Project: Citrus G5

I'm building a HTPC. Im not sure what i want my project name to be but Bad Apple or Rotten Apple seems appealing to me since i will be using an Apple G5 case for an IMB clone. Im still debating the operating system but i'll probly go with Linux MCE.

[edit] name changed to Citrus G5!

The initial parts list:
Proc: AMD Athalon X2 4200+
Mobo: Biostar TA690GAM2 (one of the best htpc mobo's)
Ram: 2Gb Kingston HyperX pc2-6400
HDD: 20Gb Fujitsu IDE (i will upgrade this later)
PSU: Dont have one yet but i'll probly get a 300-400watt generic
CD: Sub standard 40x cd reader ( i will upgrade this to a LiteOn dvd-RW later on)

I managed to get this case from someone on thies forums a long time ago. I cant remember who but if they are still around, speak up plz. It was in a flood and the internals were damaged so i bought the case. I need to get some batteries for my cammera but i have two old pics on photo bucket.

Possible Layout:

Fan mod & I/O problem:

There are some problems i face with this build.
#1 Mounting the mobo. The mobo tray is also the exterior of the case so protruding stand off's are unacceptable. I'm thinking that i'll have to epoxy plastic stand off's to the mobo tray.

#2 The I/O area on the back of the case. What im thinking here is to cut a rectangular hole and put an aluminum plate moulding over it to cover any mistakes. I wont be able to use the I/O plate as the mobo will be resesed compared to the back of the case. It will be a big hole around all the connectors but im looking into ways to make this better.

#3 Painting. This will be a challange, the case cannot be dissassembled. I think i'll leave the center perforated strip its normal color and paint just the exterior wrap around aluminum shell. I think black & silver will give a nice contrast. I havent decided wether or not to put back the apple logo. It might be cool to have a decal of a rotting apple or possible calvin pissing on the apple logo.

I havent desided if i want to install a 3.5" rack to hold 2 HDD's or build the case for a single drive.

As for the PSU... If i can get one with a fan of the top or bottom (depending which way its orientated) i'll place it so the intake is pointed towards the front of the case and the exhaust is pointed down and out of the case. If i do this, i'll have to mod the psu. I'll remove the power plug and soldier in a power cord so i can redirect the cord out the back of the case.

I have some other mods in mind too. I'll be adding USB ports to the front bottom of the left side of the case. I need to add a power & reset button to the front of the case aswell. I hope to get somthing cool like a Vandal switch but im not holding my breath for a $20 switch. I'm adding a window to the removable side pannel which i've allready gave it a rough cut.

Later, i want to install an Imon Ultra Bay to the front of the case for the look and functionallity of a true HTPC.

if you dont have a need for all the back ports on your biostar, you could probably find some port extenders and mount the ones you want on the origional i/o panel, then just grab an old graphics card pci slot cover (if you have one) and wire up the vga out to that

:pics:

*Edit: MORE pics.*

:pics:

Ditto.

For the sake of pete! Tomorrow guys, i'll take a bunch of pics of the empty case since i havent got my hardware yet.

Oh, my brother is going to bring me some metal files tomorrow so i can touch up and finish the window that im putting in. I talked with Tybrenis the plexi guru and he reassured me and gave some helpfull tips for flush mounting the window in the thick aluminum panel. Its a good thing i have an abundance of plexi to play around with incase i get the forming temps wrong.

Well my hardware is ready to be picked up which i'll do on my way home from work tomorrow.

Here are some pics of the case.

This one shows the window i'll be putting in it.

Here i'll have to come back and touch this up with a file. My brother was supposed to get me some today but his lazy arse forgot!

This is how i plan to mount the PSU.

This is the front with a half assed overlay of the proposed Imon Ultra Bay and the location of the power / reset switches.

And this is a consept paint scheme, i might change it up a bit but it looks pretty cool now that i can "see" it.

I'll upload some pics of the hardware when i get it home tomorrow.

