intake and 80mm exhaust fan blades. I only took pics of the 120mm one for now as the 80mm was black and didn't come out nearly as nice.

Here it is next to the same 120mm NZXT fan:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0473.jpg

And back in it's housing:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0474.jpg

Now for the interior. I was going to leave it with the torn/peeling wallpaper-ish stuff, but it flakes off more every time I do something, so I dug through my mom's pile of different fabrics (she handmakes blankets, pillows, teddy bears, etc.) and found this plaid looking fabric. I'm thinking of using spray adhesive to glue it to the entire inside. Anyone have any opinions before I glue it? Yay? Nay?

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0470.jpg

[SXRguyinMA]

Well I made some more progress today!

I started with a flame image found on google, then stretched it, outlined it and took the color out to get this:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Untitled-1copy.png

I printed this out and cut it out to mark off the case like so:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0495.jpg

Now due to paper size restraints I extended the flame a bit when I trace it to the case:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0496.jpg

And started cutting it out:
center]http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0497.jpg[/center]

And with a combination of jigsaw and Dremel I got it all cut. I broke off two small parts though. The wood was very brittle from being so old, and the parts just shattered at the thin points to the point where I wouldn't have been able to glue them back on.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0498.jpg

I then glued cloth to 4 of the 5 walls. I still need to cut out the VGA I/O ports before I glue the backside on:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0499.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0500.jpg

I also sleeved the wiring for the 120mm intake fan:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0501.jpg

I also trimmed the pc panel to the proper size. All I need to do with this is mount it. I may also do some kind of etching, we'll see

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0502.jpg

The last thing I did was paint all the bare wood with some flat red enamel model paint. I was thinking about leaving it bare, but it didn't fit with the theme.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0503.jpg

That's all for now! Stay tuned :D

[SXRguyinMA]

ok so I just got an email from PPCs saying they're sold out of the NZXT red 24-pin extensions and don't know when they'll have them back. That's ok though, because my PSU and MB are actually 20-pin. so I emailed them back and said delete it and give me 25' of 1/8" red cable sleeving and a black 20+4-pin mobo connector instead. I'll do it myself!! lol I am getting the other extension sleeved at least :D

And the other 8-pin extension I don't need. I'm taking 4 of the wires for a 4-pin mobo extension and using the other 4 for the molex extension for the HDD

[SXRguyinMA]

alright, the plan is to make 2 of these to hold the 4-pin and 20-pin mobo cables, and I'll probably design and make more as needed once I start laying out the cables. I'm debating whether or not to put some LEDs in the bases to light them up, basically making the edges glow. We'll see


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/cableguide.png

[SXRguyinMA]

ok so after several hours playing with sketchup I made it :D

I've decided to sandwich the red plexi with some 2mm black for the cable guides. let me know what you guys think! the only things missing are my Stealth S120 AGP with the AC Acelero S1 passive cooler and the Zalman copper CPU heatsink


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet1.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet2.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet3.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet4.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet5.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet6.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet7.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet8.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet9.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet10.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet11.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet12.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet13.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/Red_Comet14.png

[SXRguyinMA]

Update time!

Alright, first thing I did was go about mounting the hard drive. I used the same mounts that I used in Rockin Case, but this time I cut off the nubs and drilled holes for the screws, so the mounting hoes wouldn't be underneath the HDD as they are in Rockin Case. I mounted them to the HDD and set it to mark the mounting holes for the case.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0511.jpg

Then I drilled pilot holes and mounted the HDD with 8 short brass wood screws.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0512.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0513.jpg

Then I drilled the hole for the Bulgin switch and mounted it.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0514.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0515.jpg

Then I clamped the window to the top panel, and drilled through the 8 holes that were already in the case to mount it. I ended up adding 2 more, one at top and one at bottom to keep the panel flush.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0516.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0517.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0518.jpg

I picked up a pack of 6-32 x 1 3/4" brass screws, and a pack of 6-32 thin brass nuts. They fit the build perfectly :D


