Project: Red Comet

[SXRguyinMA]

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 to the Littleton, Co. page about Red Comet.

Red Comet Fire Grenade

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

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.

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.

I marked the part for the rear i/o panel

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

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.

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.

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.

[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.

and a link with a bunch of neat pics:

http://www.oldfirestuff.com/VintageR...itexcelent.htm

[Luthien]

The whole Red Comet thing is awesome. I love retro stuff.

[TheGreatSatan]

You make quick work of it!

[OvRiDe]

Very cool. When I saw grenade, it sounded like something you would throw at a fire, but after looking over it.. its like a precursor to modern fire sprinklers. Neato!

[msmrx57]

Very kewl find. Nice use of an old case. As far as an optical, would there be room on the hinged portion next to the hhd?

[Oneslowz28]

This is very cool!

[SXRguyinMA]

Originally Posted by msmrx57

Very kewl find. Nice use of an old case. As far as an optical, would there be room on the hinged portion next to the hhd?

well where the HDD is sitting in the pic isn't where it's going to be. It will actually be on the hinged part with the handle. I may be able to mount the ODD next to it there, we'll see how the space thing works out.

[slaveofconvention]

You could consider mounting a laptop optical drive below the motherboard - you'd just need some slightly longer standoffs to raise the board up 2/3 of an inch. It might be tight but you should be able to get a power and data cable up past the edge of the board...