Nice work so far dude! I've always liked these cases, but despise macs. +rep

Heh heh I have always thought about taking an apple case and windowsing. This should be cool, rep.

I sold one of those cases to someone on the forums about a year and a half ago I think.... If it was full of dried mud, then that's the one lol.

Dude, your the man! Yeah that was i who bought your case. Under the nick CanaBalistic.

I got the hardware i order'd in today. My lazy ass good for nothing brother hasnt brought me any files. He offered to take the side pannel into work today and trim it up for me but he didnt do that either. Familly, cant live with them, go to jail if you kill them.

Here's the new hardware

And a quick mock up of the mobo, i used stand off's to hold the board at the correct hight and used an network card to allign the pci slots.

I think im going to try forming the window with some scrap stuff i have laying around to get a general idea of the temps and techniques.

I'm also thinking of changing the paint. Slytherock is doing another apple case and he had a georgous orange picked out but he desided to go with black insted. I want to be unique so i think i should go with an orange/silver scheme. It fits in with the colors of the mobo too. I also have some orange plexi that i can use for the window.

The paint will be somewhat like this

I'll also paint the PSu this color and i might paint the metal plate that the HDD and cd drive bolt to. Allthough i might paint the cd plate black. I'll deside that when the time comes.

Does anyone know where i might be able to buy some orange led 80mm fans? Aluminum frames would be nice so it fits in with the theme but i'd like there to be a nice orange glow from within. Maybe an AM2 cooler with orange leds?

That's so sweet. Those mac cases are pretty roomy, aren't they? Too bad they're not setup for normal PC use, I would buy one and use it. I guess I just prefer the ease of use of PC case(ironic, isn't it?). That case is pretty scratched, you are going to primer it before you paint, of course, aren't you? In the off chance that you aren't planning on it you definitely should, it would be nice and smoooooth.

You should just be able to do a google search for the orange LED's, and I am sure that someone else can help you more on that.

Sorry man but someone else beat you to the name. It is a very nice
mod too. check it out. It might give you inspiration.

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=121671

Yeah i was checking that out yesterday. I wanted to change the name right away! He's damn good by the looks of it. I dont plan on beating myself up trying to be such a perfectionist as he is and the goals are totaly diffrent. He wants sli and to make it look like it came from apple. I want a HTPC and i dont care if it comes out looking like a mac or not. He's got some good points and tricks for doing things but unlike him, i dont want to redo the entire backside of the case. Ofcourse i'll try and keep things neat and tidy but not to the lengths he goes to.

But since you brought up the name, i'll need a new one so people dont get confused. Any ideas?

Quakken, i'm going to sand the anodizing off the outside only and repaint. The paint will lay almost exactly as shown in thoes illustrations. BTW, my brother who is a glazier told me that anodizing is the second hardest substance known to man. Allthough he says he used his textbook to start a fire while he was drunk and wiki cannot confirm his allogations.

Well i had to bite the bullet and buy a power supply. I tried to find somthing localy through friends and stores but no one had anything and the stores were way too expencive. NCIX didnt offer up much either as did tigerdirect.

I found a decent deal at Xodide.com, a 580watt sunbeam psu. While it isnt modular which is a huge deal for me, it is black and slick looking so i wont have to paint it.
http://www.xoxide.com/casegears-blac...-580w-psu.html

While im waiting on that, i'll have some time to get a few things done on the case. I also tried moulding a window last night which yeilded less than stellar results. The plexi didnt want to form at all, it did droop though. Then it started to bubble and i called it quits. I dont know if this method is going to work at all so i might have to go another route.

Well i solved the stand off issue. I went to the local pc shop and bought some small stand off's. If i double them up, it gives me just the right amount of height compared to a normal stand off. My cammera doesnt like close up shots but its still visible. I stuck a regular height stand off in the corner so you can see how much height im getting and how i plan to use them. I'll just epoxy them onto the back plate of the case.

