Lexa

Well I have a treat for you all today. I have finally finished my HDD bays. That means all the plexi I had cut in now mounted. YAY!!!
This is what my HDD racks looked like before I started my modding today:

This is the part I will be modding to finish them off:

I am covering the base of the racks with a piece of plexi. This will help me keep some cables out the way, keep the air directly moving across my HDD and above all look cool.
The piece of plexi in position:

A bit of modification to get it to sit right:

Perfect:

While I had the Dremel out I figured I may as well expand this hole.
Before:

After:

The hole is now big enough for a SATA power cable.
Next I market and drilled the corner holes to mount the plexi:

Did the same on the piece of plexi:

The plexi bolted to the base of the HDD rack:

I did this to save time when drilling the rest of the holes. I can drill both pieces at the same time.
The rest of the holes drilled and bolts added:

On to painting.
The primer:

And painted black:

And here is a pic of the rack all back together:

I also put some U channel on the cut I made earlier:

And finally the complete HDD rack with the HDD cover:

And with the rest of my drive bays:

Well I think that looks quite good lol.

Well not much work I can do now until I get my fans, hopefully by the end of the week. Until then...

Happy Modding.

I have been using the PC for about 7 months now, it's in pieces on my desk lol.
Thanks for the comment.

I may have an update for you guys later this weekend.

Update time.

I have riveted the HDD and ODD drive bays together...finally, it has been 10 months since they were like this lol. I also riveted the front face plate onto them as well and guess what, the bays stayed perfectly square :eek:.
Here are some complete shots of the drive bay stack:

The bay res fits perfectly:

And the inlet and outlet even line up (you can't see it too well in the pic):

Alas there are still a few things to be finished up on.
These two gaps, here:

And here:

Need to have mesh covers made up.

While I am at it I will also make a mesh cover for the bay res:

Looks a bit plain don't ya think?

Well it's a public holiday tomorrow for us Australians so I will be doing my homework which I didn't do over the weekend lol. I may get some of this work done during the week. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Well I have another update for you guys today, not modding unfortunately, just tech. Everyone loves new tech ;).

I guess this is a bit over due since I got the items on Friday but I had a busy weekend and couldn't get the update up.

Well here is my order:

1x TP-LINK 108Mbps wireless network card
2x Antec Tri-Cool 120mm Blue LED fans
2x OCZ RAM coolers

Here is the fan unpackaged. They come with a 3 to 4 pin adapter and it is good to see the connectors are all black apposed to white like my 80mm fans. Also the fans have a built in 3 speed fan controller, very handy. With both fans on medium I can barely hear them.
Pic:
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/8118/dsc02184um3.jpg
I then attached the fans and the radiator to the floor of the case. Fits like a glove:

Here is a pic of the bits that come with the OCZ RAM cooler:

You get the cooler top which houses the two 60mm fans, two sets of feet (you chose depending on what your RAM slots are like) and you get two thumb screws, 2 plastic washers and 2 normal screws.
I then installed the cooler onto my 4GB of RAM:

Powered up:

The fans will eventually get the same UV treatment as the rest of them. I am trying to get my hands on some AC Ryan UV green black majic paint to re do them all.

Last but not least we have the wireless card:

I would show you some pics of it installed but it isn't working and therefore doesn't deserve to be anywhere near my rig lol.

Well that's all for now. I need to do some modding this week. Perhaps the planning for the pump platform? Until then...

Happy Modding.

It's not that it doesn't work it's just that it keeps dropping signal. My old card never had this problem. It's also only showing up as 54Mbps not 108.
Here is the thread I started about the problem:
http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/f...748#post191748

I just got off MSN with Sean (b4i7) and now I have the urge to mod that RAM cooler. I will post sketches after school.

Well I found the uploaded image of my sketches so here it is:

From left to right.

Option 1:
Basic cut out of the letters, may replace cut parts with black mesh, tie it in with the rest of the case.

Option 2:
Same as option one but with a line running parallel with the flow of the letters.

Option 3:
Completely different from the first two. The rectangle in the top left corner that reads "Project:" will actually be a piece of etched green plexi indented into a cut made into the cooler so it sits flat. The letters will be cut out in the same fashion as the others.

