AceX
01-02-2006, 05:45 PM
The first thing that you should know when following this project, is that, I am a complete car nut. Also note that I am a devoted Chevy guy with a certain longing for Corvettes and hot-rods. I have well over 75 1/18th scale models of various cars, but about 25-30 of them, are Corvettes. So, now that we all know where my inspriation comes from, lets get started...
I recently decided to build myself a second system because I'm a greedy little bastard :D Actually, I have alot of friends who like to come over and play on my LAN and I just never seem to have enough computers for everyone...
Well, I went out and bought a few fun things, and now I'm ready to take this case:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010100.jpg
and do a complete restoration/customization. It will include:
Abit NF8 Motherboard with AMD 3100+ Sempron Processor and 6-channel audio codec
Radeon x700 256mb AGP video card
Western Digital 120gb 7200rpm HDD
2gb DDR400 RAM
Many, many cooing fans/accessories...
I started by dissasembling the case and then using Krylon Semi-Flat black paint to give the whole thing a facelift.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010110.jpg
I painted the grills on the face aluminum. They were a pain to take off and put back on because they were attached using bent, metal tabs which were in small spaces...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010112.jpg
The next order of business, seeing as this is a Chevy car themed case, was something that I COMPLETELY ripped off of Tech-Daddy's "Boss FX-57" build. I added an aircleaner to the CPU fan If you ask me, it even looks like a carburator... a little bit...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010108.jpg
Its a pretty simple process. You just attach a fan grill to the CPU fan and run some zip ties through the middle ring. The air cleaner won't really fit otherwise.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010106.jpg
You then install the base of the air cleaner onto the grill and attach it using the zip ties.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010107.jpg
Clean and simple, just how I like it...
I went to a sign shop a few days ago and had them make me a template of the Chevy logo, often referred to as the "bow-tie" and placed it on the side of the case. I covered the entire thing in blue painters tape to add some protection for the paint (which is actually being used as a primer), but also to provide alot of contrast to the black template.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010113.jpg
When cutting into the metal, I found, that its a good idea to have LOTS of light, so I got out my artificial suns and had at it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010114.jpg
Also, a cool little thing I found while @ OSH was this Dremel cutting kit. has EVERYTHING that you could need to cut metal, plastic, human flesh... I mean, fiberglass...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010115.jpg
So, here's the logo cut out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010119.jpg
Looks good, now for filing.
While working on the project last night, my dad sort of got into it and helped me out. We decided that just having a little logo here and there, and having chrome parts and sleeving wasn't enough... No, we needed an engine. Not just any engine, but an engine that started a revolution. I give you, my very-small-block Chevy engine:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010124.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010125.jpg
I set it next to the case to see how it might fit, and wouldn't ya know, it does, but JUST barely...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010120.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010121.jpg
It's held down using four, very small machine screws, which provide, surprisingly, alot of support to the thing. I do however want to find some very small washers for the screws as I have a tendency to over build things and want to make sure that when I tilt the case on its side, that that thing isn't going anywhere... Oh yeah, the engine actually turns over and spins, just like a real engine, and those fans infront of said engine, will, I'm hoping, make the engine turn via the fan.
The last thing I did was install ym shiny new PSU. A 600watt unit with a nice chrome finish and shiny, steel wiring all of which is now hidden in the top 5-1/2" drive bay.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010123.jpg
I will have more pics, progress, and finally clean this little log up tommorrow, but I have to rush off to work in a little while, so I wanted to get pics up and ge the party started :D
I recently decided to build myself a second system because I'm a greedy little bastard :D Actually, I have alot of friends who like to come over and play on my LAN and I just never seem to have enough computers for everyone...
Well, I went out and bought a few fun things, and now I'm ready to take this case:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010100.jpg
and do a complete restoration/customization. It will include:
Abit NF8 Motherboard with AMD 3100+ Sempron Processor and 6-channel audio codec
Radeon x700 256mb AGP video card
Western Digital 120gb 7200rpm HDD
2gb DDR400 RAM
Many, many cooing fans/accessories...
I started by dissasembling the case and then using Krylon Semi-Flat black paint to give the whole thing a facelift.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010110.jpg
I painted the grills on the face aluminum. They were a pain to take off and put back on because they were attached using bent, metal tabs which were in small spaces...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010112.jpg
The next order of business, seeing as this is a Chevy car themed case, was something that I COMPLETELY ripped off of Tech-Daddy's "Boss FX-57" build. I added an aircleaner to the CPU fan If you ask me, it even looks like a carburator... a little bit...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010108.jpg
Its a pretty simple process. You just attach a fan grill to the CPU fan and run some zip ties through the middle ring. The air cleaner won't really fit otherwise.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010106.jpg
You then install the base of the air cleaner onto the grill and attach it using the zip ties.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010107.jpg
Clean and simple, just how I like it...
I went to a sign shop a few days ago and had them make me a template of the Chevy logo, often referred to as the "bow-tie" and placed it on the side of the case. I covered the entire thing in blue painters tape to add some protection for the paint (which is actually being used as a primer), but also to provide alot of contrast to the black template.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010113.jpg
When cutting into the metal, I found, that its a good idea to have LOTS of light, so I got out my artificial suns and had at it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010114.jpg
Also, a cool little thing I found while @ OSH was this Dremel cutting kit. has EVERYTHING that you could need to cut metal, plastic, human flesh... I mean, fiberglass...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010115.jpg
So, here's the logo cut out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010119.jpg
Looks good, now for filing.
While working on the project last night, my dad sort of got into it and helped me out. We decided that just having a little logo here and there, and having chrome parts and sleeving wasn't enough... No, we needed an engine. Not just any engine, but an engine that started a revolution. I give you, my very-small-block Chevy engine:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010124.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010125.jpg
I set it next to the case to see how it might fit, and wouldn't ya know, it does, but JUST barely...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010120.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010121.jpg
It's held down using four, very small machine screws, which provide, surprisingly, alot of support to the thing. I do however want to find some very small washers for the screws as I have a tendency to over build things and want to make sure that when I tilt the case on its side, that that thing isn't going anywhere... Oh yeah, the engine actually turns over and spins, just like a real engine, and those fans infront of said engine, will, I'm hoping, make the engine turn via the fan.
The last thing I did was install ym shiny new PSU. A 600watt unit with a nice chrome finish and shiny, steel wiring all of which is now hidden in the top 5-1/2" drive bay.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/ace95835/P1010123.jpg
I will have more pics, progress, and finally clean this little log up tommorrow, but I have to rush off to work in a little while, so I wanted to get pics up and ge the party started :D