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Antec P183 Case Revival [Build Log]

24K views 205 replies 9 participants last post by  rathborne 
#1 ·
Antec P183 Case Revival [Build Log]

Hey everyone, i thought i would share my case mod progress, i have been work on for about a months time, my goal is to transform my Antec P183 case into the into the case Antec should have made + plus i'll add some of my own touches to it along the way.



The case is a 4 year old Antec P183 v3 which i have used the past 4 years, but i have grown tired of its ugly grey'ish internal paint job and the lack of a side window. So when i recently upgraded my pc i thought about getting a new case, but i liked the look/design of the Antec P18x series cases, so i thought i would overhaul the case i have and i do it the way i would want it, which is black with white highlights abit like Fractal's cases.

My inspiration to do this mod came from watching this modded Antec P182 case



My hardware:
Intel I5 4670K I7 4790K with a Corsair H100I GTX, Asus ROG Maximus VII Ranger Z97, Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 Gaming, HyperX Fury 2x 8 GB 1866 mhz, Samsung 840 Evo 256 GB SSD, Intel 180 GB SSD, WD 1TB Black, Antec TruePower new 650w EVGA SuperNova 750 G2, Dell U2515H 25" 2560x1440, and a bunch of Noctua NF (S12 FLX, P12 and F12) fans.

This is what my current pc solution looks like for the foreseeable future while i work on/off on my modding project



The mod it self:

Mods done before i decided to make a build log for it:
I have cut a hole in the top of the case, to allow for a 240mm AIO cooler to be installed. And removed the stock fan grills covering the the fan intake and exit, and cut the mid level harddrive cage to allow for the very long GTX 970 G1 it is about 30 cm long to be installed, that more or less the stuff i have done already.

Here i have stripped the case down to bare metal And prepared it for paint by sanding it down.




Later i had the idea to cut away the mid level floor to improve airflow through the case, so i chose to go with a Phobya Hex 280mm radiator fan grill to put instead of the current floor.




With that done it is time to work on the Corsair H100I GTX's radiator mount, i chose to raise the it up by cutting out two 1,2 cm plates of MDF (but made 3 in case i wanted to do push/pul) to get the radiator clear of the motherboard, as the Antec P183 was made before the trend of AIO watercoolers, meaning it has zero support for a 240mm radiator, so i had to make that myself.




Then it was time to paint, because it was cold 6*c outside i preheated my spray can by putting it into a bucket with hot water in, then i gave it a coat of primer waited 2 hours, and then two coats of matt black with 1 hours in between. Painted the PCI-E slot covers and the harddrive cages at the same time.





Radiator test fit - It fits nicely
smile.gif




While the paint was drying i made a window in the sidepanel, using some smoked acrylic glass, i will be painting the silver mounting screws black at some point.





Also painted the mid level fan grill black 'n white to suit my build.



I finally got the MDF top toppanel radiator mount glued together, now it needs to dry and then i can sand to down so it will looks good, and i will have to figure out how to mount it to the case.



This is all for now, i'll update the thread once i make some more progress, but it could be a while as school exams are coming up soon...
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#4 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by TGBM View Post

It looks really nice! What paint did you use to paint the case? I am looking to do some custom paint on my next build and not really sure what to as far as paint or preparing it goes.

TGBM
Thanks, i first lightly sanded all of the surface i would be painting, then i cleaned it very well with rubbing alcohol, then i sprayed a coat of Motip Primer (automotive), then i let it dry and then sprayed 1 coat of Motip Matt Black (automotive) on and let it dry and then i spray the second coat of black on and let it dry.

As for the white it was a cheap Dupli Color glossy white, which i regretted using it which a paint to work with.

You want to take your time and do a good job of prepping the case, and then maybe watch a few youtube videos on how to use the right spray technics and practice, remember to do light coats or else it will run and look bad.

Good luck with your project
smile.gif


Edit. remember the outside temperature plays a big role too, a warm 25*c 'ish paint sprays better then cold does.
 
#5 ·
So it took a long time to paint, but i think the result speaks for itself
biggrin.gif
Black Noctua's look so much better than that ugly beige - i don't know why i didn't do this years ago.

I painted it black with a black permanent marker, think i nearly used it up, so i need to get some more of them, but it was from Tiger (the store) so they should be cheap enough
wink.gif




Only 8 to go, 4x NF S12B FLX, 3x NF F12 and 1 NF P12 left to do, but not sure all will be used though.
 
#6 ·
I have made some more progress on the toppanel, so now it is all but finished, i still need to get some screws that are long enough to mount it with, but then it is going to be painted black.

I made a curve at the panels front facing side to match the sidewindows angles, i think i did okay but i ran out of patience with it, so it might look a abit rough with some flatspots.