I am kinda leaning towards the third option. A bit more challenging and holds more physical appeal.

Also I found out what font NZXT use for their products (thanks to the NZXT forums), it's Tahoma Bold. I will be using this font for the text on the cooler mod.

Let me know what you think. Especially you Sean. If you guys have ideas post them up and I will have a look.

Yeah I should have put a not saying that those sketches were only a mock up done in class, hence the crookedness lol. I will make something quick up in word and import a print screen shot.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Here is what I came up with. I think this will look quite effective. Just picture the letters in the green white not black. I could make the other letters black also by using some black mesh behind the cuts. I will see what it looks like without mesh before I make my mind up.

What do you guys think?

It has just come to my attention that if I cut out the 'A' in LEXA the center piece will have no where to sit. I will be inlaying the letter cuts with black mesh. This will also tie the chrome cooler into the rest of the case design.

I am glad you are enjoying my mod Vexxx, I'm just glad to get positive feed back lol. I won't let you down. Thanks for the +rep.

The mod is on the final stretch now guys. I just need to place one final order than I can completely finish off the bottom panel.

All that's left to do is:
RAM cooler mod
Pump platform
Paint bottom panel
Sleeve remaining cables
Solder up the CCFL switches and extend some cables
AND
the water cooling

Well guess what guys!

Image Shack has stopped being a prick so here are the pics.
This is the cooler with the design glued to it:

Sadly this is only a teaser because my camera's battery is dead. I will give it a quick charge and take a pic of where I am up to.

Ok just had enough charge to take the pics and transfer lol.

Here is a pic of where I am up to at the moment.
I have cut out all the letters and the spot of the green plexi inlay:

Basically I used the Dremel with cutting disks to cut out as much as I could of the letters. I then used files to make the edges smooth and take off the remaining metal. So far I have completed the 'A' and most of the 'X' and 'L'.

Here are the files I am using, way back from my Warhammer days lol. They a re so small and fine that I can get into all the gaps, plus leave a mirror finish
Pic:

Well that's all at the moment guys. I had Exams the past week and haven't been able to get much work done. Maybe during the week. Until Then...

Happy Modding.

Well guys not an update but an announcement.

As of Monday 14th July I am going away for 2 weeks (returning on the 21st July). There fore no modding and no time on the forum :(. Where I am going you ask well I am being forced to go to World Youth Day in Sydney Australia. If you don't know what it is Google it cos I don't really know what it means myself lol.

Also

On the 17th of July 2008 is LEXA's 1 year anniversary. Yes it has taken a long time but I have poured a ton of effort into this mod. I hope you guys throw her a party in my absence.

TB4O signing off.

Until then...

Happy Modding.

Well guess what guys. The moment you have all been waiting for lol. AN UPDATE!!!
Yes yes it's update time however a small update at that.

Well I managed to tear myself away from homework long enough to realize I had a problem. My awesome plexi clad drive bay tower was sitting there collecting dust. Something had to be done. So I did what any normal person would do, I put it to use lol:

While I was installing the optical drives and the HDD I thought it would be the perfect time to install the UV CCFL that would be under the bay reservoir...so I did:

Hmm the light of the front blue fan along with the UV CCFL wasn't quite bright enough for me:

Sorry for the bad pic.
Of course I didn't expect this single UV CCFL to light all the plexi. The other blue fans and CCFL's will light up the rest of the bay covers and plexi in the case. This CCFL was only to light up the reservoir and surrounding plexi pieces.

The solution, get another UV CCFL and mount it above the reservoir. Luckily I had one attached to the support bar of the case so of it goes:

I will be getting a 20cm UV CCFL to replace the 10cm one which is going in the drive bay. This will also mean more light throughout the case.

The second CCFL installed above the reservoir:

Much brighter this time:

Here is where the inverter is mounted along with the neatly hidden CCFL cables:

One thing I noticed is that the inverter gets very hot. I am going to have to cut a hole in the motherboard tray as it covers the whole non windowed side of the case. This will give the inverter some degree of ventilation and make it easy to remove in case of it catching on fire (NNNNNOOOOOOO) or burning out. I may also cut a hole in the side panel itself to allow fresh air to reach the inverter, I think it's the safest way.