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0520.jpg

But they're a bit too long, so I trimmed them :D


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0519.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0521.jpg

I used the same screws and nuts to mount the side intake fan and grill, and also the front name plate.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0522.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0523.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0524.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0525.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0526.jpg

Now the more I looked at the LCD panel, the more I noticed the chrome bezel didn't fit at all. So I took it apart and painted it with brass model paint.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0527.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0528.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0530.jpg

I also painted the HDD mounts and the front panel USB connector as well. Don't worry, that ugly beige cable will be sleeved :D


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0531.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0533.jpg

Ahh, much better


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0534.jpg

I shortened the screws as needed, then mounted the LCD to the front panel.


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0535.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0536.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0537.jpg

That's it for now! Tomorrow night I should have another update!

Here's what's left to do:

Mount PSU and related components to case
Create some sort of cover for the PSU (for aesthetics mostly)
Install Motherboard
Cut out slot for VGA card connections
Re-sleeve and extend PSU wiring and replace connectors
Devise wiring loom for PWR/Reset buttons and PWR/HDD LEDs
Design and create wiring loom(s) for interior LED lighting
Get acrylic parts back from HydroCutter (http://www.hydro-cutter.com) for cable management :D

[SXRguyinMA]

Update!

Got the painted HDD mounts mounted back to the HDD:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0555.jpg

Got the slot cut out for the video card ports:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0556.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0557.jpg

And mobo set in to check alignment:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0558.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0559.jpg

It's angled because the heatpipes on the cooler hit a few caps on the board and it angles the card ever so slightly. It's worked like this for quite some time now, so I'm not worried :D

Next up I cut and glued the final piece of fabric for the back of the case:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0562.jpg

And after a trimming with a nice sharp razor blade:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0563.jpg

Mobo finally mounted in place, along with HDD, new CM red LED fan, and red IDE cable:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0564.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0565.jpg

I also got the RFID reader (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24753) mounted in it's spot :D


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0560.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0561.jpg

I pulled the CPU cooler off to swap the neon UV green sleeving for some red, and I'm also going to put a 68-Ohm 1/2-watt resistor in the power line to slow the fan down. It's loud at full blast, and this mobo doesn't have any kind of fan control, and I don't want to hook up the fan control that came with it, because that's just more wires to deal with and try to hide, and I never have a reason to have the fan above minimum speed anyways.

[SXRguyinMA]

Update time!

I soldered in the 68-ohm 1/2-watt resistor to slow the CPU fan, then sleeved the wiring:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0568.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0569.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0570.jpg

And reinstalled onto the mobo:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0571.jpg

Next I wired up and sleeved the Bulgin switch:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0572.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0573.jpg

And temporarily installed:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0574.jpg

I also had to flip the RFID reader 180º so the USB cable would fit in:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0575.jpg

That's it for tonight!

[SXRguyinMA]

Smallish update! :D

Got the parts back from Hydro-Cutter today! :banana:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0577.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0578.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0579.jpg

I glued them together in a black-red-black sandwich:


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0580.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0581.jpg

That's it for tonight, the solvent needs to set. The next step is to sand and polish them, then figure out where/how I'm going to mount them, then start extending and sleeving wires!!

[SXRguyinMA]

Alright it's been a busy couple weeks but I did manage to squeeze in some modding time!

I tried different finishes on the cable guides, and I ended up just sanding and polishing them. Nothing else I did gave a uniform look like I was after.

