My first worklog

[t_ski]

SVC.com has these cheap $20 full-tower cases on clearance, so I picked on up to mount my GT360 rad internally. I thought I'd do my first worklog here, and share my ideas.

First, some before pics for you:



So my goals are this:

1. To open the case up to allow as much airflow as possible
2. To mount my GT360 in this case (not an easy task - I'll explain more later)
3. To try to do my first mod with a theme
4. Use some new techniques that I have not seen before

First mods are:

Adding a 120mm fan mount to the front of the case (replacing the puny 80mm restrcited hole there). Before:



After:



Next, you'll notice another puny 80mm mount on the top rear of the case:



Bye-bye:



And finally for today... Due to the slide-out feature of the motherboard tray, the only fan mount available is a 60mm mount. I don't have a 60mm fan, and the last I knew they were either under-powered or overly-loud:



good-bye to you as well:



The front 120mm fan hole will be left open, and the other two areas cut out today will be filled in with some modder's mesh.

 

[drade]

Wow... Looks like a terrible case! Thats what modding is for I will follow up on this worklog to see how it comes out!

 

[t_ski]

It's not really a bad case, especially since it sells for $20 plus shipping. It's all solid steel construction, so it weighs a lot but it's very strong. It's also got plenty of room, and the whole PSU and 5.25" bay area is partitioned off from the bottom, which should help a lot with controlling heat and airflow.

 

[drade]

It's not really a bad case, especially since it sells for $20 plus shipping. It's all solid steel construction, so it weighs a lot but it's very strong. It's also got plenty of room, and the whole PSU and 5.25" bay area is partitioned off from the bottom, which should help a lot with controlling heat and airflow.

Well for 20$ I guess its as good as it gets.

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

this should be fun to watch, in a good informative way

 

[POGE]

Replace the front panel with a custom plexiglass bezel.

 

[t_ski]

The front bezel is actually slightly transparent. That could make for some nice lighting effects. But in all honesty I think I'll leave it in place (maybe with some new paint) to help cover the rad.

 

[drade]

The front bezel is actually slightly transparent. That could make for some nice lighting effects. But in all honesty I think I'll leave it in place (maybe with some new paint) to help cover the rad.

Good Idea

 

[pt]

not a nice case now, but it will soon be
what are you planning to put above the PSU, where the 80m fan was?

 

[t_ski]

That's going to be filled in with modders mesh. Since I'm going to mount the rad in the top, and the top section is somewhat divided from the bottom, I need to get the air out. One little 80mm isn't going to keep up with three 120's, so I figured the best bet would be to let them push their own air out.

 

[t_ski]

I got up early, so here is the update.

As you can see from the pictures of the front, I have a fan mount created for a 120mm fan. However, the front bezel does not allow much air to move through it. There are just little slots there, and the bottom of the bezel is not open due to the "grab handle."



I need more air!



The next step is to mount the rad in the top. A lot of careful measuring and drawing:



Several hours and several cutting discs later:



As you can see from the pics, the case is not deep enough to contain the radiator by itself. I had to offset the rad forward a little so the back end is inside the case, which still lets the front get covered by the front bezel. SVC did not list the case dimensions on the site, so I was not able to prepare for this. But I think it turned out well. As you can see, I need a small spacer between the rad and the case. I had one made out of plexi, but it's too small. I went to Staples and had them print out the template on 11x17" paper, but for some reason they shrunk the image slightly. Not enough to notice and cause me to think I should measure it, but when it came time to check things out it was about 1/2" too small. I know, I know... Measure twice, cut once....

 

[drade]

Looking good, loving the mount of that rad!

 

[t_ski]

Thanks. I'm thinking of getting one of those black RadGrillz for the top. Gotta get the fund together though.

 

[mikeownage]

thats going to be one very pimped case

 

[drade]

T_ski Paint the front of that friggen case....It makes the whole thing looks like sh!t

 

[Azn Tr14dZ]

This is a worklog, so he's not done with everything yet.

 

[drade]

This is a worklog, so he's not done with everything yet.

I know that.... Giving suggestions is all Im saying.

 

[t_ski]

If you look at the mod I did on the bezel, I almost have to paint it. The only other option would be to sand the marks on the back of the bezel completely smooth and buff it out so the marks don't show.

I did pick up a can of Krylon H2O black paint tonight. Very nice and shiney stuff. Also picked up some weatherstripping to fill the gaps around the rad below the top of the case.

 

[drade]

So T_ski Howd the painting go?

 

[t_ski]

I didn't get to paint the bezel yet. But here's the latest update for y'all:

Man, I just feel like I've got too much crap going on today!!! Aside from starting school and working on this mod, I'm adding a half-bath to my home, plus trying to negotiate a new car purchase (one not going as well as planned either). Still I'm trying to spend as much time as possible getting this mod done while the weather is decent and before things really start getting heavy with schoolwork. So, onto today's progress!

First, my recently aquired modding supplies:

The mentioned weatherstripping, some JB Weld for adding the mesh, the Krylon H2O paint, and some liquid refreshment. (The fan templates again did not print out the right size so I wasn't able to use them. )



These are the #6-32 x 3/8" socket cap screws I plan on using for the grills. I was actually hoping for button head screws, but I can't find them locally. I'll probably add some gloss to these when I get ready to install them.



Here is the top of the case lightly sanded and with a couple quick coats of paint:



And this is the side panel with the two 120mm fans laid out waiting to be cut:



These will have some modder's mesh behind the panel but over the fans. I have an idea that I think is unique for the window on this side that will go above these fans and go far enough to the left to remove the 80mm fan hole seen above them.

Finally since I've had a few remarks on the tooling and my possibly anal organization skills, I present the following:



So yes, I do have a ton of tools. Yes, most of them are well organized. But other than that, I have a terrible time trying to keep my workbench clean! You can see all my packing supplies and some of the stuff I'm trying to sell, as well as boxes for the stuff I normally would be keeping in the house, but now are being stored outside while I renovate the bathroom.

 

[t_ski]

Here's today's update:

I got the top painted as much as I'd like it to be. It's not a perfect finish, but it's very dark and shiny.



Also, here are the two fan holes cut in the side:



The good news for today is that the modder's mesh arrived. Here's a couple shots for you:

Just a mock-up there to see what the sides might look like.

The mesh has a flat black finish on it, so after cutting the pieces to size I hit them with a coat of the gloss black:



To mount the mesh in the back of the chassis and in the mobo tray I decided there's nothing better to use than JB Weld:



That's my leg reflecting in the top of the case!

As Norm always says, you can never have enough clamps!

That's probably all I'll get done for today. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow, but any progress will be posted as usual.

 

[drade]

Very nice!

 

[t_ski]

Thanks. I so want to move into the case now, but I have some more loose ends to tie up.

 

[drade]

Dude its coming to look out great once again, I really like what your doing with it, maybe I will get somone like you to cut some stuff on some cases for my buddy's some day.

 

[t_ski]

Just in case anybody is interested, here is the guy I bought the mesh from:

http://www.xoxideforums.com/sell/71244-modders-mesh.html

Packed it well, and price shipped is as cheap as CrazyPC without shipping.