Well that might be the last update for some time from me. I have just a little over 10 weeks left of school until end of year final exams. My attention is 100% (well maybe 98%) on my school work and there is no time to mod on the weekend due to all the homework I am getting. I really want to get that RAM cooler done. Oh well, it will have to wait. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Looks like I have another update for you all.

Today I had a day off school to study so I studied for a bit then got modding lol.
I finally got around to painting the bottom panel of the case:

I had been putting this off because I was going to mount some LED modules on the underside of the panel to light up the case feet but due to lack of room I scrapped this idea.
I also added some 'U' channel molding to the edges of cut I made for the radiator:

And some grommets to the inlet and outlet pass through holes:

A shot of how it looks so far:

Time to install the radiator and fans.
I did run into a problem however. Part of the grommets sat under the fan, easily fixed though, I just cut part of them off.
All fixed:

Radiator and fans installed:

One thing I noticed about that 'U' channel molding is that it acts like those fan silencers. My fans are actually sitting on the 'U' channel so that will help absorb the vibrations from the fans. It is also working for the radiator. I guess I can cross those UV green fan silencers and silicon washers off my list now lol.

Next I re-installed the custom case feet:

Sadly these feet will have to come off again for some customization before everything goes together. 2 of the plexi spacers on the feet are covering rivet holes so I will need to remove them so I can countersink a hole on the base so the rivet will be able to fit. Not a major job but just a bit annoying lol.

And last but not least I installed the 30cm UV CCFL onto the panel:

Well that's all for this time guys. Work still continues on the RAM cooler but nothing worth posting on. Until then...

Happy Modding.

@Acey I have a mix of CCFLs. My 30cm one is a Flexiglow CCFL, was expensive but worth it. The two 10CM ones are just generic ones. Here is a link:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=2455
I haven't had a problem with them.

@DF I scrapped the idea for the LED modules on the underside of the case. There was lack of room to mount them and the light wouldn't illuminate the feet correctly.

Thanks for them comments guys.

Yeah she is almost done. Sad thing is I spent $170 over the past 2 weeks so I have no money to place my 'final' order to finish this mod off. Just a few detail parts. I may start construction this weekend because the work I need to finish is only cable management and minor stuff like that.

Yeah we will LAN, not before the Christmas holidays though.

Well I got the cash together to place my FINAL order for this mod, everything else I can source locally. So here is what I got:
1 Chrome Fan Grill 80mm $2.50
2 Chrome Fan Grill 120mm $5.00
2 3-pin Fan power splitter $4.00
3 120mm Aluminum Filter Black $29.70
2 3-pin Extension Cable $4.00
3 Techflex 6mm/11mm Cable Sleeving - Black $9.90
1 Thumbscrews - Black $6.60
2 Black Cable Ties (20) $3.00
1 Heatshrink, 6mm, Black $2.50
1 Single 20cm Cold Cathode Kit UV $16.50
1 AC Ryan CCFL Twin Extension UV Green $4.50

Sub-Total: $88.20

Priority Air Freight: $13.00

GST Included: $9.20


Total: $101.20

All I need to do now is go to the bank and transfer the money and I should have my order early next week. I will post pics when I get my stuff. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Good news guys. My order arrived today, I just have to go get it from my aunties during the week sometime.

Well I thought I should post some pics up of the PC my cousin gave me.
Here is the PC:

And the monitor (15" BenQ LCD):

Lets crack her open shall we:

Cable management much lol. I love how they bundled all of the cables in the max airflow zone lol.

Down bottom we have the graphics card and a wireless card:

Behind the mass of cables we have our socket 478 Pentium 4 and 2 512mb stick of RAM:

And up front we have a CD burner and a DVD burner:

Looks like I am going to replace my CD drive with this DVD drive. YAY double DVD drive goodness for LEXA lol.

