Project: Antec 900 Revamp

[SXRguyinMA]

lookin good!

[x88x]

Mmm, shiny.

[msmrx57]

Very nice. The orange REALLY pops well.

[Indybird]

I am absolutely loving that orange! Can't wait to see it assembled.

[billygoat333]

your painting skills are awesome. (guess it helps that you are using high quality paint )

[slaveofconvention]

It's always easier to get a good result with the right tools. The fact that I did it again and again and again and again until I was happy with it also helps lol

Ty for comments - hopefully there'll be some rebuild photos tonight - still need to re-sort the other side panel (not quite happy with it atm) but I can get probably 70% of the case into one piece now

[slaveofconvention]

So it's partial assembly time!!! I say partial because the windowed side panel isn't quite ready yet although it will be (should be) by this time tomorrow. I gave the clear on the top panel (last thing to be repainted) an extra 24 hours to cure - it's a high solid automotive 2-pack clear so it's usually ready in about 6 but having come this far, and taken this long, I was taking no chances...

First I needed to get the buttons and front I/O ports built back into the top panel.

Hard disk activity LED and reset button

This one was pretty easy. I didn't have to do any major surgery to get them out - was just a matter of snapping off some hot glue drops and carefully prising apart a clip. Getting them back in wasn't much harder. The number of coats of primer, paint and clear had reduced the size of the holes a very small amount, so I had to take a very fine needle file to the reset button hole to make the parts go back in. Then it was just a dot of hot glue on the back of the HD LED and hey presto.

The power button was a slightly different story though...

Power button and mounting plate

To get the Power button out, I'd had to re-melt some plastic welds and remove the whole support frame. I wanted the buttons left black to break up the orange on the top and the power button cap actually sat between the mounting plate and the top cover. To make sure it stays in place, I decided to use another product we stock at work.

Q-Bond Kit

Q-Bond is a very VERY strong (way stronger than I needed to be honest) 2 part adhesive system. It's made up of something very similar to superglue and a reinforcing powder. Once the two are combined they produce a solid block which is extremely strong. Basically, you use the liquid part of the kit to glue the items together as if that was all you were doing - gluing them. Then you apply a liberal sprinkle of the powder to whatever parts you want to reinforce, and drip small drops of the liquid adhesive on. A small puff of smoke later, and you're left with something extremely strong and very quickly dry. You then repeat as many times as you choose, building up layers of the powder and adhesive. The end result isn't particularly pretty, but it's VERY effective.

Reinforced Power button plate

In case you were wondering about the power LED - the Antec 900 doesn't have one. The 200mm fan on the top of the case is illuminated, as are the stock fans, so you really don't need one - trust me, you KNOW when the computer in this case is powered up.

Next came the ports - audio, 2 USB and firewire. As with the reset button, the holes had shrunk a little so again I took a needle file and some 600 grit wet'n'dry to them to enlarge them a little. I was very careful to always file/sand down into the panel to eliminate any chance of chipping the clearcoat. This clear is designed to handle a stone hitting it at full speed on a car so I might have been being over-cautious, but *shrug* better too careful than not careful enough, right?

Audio, USB and firewire ports fitted

4 screws later and voila, we have a completely reassembled front I/O panel (well front - top - you know what I mean).

Time to take on that Antec Big Boy Fan...

Top panel with Fan fitted

No drama here, dropped the grille into place, and secured it with 4 screws, then clipped the fan in. Done and done. That's the top panel complete.

Top Panel Fitted to Chassis

Another simple step. Carefully fed all the cables through the top panel of the case itself and the panel snaps into place. There are two small screws which secure it, one of which also hold a ground wire to the chassis. Literally a minutes work there. Then pop on the reassembled front panel.

All plastic parts refitted

Again, nice and simple, clip, click, swear loudly, click, 4 screws and done....

Time for some additional cooling...

Rear exhaust fan fitted (internal view)

I bought 3 xigmatek 120mm fans to replace the three blue LED fans fitted as standard by Antec. I only really needed to replace one as it had a broken fin but when I saw these xigmatek's in the store, I bought three instead of just the one.

The rear 120mm exhaust fan simply screwed in with four standard fan screws. It wasn't until the fan was in that I realised just how perfectly it fits in with the orange and grey colour scheme. Common sense would have said it would, being orange and grey, but in place, it looks like it was meant to be - REALLY happy with this....

Rear 120mm exhaust fan (external view)

I may look into replacing the fan screws - I'm fairly sure I have some black ones somewhere but I actually kinda like the contrast to the case. On to the front.

Front of case - 2x 3 HDD caddies fitted

Those fans are SWEET - I LOVE the way they look.

And a final glory shot for tonight - this is about as far as I can go with this right now until I get the second panel and the time to rebuild my main PC in the case.

One rather good looking case, if I do say so myself.

This thing is looking REALLY good. I'm actually seriously buzzing with how it's coming together. I feel like a kid at christmas or something. It's been a LONG hard job finding time and re-doing everything as many times as it took to get it right, but it's really starting to pay off now. I seriously think there's maybe 2-4 hours of work between now, and this being effectively finished!

... but ...

Front 3.5" caddy and card reader

How the hell did I forget to paint these parts???? There is no way they can go in like that - looks like there's going to be one more session with the satin black yet....

And hopefully, the other side panel is going to take a LOT of screws to go together, because right now, I still have all of these left!!!!!

Title

Just cos I'm SO pleased with how this is turning out!!!

[blueonblack]

Wow, looking VERY good, you're right. Excellent paint work, do you do commissions?

[slaveofconvention]

Erm, well lol - there is that whole Atlantic thing ya know

Just been thinkin.... It may have to come apart again heh - the antec big boy fan in the top.... BLUE LEDS I think - not sure - if it is blue - it needs to be changed!!! - The HD Led is definitely blue so that's coming out for sure....

EDIT: I had a lightbulb moment and I need your help guys..... I can't leave the cables the way they are - it's just a great way to take the edge off of a really nice case so.... I want some sleeving. Not just any sleeving though lol - I saw a project log somewhere, at some point (helpful huh) where a guy got sponsored by someone (again not much help) and they sent him a load of black sleeving with an orange fleck in it. I'm not one to go with my hand out - I'll happily buy the stuff - I just need to know where from. If I can't find it, I'll get some mdpc-x black and maybe some orange but I really think that orange flecked black would work an absolute treat!!

[x88x]

Mmm, that does look good. The Xigmatek fans look great on it! I also remember seeing orang-flecked black sleeving somewhere...and no, I can't remember where either. I also remember seeing somewhere some sleeving that was black with some orange threads threaded in, for a really awesome look. ...and no, I can't remember where I saw that either.. I'm so helpful.