"Station 6" first modd

[GuavaSauce]

Good day!!! this will be the start of my first case mod. the name comes from what a pal and i say when its time to go home, " heading to station 6". readily fueled on monsters and ding-dongs, ive already put some work in on the frame. the blue prints are spread across some paper and in my head, so sorry no foreshadowing. pictures will come soon.

Parts: MSI Xpower BB
i7 920 @ 4.2
12gb G.Skill PI mem w/fan (must be modded)
1 xfx 7970
Creative titanium fatality pro sound card (something or other)
TT tough power 700
2x 300gb raptor raid 0
4 60gb SSD's
2x MCR420 rads
MCP 655b
EK supreme HF
1x EK full cover gpu block
8x Yate Loon hi speed
8 port fan controller
odd 1/2 id comp fittings and tube
30' aluminum angle, 2x 36"x36" sheet aluminum
dremel, speed square, file, and mapp tourch.

these items took me a while to aquire due to my budget (wife) but now that i have it, the building begins. also, there are a couple things im still looking at, so ill add them as they come. cig time, pics to follow.

 

[MT Alex]

Great looking set of parts, and welcome to TPU

And, no offense, but I have been waiting to use this pic since I found it

 

[GuavaSauce]

That pic is completely awesome!

 

[GuavaSauce]

ok, i took a quick break for pics and panda express.

some of the stock peices and some done ones. no big deal.

heres the base of the frame, its gonna be 22x11x20 (lxwxh) 2 more of these to make.

some of my handy machining work done with a dremel, file and a square.

here is a bead (blob) i need to fix. it cracked while evening up the slots for the supports. notice, the corners are cut for the supports in this pic. and yes, that is an ammo can.

a lesson learned, im going to cut the slots before brazing the box. its going to make things a bit easier i think.

 

[GuavaSauce]

ok so, between forgetting, then remembering that i dont really like playing MoH a couple of times, i have a bit more.

but first, these items keep dumb people like me with 10 fingers and both eyes.

.....too bad i wasnt wearing shoes or socks.......ill learn one day.

and now a slight tale in picture format:

and this:

dont mind the holes in my shiftey braze job......i remember steel being much easier, and i just figured aluminum would be too......oh well.

see, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade, and offer him some. and when he goes for it, splash it in his eyes then kick his ass!!!

tomorrow im off to wally world for some "mill it, drill it, grind it". it will fix 'er up, and fill another idea i have anyway.

 

[GuavaSauce]

ok, so its been a rough 2 weeks, and next week is gonna be worse. im in the middle of teaching a class on MK154 (USMC) and will have some time this weekend to post you guys up.

verbal update: the first box snapped durring drilling, NO BIG deal though, i already made a new one and am re-fitting the panels.



not dead!!!!!

 

[GuavaSauce]

OK back from my time in HADES!!!!!!

things were coming left and right these past couple weeks, but it all pays off when 1750lbs of c4 goes off 60 meters from you.

so heres a short update, the original frame has since failed and surely felt some wrath...jk i salvaged some of it. but i made a whole new one with the same numbers so the panels would still fit (and they do). also, ive been able to coax the machine shop at work into cutting my last set of panels on the water jet so as soon as thats done and in my hand, ill tap and mount some things and get some picks in here.

 

[JrRacinFan]

**Subscribed**

Will be watching this thread! Keep up the good work!

 

[GuavaSauce]

ok update time. where im sitting right now, im waiting on another sheet of aluminum to finish the mobo tray and the top hatch. after that, its just cuts, and mounting.

heres the cut out i made for to bolt the rads to, its gonna sit on top.

heres 3 angles of the new frame i made, with a psu cut out in the back and with the top sitting on.

 

[mATrIxLord]

sub'ed.... this build is looking really good... keep the good work up..

 

[GuavaSauce]

UPDATE!!!!!!

so, here is a couple pics of my paint shop and a couple of the pieces. my paint shop is pretty pro, at least, thats what the pros tell me........... also, i have some more parts coming in to add to the glory that this might be (if i dont dick it up). im pretty sure ive decided the colors, and the lay out of things. as niticed below, the i/o shield came in today so i got to work and made the cut out for it and lined it up to the mobo tray. everything there is solid, now im going to start work on the actual cut outs and fits for the tray itself.
(bottom panel)

(rear i/o with psu)

and heres a couple of the top rad mount area, its painted, but not in these photos.

 

[PhysXerror]

Looking good dude, Subbed!