I also brought out the dremel and made an I/O opening. While it isnt perfect and i cut it too long, it should be fine since i plan to use a piece of aluminum to hide the edge and that uneeded last port on the original case exterior.

This is the marking i used, i should have left the second to last port but it doesnt matter since it will all be covered in the end.

Half way through.

Finished!

I'll touch up the edges when my brother gets me thoes files.

For a new name i was thinking somthing like Cirtus G5, what do ya think?

Just a quick little update.

My power supply has finally shipped and should arrive about mid next week. I've got a lot of stuff to do at home, work and a lot to do on my car but im going to go buy some epoxy on satureday after work and i'll attach the stand offs and mount the mobo.

Once i get the PSU, ill figure out the best way to mount it inside the case and cut the hole to reroute a power dongle to the rear of the case. I'm still looking for cool power/reset switches. I have some switches here at home but none that will fit well with the look im after. I'll also have to come up with a way to have an orange light inside the case. The only orange thing i could find was a single 80mm uv orange fan on ebay. Totally not what im looking for so i'll have to get a white light ccfl or led stick and wrap it in orange plexi. Its a good thing i have a fair amount of it.

That is all for now, please resume your normal day to day operations.

I'm not a Mac user, but I must say that I do love their cases and style. Many of Apple's products look fantastic but are just way over priced and don't seem as easily customized as PC's. But you picked a beauty of a case there for your project!

Well my psu finally arrived and i love it! It doesnt have many power dongles which makes it easier to hide the ones im using. It has 4 molex, 1 floppy, 1 sata, and the regular cpu and mobo plugs. I didnt bother to take a pic of it as its just a standard psu. I've assembled the parts in a generica case i got from work just so i can test everything out and make sure all is working well. Allthough im having problems enabling any second display, it seems to be software related so i hope i can figure that out.

I've upgraded the temporary HDD to a 30Gb Maxtor ide drive. As it turns out, the fujitsu drive is dead. That would have left a sour taste in my mouth.

I couldnt buy any epoxy last weekend because i was busy dealing with my car accident. I'm trying to get a new car so money is tight and this build is getting pushed back a little bit. Everything should click together once i hear back from the bank about a loan extension. If all goes well, i'll be able to buy everything else i need in one shot. Then it will be straight up modding from there on out.

I also got a free 21" Apple SutdioDisplay that would fit in well with the G5 case allthough i dont think i'll pair the two up. I've got it connected to my main rig at the moment and it is killer for games.

That is all. Please continue about your daily business...

Update!

I woke up this morning to all 3 of my alarmclock's beeping. Oh snap! I missed work today. Well so i didnt waste the day i went and bought some supplies. The goal for today, mount the motherboard.

Epoxy & Methanol

I needed the methanol to clean the aluminum so the epoxy would adhear better. I had marked some stuff with a jify marker and there was dust and dirt inside.

I was trying to deside the best way to mount the board. My first thought was to use an old board so i wouldnt damage the new one.

I started to mix up the epoxy and realized that it was thick enough to stick to the stand off's in any direction. So i put the stand off's back on the good board and put a splooge of epoxy on each one.

This is kind of a 2 part deal. I dont think the small amount of epoxy will hold the board so once its dry, i'll add more around the base of each stand off.

Progress so far:

I also opened the new psu to see the best place to route the new power cord. I took a pic but it wasnt the greatest.

More updates as they occur...

Well the epoxy seems to be holding up quite well so i dont think i'll be adding more to it.

I got myself a cheap 6pc file set (4 files & 2 handles) for like $15. I spent about 4hrs total cleaning up the window edges. Note to self; cut closer to the line next time.

Here you can see the huge chunks i had to clear from the corners.

Here it is all done:

And all together.

I dont think i'll be keeping the original plexi air baffle. I have a sheet of orange plexi i'll be using for that.