Now here is a little quiz for you all. Who can guess what this graphics card is, a +rep for the correct answer:

Well that's in until I pick up my package. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Well I got my order guys. It came in on Monday but due to it getting shipped to my Aunties place I only received it yesterday.
Lets have a look:

Not a big order but it contains most of the stuff I need to finish this mod. There is only one thing I need to get which is UV green nail polish lol. No not for me, I am going to re do my fans because the gell pen blows off them when they dry leaving UV dust everywhere.
So this is what's in my order:
3x 120mm black mesh dust traps
2x 120mm wire fan grills
1x 80mm wire fan grill
2x 20 packs of black cable ties
3x 1 meter 6mm black cable sleeving
1x 1 meter 6mm heatshrink
1x 20cm UV CCFL
1x AC Ryan duel 30cm CCFL extension cable, UV green
2x 3 pin 'Y' splitter
2x 30cm 3 pin extension cable
1x pack of 10 black thumbscrews

First up I installed the two 120mm fan grills on my 240mm radiator fans:

I then put 2 of the dust traps on the underside of the radiator. The thumbscrews were originally going to be used on the dust traps for easy cleaning but they are just a little too big and don't fit.

I then installed the third dust trap on the front intake fan, replacing the stock NZXT one that comes with the case.
Looks much better now:

Here is a summary of where the other stuff will be going:

I was going to install the 20cm UV CCFL into the case support bar today but like the 10CM CCFL this one is replacing the block on the ends are too wide. Easily fixed though, I will just grind some of the plastic off with the Dremel later.

The 80mm fan grill is for the top 80mm exhaust fan. This fan will be one of the last things that will be installed.

The cable sleeving will be used on any cable I can find that isn't already sleeved.

I already have some black cable ties but at $1.50 a pack these were a bargain.

The UV green AC Ryan duel 30cm CCFL extension cable was bought just in case I needed one. I didn't want to get the UV green but there were no plain ones in stock. At $4.00 for the pair they are fairly cheap and when I replace the green sleeving with the black I get some spare green sleeving lol.

The 3 pin 'Y' splitters and extension cables were also bought just in case I needed them. Sometimes having extra length of cable available makes cable routing much easier.

Last but not least the thumbscrews. They were going to be used for the dust traps on the radiator but are a little too big so they are going to be spares for the time being.

Sorry there are no more pics guys but with only 7 weeks left until I finish high school I got a lot of work to do. May get a little bit done during the week but don't hold your breath. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Yeah the dust traps are pretty good. They are 'mushroomed' so one side pokes out a bit more than the other. The mesh is really good quality, really tight knit and corrugated to maximize dust capture. I was a bit disappointed about the price though, at $9.90 each they are a tad expensive but worth the cash IMO.

Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys but I have been really busy with school. I have 2 2000 word essays due on Friday lol. Anyway I have been busy so here we go.

I went to an automotive shop with my mate because he needed to get some cable to wire up his sound system and I found these:

They are chrome plastic cable spacers. Cost me $20 for the pack but IMO it was well worth it.
Even thought they looked so good they still needed to be modded slightly. I took apart all of the spacers.
Close up pic of a disassembled spacer:

As you can see the Allen bolt passes through to the nut which sits in a recess. These nuts aren't glued in so that's what I did next.
All glued:

Now all the spacers are good to go for when I need them during the installation phase.

Next up we have the mobo tray:

Yes very plain I know. I am going to cut some holes into the tray to make cable management easier and to allow greater access to the CPU cooler (underside) and a CCFL inverter.
All my cuts marked on the tray:

Cuts all done and paint touched up a bit:

"U" channel on the cuts:

I guess I better explain what each hole is for so here we go.
Hole 1:

This hole sits directly behind the CPU area of the mobo. By cutting this hole I have allowed myself the freedom of being able to remove my CPU water block without removing the motherboard from the case. Not really needed but always good to have the flexibility.

Hole 2:

This is the entrance hole for the motherboard 24pin power cord. This allows me to route the cable under the mobo tray instead of straight under the mobo.

Hole 3:

The exit hole for the 24 pin mobo power cable. This hole sits directly on the edge of the motherboard allowing only the head of the cable to be seen.