Small ones polished:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0582.jpg

Now I had these screws leftover from taking apart the LCD panel:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0583.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0584.jpg

And decided to use them to secure the cable guides to the case.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0585.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0586.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0587.jpg

I mounted the PSU, PSU fan and plug:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0589.jpg

Next up I uni-sleeved the 4-pin molex for the HDD:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0588.jpg

And ran the wires through the guide and put on the connector:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0592.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0590.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0591.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0593.jpg

And lastly I unisleeved the 4-pin mobo connector:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0594.jpg

I used a piece of brass bolt that I had cut when shortening them for the window, threaded it into one of the cable guides then cut it even shorter.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0595.jpg

I then put the stud through one of the empty holes in the fan and secured it with a nut:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0596.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0597.jpg

And here is how it will be run. I just need to mount the second cable guide and that piece of wire will be done:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0598.jpg

All I've really got left to do is uni-sleeve the 20-pin power connector and run it through the guides, mount the window, and once my LED FX kit (http://pcboard.ca/kits/ledfx/) shows up from John at PCBoard.ca (http://www.pcboard.ca), I can devise my lighting scheme!

One of the final steps will be to get a copy of Win7 Home for this puppy to run!

[SXRguyinMA]

Lookin good. Good job sleeving too.


Looks great. I don't always like cable guides, but these look really good. Well done. :up:

Thanks guys! :D

Update time!

I popped the pins out of the green ATX 20-pin connector, and routed them and plugged them into their final locations, and I'm SO happy I didn't have to extend any of them!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0599.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0600.jpg

The first row sleeved:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0603.jpg

And finished!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0604.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0605.jpg

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0606.jpg

I may put some zip ties on them just to tidy them up a bit, but we'll see. The 4 wires you see that are still unsleeved I left for the lighting system. Once i get it mounted and wired, those will be sleeved as well.

I also sleeved the cable for the LCD screen. This will run under the motherboard and out the back, and plug into a USB port (for power) and the serial port (for data) in the back.

Before:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0607.jpg

After:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0608.jpg

Installed:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0609.jpg

That's it for now!

[SXRguyinMA]

Alright minor update!

I made up some lettering in photoshop, then printed it out and taped it in place on the plexi panel.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0796.png

Then I (painstakingly) cut it out by hand with a razor blade, then peeled off the paper to get this:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0797.png

Then I peeled out the letter pieces and got this:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0798.png

I will etch this with either my Dremel (less likely) or my handheld bead blaster I got from harbor freight (more likely). I also got word that the LED FX kit is finally in stock and on it's way to me :D

Once the window is done, all that will be left is to be wire up the LEDs and it'll be done! Also, I'm not going to have the RFID reader in this only because I'm not going to be installing Windows 7 on this machine like I originally wanted to, and the RFID reader ONLY works with Windows 7. I'm trying to figure out how to hook it into Arctic Cat though :D

[SXRguyinMA]

Update time. :D

I got the LED FX kit in from John over at PCBoard.ca (http://www.pcboard.ca)!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0799.png

And assembled:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0800.png

I can safely run 4 LEDs from each of the 16 outputs on this puppy, so I've got some options :D

I spent an hour or so with the dremel and the VERY small ball-shaped engraving bit.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0807.png

And the result. Not bad for my first time eh? The green is only for effect. It actually worked better to edge-light it like this and etch it, that way you can see your progress much easier.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0809.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0812.png

And I got the window mounted.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0814.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0815.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0817.png

And a neat shot of the inside through the window :D

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0816.png

All that's left to do now is mount the LED FX board and wire up the LEDs! :banana:

[SXRguyinMA]

Update time!

I sleeved the power connector for the LED FX kit.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0932.png

I then soldered in 16 5mm LEDs. I used all sorts or warm colors including red, yellow, warm white, white, amber and even a few aqua colored ones for effect.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0978.png

And a fresh install of XP. Power House is already being put to good use! I'm using it here to provide the power for the DVD drive.

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0981.png

[SXRguyinMA]

And it's finished! :banana: Here's the final pics! I've got a video uploading as well, will post it when it's done!


http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0982.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0983.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0984.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0985.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0987.png

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l11/sportrider12584/Red%20Comet/SANY0988.png

[SXRguyinMA]

And with this video this project is officially finished! Enjoy, and mods move to the completed section!


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