Also, my Imon UltraBay is currently on its way and should arrive before friday(fingers crossed)

Lookin' good, dude. Nice file work, your corners look excellent.
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Chrysler sebring (sedan) specifications

Yes, Corners definitely look good. This is a very cool project, I love the Citrus idea.. kind of like "apples and oranges" haha.. :)

ha ha, apples and oranges. good one :P

i agree, nice lookin window :)

That window cutout is spot on bro! Good Job. Pluz+Rep

I've been so busy lately... Anyway, i got the power supply mounted last week. Here's how it all went down.

I couldnt find much in the way of stencils so i put a sheet of paper over the PSU and incerted the screws through it. I then used the piece of paper to mark out my mounting holes. Well this wasnt very accurate and i had to drag the drill bit to get everything lined up correctly. It isnt a big issue as the screws i'll be using cover up the uneven holes except for one which has a tiny bit of the hole showing. Then i used an old psu as a stencil for the blow hole and filled in the slots with a jiffy marker. I wasnt sure how i was going to go about this at first so i drilled a couple starter holes (the 4 you see around the blowhole) After doing so i realized that the hole will be too big. I grabed a 80mm fan duct and eye'd it out on the aluminum. The duct fit inbetween test holes so i traced it out and began drilling. I drilled the circumfrence of the hole then used my dremmel to finish it off.

I then filed the excess material. This piece of the case is about half the thickness of the side panel and was much quicker. About 10 minutes later i had this.

After taking the picture i could see that the hole wasnt quite perfect so i touched it up a tad. Its easy to file corners but circles seem to be next to impossible to get perfect. (sry, no pics)

Well now i had to prep the PSU. The power cord socket, on/off switch, and voltage selector were protruding and needed to be removed. I couldnt remove the voltage slector so i screwed it to the ground terminal inside. I ran a new power cord to a filed down plug i made to fit the existing rear of the case. To do so i had to knotch out a small section of the cover and install a gromet for saftey. Here it is with a mock up of the power cord sticking out from the side.

I just realized that i didnt take any pictures of it all finished so i'll do so now and add them onto this post.

The hole is not as good as i wanted and my brother enticed me to touch it up and make the hole a little bigger if i have to. I'll post pics of that when i get around to it.

Here is another little mini mod that i havent finished. Its the fan bracket that goes between the cd drive and the HDD. There was a small squirrel cage fan and an 80mm fan mounted here but the squirrel fan cant be used so im hacking of its section from the bracket. I'm not sure yet if im going to use this but im thinking about it.

Also, since i've got the ultra bay now and it has blue illumination, im going to use blue led fans insted of hunting for orange ones. I think the orange and blue will look together and opens my choices for fans.

More Progress!

I got the front cut out for the ultra bay. Its a really nice fit.

Here was my initial markings, i made sure the sides were perfect and marked where i want the top to sit. The bottom line is a ruff estimate and makes the hole a little smaller than the ultra bay.

Here is the ruff cut with the dremel.

I didnt get any pics after filing the hole to neer perfection but here's one with the ultra bay in the hole. Its a bit funny looking because i had to hold the unit in place to take the picture, i also fliped the pic the right way around. The little bit of black along the top is my pen line and not a hole :) There is no play what so ever.

While i had the components removed, i touched up the PSU hole. It still isnt "round" but i smoothed out the funny bits and it looks better. I also touched up the I/O hole i hade and squared it off.

Mounted the Ultra Bay!! Major milestone here!!

I was so stumped and confused about how i was going to mount this after i had cut the hole for it. My frist thought was to fasion a block that would take up the space from its mounting bracket to the devider plate and glue it in place. I couldnt find anything to use as a block so i decided to use some screws and a bunch of nuts. I just fliped the bracket upside down and randomly put 4 holes in the bracket. I tested it out.

Turns out the screws i had were too short so i went and got some longer ones. This is a crappy pic but you can see how i marked for the holes. I used the short screws and just drew around them :) Turns out this worked pretty damn good.