Hole 4:

This hole gives me access to the CCFL inverter I mounted on the motherboard side of the case. It basically allows me to replace the inverter if it breaks without pulling half the case apart.

While I was doing all of this I thought I would treat you all to a progress shot:

Nearly all of the structural work is now complete. Only the wiring and W/C loop to go now.

While I had the case like this I figured now was a good a time than any to make my pump mounting plate.
Here is the general area the pump will be mounted in:

And here is the pump, a Danger Den MAG II LE:

This was my design for the mounting plate, pretty simple ey:

I cut out the design and stuck it to a piece of scrap alu I had laying around (yes that is the cut out from mounting the 240mm radiator lol):

Plate cut out using the Dremel:

Edges fixed up once again using the Dremel:

Holes drilled:

Plate bent into shape with the vice:

A few shots of the pump sitting on the plate, perfect:

A shot of where the plate will be installed:

The pump will be held in place with a Velcro strip and this mounting plate I made. I will be using these spare bits from my Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II to mount the mounting plate:

A pic of the mounting plate:

Yes I know it's mesh but it is just for added support.
And here it is all together:

It looks a bit loose but I didn't really tighten it up much and the Velcro isn't stuck on yet.

Now that the construction phase is complete I can start with the painting.
Plate and bracket primed:

And painted:

I am sad to say that is as far as I got today. The paint is still drying so there are no final construction pics but I should have them for you all tomorrow. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Thanks mate. Had a 4 days weekend so I thought I should do something. Yeah those essays are a pain but once those 2000 word ones are out of the way I only have a few more minor assignments to go before I am done. Then I have until the end of the month to apply to Uni before I gotta pay the late fee. Got lots on my plate.

As promised I have the finished and mounted pump bracket.

Here is the bracket painted and with the mounting bolts installed:

Test fit with the pump:

Pump installed with the Velcro:

Pump bolted down:

Another view:

Now to mount the bracket to the case.
I drilled the two holes and test mounted it, fits perfectly:

I then cut the bolts to size and attached foam strip to the back of the bracket to help with the vibrations:

Bracket installed:

And finally the pump installed on the bracket:

YAY all done lol. The pump sits a bit wobbly which is annoying me. I am cut the copper spacers on the pump mounting bolts down a bit to add some more tension to the pump base. At the moment it is slightly lifting the pump up.

Well that's all I have for you now guys. With 2 2000 word essays due Friday I guess I won't have an update before the end of the week but I may do something this weekend, depends if I am droving in assignments. Until then...

Happy Modding.

LOL. The last thing you want is a lose pump vibrating your whole case. It sounds like when you leave your mobile on vibrate on a wooden surface lol.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Well guys don't I have a nice treat for you all today. This one comes in the form of A COMPLETED CASE!!!

Yesterday while I was waiting for a few mates to come over so we could continue with one of our media studies assignments I got an itch. Not an itch that could easily be scratched...I got the modding itch. I decided it was time to put my poor old LEXA back together.

First there were a few minor alterations that needed to be taken care of.

I had to slightly modify one of the front case feet to allow rivets to be inserted underneath it. This meant simply drilling a hole and countersinking it:

Next I had to cut a small bit of the radiator grommets to allow the drive bays to sit flat:

And finally I had to grind a bit off the HDD bay cover so it would sit flush with the base of the case:

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The case in all it's glory!!!
Windowed side panel on:

Windowed side panel off:

A shot of the drive bays:

A shot of the rear:

And the underside of the case:

Well I hope you all enjoyed that, I tell you what, I sure did lol. Even thought he case is constructed there are still a few more things that need to be done before my hardware can call it home. This coming week is the last of school before a 2 week break before exams. I have a lot of work to do in the first week on the holidays but should hopefully get LEXA finally completed before I have to go in for my practice exams. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Ok guys. I started shortening the cables for the CCFL harness and I have run into a problem. The new switches I have for the CCFLs have a blue LED in them that is meant to light up when you flick the switch.

The problem I am having is that I can't get it to light up and power the CCFL at the same time. I have both 1 yellow and 1 red spade connector coming from the molex plug. The light will only turn on when the red spade connector is attached to the LED terminal but the switch wont work when I do so.