 

[GuavaSauce]

thank you!!!

gonna try and do as much as i can this week cause i have to take off for two weeks on sat, but everything i ordered should be here when i get back, so it "SHOULD" be just mounting and painting. (and a little water jet action)

 

[GuavaSauce]

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! update time.............
ok, so right here we have the divider i made for the top 8 fans. i figured, why have a 8 channel FC if its not gonna matter if i turn up on bank or not? so.....its mounted and meshed up with the front and rear panel, now i just need to trim and fit the "hoods", cut the fan holes, and attach with the cool hinges i got.

notes: im not gonna mount the front panel till i have the lexan and cut out done on it, as with the mobo tray, the stand offs are drilled, tapped and match up, but i need to fully finalize the lay out before i fully commit. still kinda shooting from the hip on things.........i HATE plans.

And here is one with a hoods (unfitted) for imagination purpose.

 

[MT Alex]

Things are starting to shape up nicely. The sanded aluminum looks nice, reminds me of a Delorean. Did you use the old blocks and claps method to bend your hoods?

 

[silkstone]

looka good - subbed

 

[GuavaSauce]

@Alex- no, i have a 30" brake bender, and im glad i did cause bending the sheet was actuall kind of tough. almost pulled the mounting bolts through the table i have it sitting on lol.

 

[GuavaSauce]

here we go again!!!

for this update, im showing what ive done with the hoods that mount over the radiator area. i dont have the spring hinges on yet, that will be this week though.

here, the fan screw holes are already drilled, and im using a old fan shroud as a template to trace and cut.

this is an example of what the gods eat. daily. if they dont, theyre wrong. best tuna ive ever had.

here we have the crude opening cut with ye' ole dremel tool. very rough and need some file action.

and now a mock up of what its gonna (baring murphy's law) look like when its done. dont mind the gap in the middle of the two, they fit nice and snug, just sitting there right now though.

enjoy.

ps- dont seem to get too many comments, do i smell funny?

 

[MT Alex]

It's pretty easy for threads to slip through the cracks when they aren't bumped during prime hours. I know that I usually only hit the New Posts button, and don't sift through all the categories unless I'm hunting for something.

Don't get discouraged, I'm sure many people look but don't post. Nice work, by the way

 

[Altered]

I just get sick looking in the case modding. I pretty much F up when I try something like this. I want it to look like most of you guys and it actually looks like crap. So its depressing.

As usual Nice work! Wish I could get one to look like I picture it in my head.

 

[GuavaSauce]

alex im not getting discouraged, im just clowning around!!! thanks though.

Altered, if i have a dime for every time i dorked something up on this build alone, i would have dual 6970's instead of 5870's.
i guess you just need to take it slow and see what you can and cant do to make things happen. a single hoods alone took me 3 hours from a bent piece of aluminum to a matched up, cut and holed item, and its still not done. i even take out the old hacksaw if i feel i need to be more precise on something. vise grips and a steel speed square for straight lines works wonders, and a dremel works better in multi pass cuts if you ask me. ive been working on this thing for a couple months now and its still got a ways to go. feel free to chat me up and ill assist you if possible, however, im far from a metal worker, and really getting lucky flying by the seat of my pants.

 

[GuavaSauce]

Hey peeps!!! got a few more pictures to show off now that the BF3 beta is over. i still got a couple things done during it, but not nearly enough lol. so....;


what we have first is an end to those UGLY rivet heads on the outside of the case. they really bugged me, and i had to get rid of them.
here we have the rivet recessed into the panel. all i did was head to home depot for a wood dowel bit, it has a nice flat face to work with and a collar for depth.

after i re-posted them, i used a dremel grinding head to clean off anything poking over hole level, and filled it in with good ole JB.

now, after it hardend, i took it back down level with a grinder, and there it is. LOOK MOM, NO MORE RIVETS!!!!

i also put in some work on the front panel. its almost ready to be painted but i have to wait to mount the mobo tray to do so. no biggy though, its gonna be done here next weekend and everything will be primered, mounted, and ready for final coat/components.

you can see a couple spots where i got too busey with the dremel and over cut. no worries, JB fixed that too, cant really tell from the pics though. but it will really shine when i airbrush it.
till next weekend, stay classy san diego!!

 

[alexsubri]

Looks amazing! Can't wait to see it finished

 

[GuavaSauce]

haha you and me both my friend!!!

 

[GuavaSauce]

AND AGAIN!!!!!!!! update time!!!!!!

what ive been up to now is fitting the mobo tray in and making the cuts for the perminent cable extensions that are going to mount to the backing. the 24,8, and four 6 pin extensions are going to snap in and run to the mobo, and the rear of them will poke out the backing for the psu wires to plug into. this makes it clean, and still swap-able.

also, if you can see it, there is some hole on the right side, those are going to be for the res, HDD's and a supplimentale PSU mounts.

also, i have the holes drilled in the hoods to mount to the hinges in the top....which the hinges are also mounted. lol.
i need to trim back the inner area of the hinges though, so they dont mash up with the fans. this is what happens when you shoot from the hip.

note: i only had 2 nuts/bolts to spare for the pictures, so both hoods couldnt be mounted. but they are going to get ninja mounted anyway so no need for extra bolts.