And here it is all done and installed! I just need to tweek the bracket a bit in the top left corner. Its slightly out by about 1/16, otherwise its a flush fit.

I also finished the fan bracket also, i am fairly certin that im going to use it.

The list of things-to-do is getting smaller by the day. It shouldnt be too long before i start on body work and paint.

Lovin' it. The Ultra Bay is SWEET. :)
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FORD ORION PICTURE

Love the Ultra Bay!

I'd get some cheap "red" (red-orange) LED fans - close enough, really, and blue's altogether too common, if you ask me.

Which... you didn't.

I cut a piece of the orange plexi for the window and all i can say is that its the most beautiful thing i've ever seen. Its like gummy bears wraped in rainbows toped with caramel fudge. I think it would look best if i glued it in place but i cant do that untill the case is painted. I'm still going to get some nice screws to bolt it in. the front / back corners are coming loose so i have to bolt thoes down and it'll flow better that way.

I'm still looking for nice power reset switches. I like the look of the vandal switches. Does anyone know of where to get some other sleek and stylish switches?

As allways, more updates as they occur.

This has come a long way since I had a look at your first posts. It is looking great, keep up the good work.

Whars our update.

im trying to decide my next move.

I need switches for power, reset, and prosibly an eject button.
I need to get/make some sound proffing sheets so i can cover the imperfections on the inside of the case.
I need to find some decent screws/bolts/somthing to hold the window in and hold the top flange in place (it must have been droped at some time)
I need to decide which fans im going to get and depending on that, i need to figure out the lighting
I dont know if i'll need to make an i/o shield, i cleaned it up pretty nice with the file.
With all that i'll be able to route the wires nicely. I might need to make a shield to cover the long 24pin cable plus the iMon extension.

Then its just body work and paint :)

Very nice mod....
One +rep for you...

Here's another small update so my worklog doesnt slip into oblivion. I just purchased some more gear to help finish the case.

2 x Blackfire4 UV LED 92mm Fan
1 x AeroCool SilverBlade I 80mm Fan
1 x Vandal Resistant Switch 16mm - Orange Dot
1 x Vandal Resistant Switch 16mm - Orange Ring
1 x Noise Pax Sound Dampening Material

I decided to go with the AcRyan fan's (Thanks WAG) which should really set off the interior. I was going to use blue fans but when i put the orange plexi over a blue led, it dimmed it to neer nill and turned it green. I'm putting off buying a new hard drive and the sat card untill the case is complete.

I'll have more pics when the shipment arrives!

Well my box-o-goodies arived today! Unfortunatly my batteries died in my cammera and im so broke right now i cant even buy more.

Everything looks awsome! Does anyone have experience with bulgin switches and know the layout of the pins?

I'll update again when i have some pics, items will probly be installed so no package shots :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by J-Roc

Everything looks awsome! Does anyone have experience with bulgin switches and know the layout of the pins?

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Not sure where you bought your vandal switch from, but frozen cpu has a spec sheet in PDF form that you can download.

Well, here's another small update for critical components. My mother is going to hate me for sure. Her poor credit card is getting its arse whooped.

I just ordered the much needed hard drive and the satellite card for a total of $187.09.

Specificaly;
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 8.9MS Hard Drive $63.35
Hauppauge WinTV NOVA-S-PLUS Satellite TV Tuner PCI Card W/ MPEG2 Recording Software & Remote $86.87

I really needed a sata drive because the single ribbon cable wont reach both the dvd rom and the HDD in the configuration im going for.

Jeesh, what started out as a project with a $300 budget quickly spiraled out to over $600 and counting.

Not sure how long you need the ribbon cable to be, but frozencpu.com has some rounded dual-device cables that are three feet long. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/33...ml?tl=g2c36s97
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CHRYSLER SEBRING (CONVERTIBLE) HISTORY