I soldered a second spade connector to the red line so I can have one attached to the switch and another to LED terminal. For some reason the switch takes priority over the LED even when both of the spade connectors are attached. If I remove the spade to the switch than the LED works and the CCFL doesn't. As soon as I plug the spade back on the LED it stops working and the CCFL does lol.

I am really stuck with this due to me not being that great at circuits and such. Can someone please help me?

Please ask if you need any pics.

Well I guess I owe you guys an update on what I have been up to lately.

I have spent the majority of my time routing cables and trying to get my LED rocker switches to work. Thanks very much to Luke and XcOM for their help so far.
I Got around to mounting my 20cm UV CCFL to the support bar of the case:

I also wired up all the CCFLs to their respective inverters:

The only thing left to do is finish soldering the power connectors for the rocker switches and I don't have to worry about the CCFLs.

I have also tweaked the bump bracket by cutting the brass nuts in half. The pump is 100% secure and will not move (even if I force it.

I have also been tweaking a bit with the water loop:

I have been able to connect the 120mm rad to the res and fillport, the res to the 240mm rad and then the 240mm rad to the pump. I know that this loop probably isn't the best for the flow but it is the only way I can keep it all neat. If the flow is really bad I will upgrade the pump to a Danger Den D5.

And last but not least I have started designing a new face plate for the front of the reservoir.
Tell me what you think:

The new face plate will be made from a piece of AC Ryan MeshX I have laying around. The "LEXA" and the line underneath it will cut from the mesh. The mesh will be painted black and I will use clear double sided tape to attach it to the front of the res.

That's it for now. When the weather clears up I will paint my fans then I can finish routing the cables. Until then...

Happy Modding.

I have a small update today. I made the face plate for the reservoir.
The cut out and filed face plate:

I then painted it a satin black, not the flat I usually use. This helps it blend in with the glossy plastic at the front of the case:

And installed to the front of the reservoir:

The letters are back lit by the Vista screen saver but you get the idea.

I may get around to painting some of my fans this arvo but I doubt it. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Thanks blue. I thought the plain clear plastic just looked dull and boring. A solid mass of colour wouldn't go with the theme. I actually contemplated replacing the front piece of plexi with a smoked black piece or even painting on a design. The mesh suited my needs best cos I have tons of it lol.

Thanks for the comment and the +rep

*EDIT*
Thanks blue, you just gave me my third light green rep bar.

Thank you all very much guys. Your support really means a lot to me.

I go back to school tomorrow kicking off the last 11 days of high school FOR EVER (before exams). I doubt I will get you an update before then but I hope I will have a chance to work on her a bit more. Once my mate gives me back my Dremel I can finish the RAM cooler and perhaps sometime this week I will paint the fans (it's meant to be warm). After than I have only the CCFL cables to solder up, make 1 (YAY) more mesh cover and then install.

She has taken me a long time to make I know (about 14-15 months now I think), the idea and vision was constantly changing but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Christmas is my maximum deadline. She will definably be finished well before then.

Once again thanks for all your ongoing support. If you have any questions about something I have made/modded feel free to post em up and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

WOOHOO!!! Time for a very very small update lol

Well it is Friday afternoon and a lovely 29*c outside so it seemed like a perfect time to paint my fans.
Here are all the fans with their cables bagged up and with the blades painted with some yellow gel highlighter:

After I gave the blades a coat of clear varnish the fans looked like this:

I wish I had some pics to show you with the fan but my camera only captured the blue glow, not the green center, bummer.

I know it looks a bit patchy but the highlighter kept spreading across the smooth plastic surface. You can't notice this when the fans are running though.

I still haven't decided whether or not to paint the 60mm fans from the RAM cooler. I am going to wait and see how that turns out before I make my decision. The last fan I have to paint is the one on my Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II northbridge cooler. As the cooler is being used I will paint it when I am assembling the system.

