chris_robb

Revision 2:

Due to requests, I've redone this, added ore pictures, and a step-by-step of how I did it. Hopefully some of you can make the most of it and give it a try yourselves

So, I wanted a break from work today and got round to making my dvd drive stealthy like I'd been intending on doing for a while.
I always thought CD/DVD were a bit of an eyesore on the front of any case better than the standard offerings.

Here's the before photo, I was also checking I actually had enough clearance at the back to have the drive sitting recessed from the front to allow enough clearance for the stock grill to go back on in front of it:



Plenty of room as you can see.

And after some fiddling about and thinking, I decided the easiest way to do it would be simply to bend back the original hooks on one of the covers, and attach a flat plate to the back (which will then be attached to the front of the drive slot).

This is the original panel that came with the case. On this I bent the sides (that held it in place and clipped onto the case normally) inwards such that they clearedthe edges of the case and could slide freely in and out, these edges also become a perfect mounting edge for later on (You'll understand with the next few pics if you don't now):



I then decided that to hide the drive better, I cut a pice of felt that I found lying around to slide behing the panel (it also has a foam piece, which I left in, and just put this felt piece behind). The foam was held in using bent back pices of the panel, so I just bent them out then pushed them back in again over the felt as such:








The next step is to find an ordinary household ruler, and cut it to size to fit between the edges that I previously bent inwards on the panel, I then sprayed the front of it black just to match the rest of the case - I only needed to do one side seeing as it was clear:





This piece I then glued between the edges like so (You can use any decent contact adhesive - Araldite being my choice as per usual seeing as it's never let me down, but I'm sure super glue would suffice too):





The next (and final) step is simply to affix some double sided tape along the front of the drive bay slot (only the part that comes out!), then push the newly made panel onto it firmly, this assures perfect alignment with the other panels. The double-sided tape will have a slight thickness to it, even if only 1 or 2mm, it's enough to make the rest of the ruler clear the eject button. When you puch on the lower right of the facia, the drive should eject (I don't have to puch any harder than I would normally push an eject button ) and you can then push the ruler firmly against the front of the drive and make sure it is all properly stuck down. That's it all finished, a stealthy CD/DVD drive using only some basic stationary, glue, tape, and about a half hour of your time at most


So, the after pictures:














Turned out as well as I expected it to, and was very simple to do. Definately worthwhile hiding ugly facia's for drives! It's a nice day outside for a change hence the glare.

Next step is to rebuild the front of a Zalman MFC-1 fan controller in the same way, pics will no doubt appear when that happens too

If any of you have an RC690 and want to do the same, I really would recommend it for such little hassle, it makes a huge difference. All that is needed is some basic stationary (Ruler), some contact adhesive, some common sense, and about 15,20 minutes of your time.

Hope you enjoyed the read.
Chris

KinZee

1 question... How do you open the drive??? A relocated button?

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chris_robb

Hi KinZee,
I simply push on the panel and the drive opens.
There's a piece stuck onto the panel itself that protrudes backwards, and when you push on the panel (as lightly as you would puch the eject button normally) it pushes the eject button on the drive itself, and the whole lot comes out, then just push it a bit to get it to pull itself back in again.
I've actually just figured out an even simpler way of doing it using only a ruler so i'll re-do it tommorrow at some point, if you want more pictures describing it, let me know

Chris.

KinZee

Sounds cool... I had planned on doing a flush mount drive this weekend with a remote switch, but I think Im gonna do it this way now. Thanks!

Will post pics...

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GA State OC'ers :: We are the RED Tide :: RocketFish Case Club

3DMark06 = 11,520

FOR SALE: Zalman 9500CNPS for $25 Shipped

CatTech

That looks great, nice job there!

Zikofski

Fantastic job i may do this myself with my Antec 900 looks dogie all grilled front then 3 dvd drives sticking out in which only one is true black rest looks more blue anyone noticed that as well with dvd drives ?

rublik

nice

please post more pics

thanks

chris_robb

Hi Rublik, I've added more pictures, both of how I actually did it, and also some extra one's of after too - I know you can see the "corky" coloured back to the felt in the pictuure, but you never see it when it's on, because nobody really looks at their computer from that angle anyway, but I included it to give an idea of how it went together.

Thanks for all the comments, makes me more inclined to upload more in future

Cheers,
Chris

slumpack

Nice and clean mod, but one question, how do you secure the Drive itself ?? using screws ? if so, you left the drive latch in unlock position ?

Thanks

chris_robb

Hi SLumpack,
Yes the "drive latch" (If your referring to the latches on the RC690) is left unlocked, however this was a small sacrifice after the external of the case looking much more "refined". It his however secured with screws (It just so happened that there were holes on the drive that aligned perfectly with mounting holes on the case).
If it's really a probelm with the latch sticking out a few mm, then the latch could be completely removed easily by simpy puching in the two pins on either side that hold it in, but I personally left it in as it is barely noticible.
Cheers,
Chris.