I also finished filing the cuts on my RAM cooler:

Since my friend still has my Dremel I couldn't do any more work to it but I did do this:

I traced the letters from the cooler onto a piece of gloss black mesh I had laying around from a pair of old speakers. This mesh will be cut out and placed in the cuts. Green plexi will then be put behind the mesh. Should look really cool.

Well that's all for me, better get started on the homework, gonna be a late one tomorrow night ;). Until then...

Happy Modding.

@mittelmeier - Thanks, I like how they turned out a lot.
@Karbon Killa - Well I only have 6 days of classes left so after that I will hopefully be able to get her all put together rather quickly.

The last few things left on my list to do are:
1. Finish soldering up the CCFL leads.
2. Make a mesh cover for the gap in the HDD cover plate.
3. Finish the RAM cooler.
4. Cable management.

After that there are just a couple of little touch ups I need to do (nothing major) then I can install the system and water cool this baby, finally lol.

Well guys, my last lessons were on Monday so I have had this week to finish off remaining assignments and a few other tedious stuff. I have finished all that crap so now it's time to mod ;).

Lets start off with a piece I have made in hindsight of a design fault (mine not NZXT).
See these gaps?:

Ugly aren't they? Time to make a cover, mesh naturally ;).
Drew up the design on what is left of my MeshX panel:

Then I roughly cut around the design with tin snips:

Time to get the Dremel out.
I cut the cover out and cleaned up the edges:

I then bend the cover into shape:

Turned out pretty good I think :).

Time for the test fit, YAY no ugly hole lol:

http://img402.imageshack.us/content....0079603we8.jpg

I drilled the holes and time for another test fit:

Fits perfectly.

Now time to paint:
I primed and painted the cover and this is the result:

Final install:

I think it turned out pretty well. Some of the paint did chip off around the screws and I will retouch this before the final complete install.

Next up on the list was the side intake fan.
I spliced the cable and added a male and female 3.5mm headphone jack and also sleeved the cable black. This will make taking the side panel a breeze.
Pics:

Then I installed it on the side panel:

I also have to add the original dust trap which will be installed on the rear of the fan. this just makes it more convenient to clean. The dust trap will be held on with the sale bolts and domed nuts as the rest of the mod.

While I was attaching the other fan to the Side panel I thought I may as well install the front intake fan:

Routed the cable:

And last but not least I found a use for the black thumb screws I brought. They will be perfect to use to attach the motherboard.
I attached the thumbscrews to the stand offs so I wouldn't lose them lol:

Each thumbscrew has a silicon washer attached to the bottom of the screw. This is to ensure there will be no short between the motherboard and the screw.

Well that's it for now. I have my Dremel back so I can finish off the RAM cooler and then I just have to finish off the CCFL cabling and route the rest and I am done. I have to go into school tomorrow and early next week to finish off some work so I may get some more done this weekend. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Yep not a lot at all.
Just to re cap for the rest of you.
1. I need to finish the RAM cooler
2. Finish the CCFL cable soldering
3. Sleeve and route a few more cables
4. Water cool and install hardware

That's about it lol.

Once again guys, thank you all for your on going support, comments and votes for MOTM over at Bit-Tech. Sadly I am losing but I don't care, I am just honored to get nominated.

Today I didn't need to go into school so I got stuck into finishing my RAM cooler. I actually stated this on the weekend but ran into some problems, I will explain when I get to it later.

First I made a whole new batch of letters, the other ones were crap lol:

I then cut out some bits of plexi to glue in behind the letters I cut from the face plate:

I used some clear roofing silicon to glue the plexi in place:

Looks pretty good doesn't it?:

I left this to dry overnight to let the silicon dry properly. I came out the next day to drill the excess plexi out through the holes but the silicon was really weak and the piece of plexi kept falling off. I re-glued the plexi using an excessive amount of silicon and used a piece of wooden garden stake to keep the plexi pushed up toght against the mesh cooler.
Pic of the clamping phase:

I left the cooler like this overnight to let the silicon dry properly.

This morning I went back to the shed and got out my drill ;).
I drilled out all of the excess plexi from the front of the cooler. This is how the plexi pieces looked after:

Now you can't see any green plexi front on (except the letter of course).
I then glued the black letters over the green plexi:

I then installed the fans so I could get an idea of how it looked:

It actually looks a lot greener, my camera just doesn't pic kit up too well.

I was contemplating painting the fans to look like the rest of mine (green blades) but I think the plain blue would look better for this piece. It will make you look at the letters, not the fans.

The cooler in now 80% complete. All I need to do is cut a small piece of green plexi to fit in the hole in the top left of the RAM cooler. I am going to engrave "Project:" into the piece of plexi so the RAM cooler will read "Project: LEXA". One that is done I won't have to pick up my Dremel for a very long time :(.

I also finished off a few other bits today.
I Installed the stock mesh dust trap to the rear of the side intake fan using the same bolts and domed nuts as the rest of the mod. Looks really clean IMO.
Pics:

That's now finished.

I had another one of the fan grills which I installed on the side intake fan so I installed it to the rear exhaust fan:

I also got stuck into some cable management.
Here are the floppy bays which will be concealing the majority of my cables:

Currently you can see the power cables for the side intake fan, the 240mm radiator fans and the power lead to the RAM cooler. The only thing that's missing is the CCFL wire harness.
Here is a shot of the motherboard tray:

It's pretty neat ATM but there are a few more cables to go there yet.

Well that's all for now. I am going to mark up a piece of plexi which will fit in the RAM cooler later, I may even get around to working on the CCFL harness. Currently I leave you at 97% (case) completion WOOHOO!!! Until then...

Happy Modding.

@blue - Thanks mate. Yeah it was the easiest solution but not something that was easy lol. Took me around 40mins-1hour to successfully drill out all of the plexi lol. My arm was killing me haha.

Thanks for the comment and thanks for the +rep Vitzy^. I am glad it is my mod which dragged you from the darkness and made you register lol.

The depth of the cooler is (from the outside) is 1.7cm (17mm). The alu which the cooler is made of is 1mm thick. This leaves you 16mm to work with on the inside of the cooler. The fans themselves are 11mm thick. So in total you have a 5mm gap between the fans and the top of the cooler (the fans sit level with the base, RAM side, of the cooler). The plexi I used was 3mm thick so I roughly have a 2mm gap between the plexi and the fans.

I don't mind at all if you use my idea, feel free to use any of my ideas. That's what modding is about, sharing ideas and experience. I am glad you are enjoying my mod and once again thanks for the comment.

Well guys I have a little surprise for you. I worked my ass off yesterday when I should have been getting homework done before I go away on Monday but no no no, I had to mod.

After 16months and 19days (I think lol), LEXA is finished. Yes you heard me finished, well the case is anyway. I still have to finish the RAM cooler.

Before we get to the pics of the finished case here Is how the CCFL harness turned out:

It works perfectly, lights the CCFL and the LED in the switch.

And here are a few shots of how the cabling in the floppy bays turned out:

Now onto the pics of LEXA. I warn you in advance that the case is dirty and the pics are bad. For the final shoot I will give her a wash to remove the fingerprints and take some proper pics.

I hope you all enjoy those pics. I am really happy with how the chassis itself turned out. I am going away on Monday (coming back Friday) so don't expect any updates until after then. I have some school work to finish before I go away so that takes priority over the RAM cooler sadly :(. Until then...

Happy Modding.

Yeah the case is finished but the mod is still rolling. I am hoping to get the RAM cooler done tomorrow and hopefully the system installed in the arvo and let the W/C run in for 24hrs.

Thanks a lot for the rep man, here is some for your efforts.

Hey guys, I have some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that I Have started the final "Project:" engraving for the RAM cooler.

The bad news is that my Dremel is now broken. I cut out the piece of plexi that was required and when I attached the engraving bit (not using the flex shaft) my Dremel decided it would be funny to get stuck on full speed. On all the speed setting my Dremel is running flat out, I don't want to attempt to engrave like this. I now have to wait until tomorrow until I can take the Dremel back to the place I brought it from and they will probably send it to America for repairs, such a head F**K!!!. Looks like someone doesn't want me to finish this mod lol.

Well looks like this probably wont be finished before Christmas now :(.

I'll keep ya posted.