I'll update again once i have made some more progress.
 
#7 ·
I'm abit thorn on whether or not to buy cable some white Bitfenix cable extension kits for the 24-pin, 6-pin and 8-pin PCI-E and leave it at that, or sleeve my psu's cables myself.

Saw a few videos of some guys sleeving their psu cables using paracord which looked pretty easy to do, so i'm think about doing a one of these two types of color themes, but i can't decide on which i like the most.

I would just get 3x 30 m paracord ropes from Ebay at around 4 pounds.


or


Which one do you guys think would suit my build best, or do you have a third idea?
 
#9 ·
Heh yeah everyone is saying it time consuming, but then again it is alot cheaper than getting some custom made cables
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The blue wouldn't really work here though i like the look of blue cables, but it doesn't match the red and black on Asus ROG Maximus Ranger mobo i have in my system. I'm leaning toward the black/grey/red theme, but it is always good to get a second opinion on things
wink.gif
 
#11 ·
Yea at first i wanted white cables, but now i think this black/gray/red theme is the best, as the mobo also have a red led line around the sound chip. I have also been toying with the idea of having red light in the basement of the case again and white light down from the top.

I used to have this lighting before i decided to upgrade my case.

 
#12 ·
I got to thinking that it would look better if i ditched my current round holed top fan grill and got a Phobya hexx grill like the one i have at the center floor and then paint it to match the other one, meaning black frame and white mesh.

"Only got the round holed fan grill because it was dirt cheap, whereas the other one was and is a few time more expensive."

Which one would you guys choose ?

My current: (Phobya radiator grill dual (240) - Hole Series)

38265.jpg


The one i want to get: (Phobya radiator grill dual (240) - HEXX Series)

38064.jpg

---
Im going to paint the top wood plate i showed in one of the last post tonight, i got the screws i was waiting for so i could get it mounted to case.

I'll update on it once the painting is completed.
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear304 View Post

I got to thinking that it would look better if i ditched my current round holed top fan grill and got a Phobya hexx grill like the one i have at the center floor and then paint it to match the other one, meaning black frame and white mesh.

"Only got the round holed fan grill because it was dirt cheap, whereas the other one was and is a few time more expensive."

Which one would you guys choose ?

My current: (Phobya radiator grill dual (240) - Hole Series)

38265.jpg


The one i want to get: (Phobya radiator grill dual (240) - HEXX Series)

38064.jpg

---
Im going to paint the top wood plate i showed in one of the last post tonight, i got the screws i was waiting for so i could get it mounted to case.

I'll update on it once the painting is completed.
I would definitely choose the latter. It looks like it has less total surface area, which increases airflow. I imagine it would be better on noise as well.
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saiyamoto View Post

I would definitely choose the latter. It looks like it has less total surface area, which increases airflow. I imagine it would be better on noise as well.
I came to same conclusion about the airflow and noise being worse, it is one of the reasons i want to get the other one.

Good thing the holed version has the same 6 mounting screws as the hexx version, so it is an easy swap.

Might as well order it now, as the holed version don't fit into the theme anymore.
 
#15 ·
Got the new fan grill today and have now painted it to match the other one. I also got the my top panel painted black, so things are progressing, but it is slow as i'm really busy with the studies coming to an end soon, but i did mange to do this in the last couple of days.

Here is the old holed fangrill and the Hexx grill on the toppanel.




More to come once i get some more time to work on it.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear304 View Post

Got the new fan grill today and have now painted it to match the other one. I also got the my top panel painted black, so things are progressing, but it is slow as i'm really busy with the studies coming to an end soon, but i did mange to do this in the last couple of days.

Here is the old holed fangrill and the Hexx grill on the toppanel.




More to come once i get some more time to work on it.
I know what you mean man. Finals week gets rough. It's comin along for sure though. I really like the way that new grill looks!
 
#17 ·
This is awesome!

Like the work you've done to the case
smile.gif
. Nice to see other Antec P18x case owners bring the case up-to-date.

I've been working on a similar mod to an Antec P180 and am up to the sanding/cleaning phase now.

What rubbing alcohol did you end up using? I've heard some people just use mentholated spirits for the job.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saiyamoto View Post

I know what you mean man. Finals week gets rough. It's comin along for sure though. I really like the way that new grill looks!
Thanks mate
smile.gif

Quote:
Originally Posted by rathborne View Post

This is awesome!

Like the work you've done to the case
smile.gif
. Nice to see other Antec P18x case owners bring the case up-to-date.

I've been working on a similar mod to an Antec P180 and am up to the sanding/cleaning phase now.

What rubbing alcohol did you end up using? I've heard some people just use mentholated spirits for the job.
Thanks
smile.gif


The Antec P180 is a nice case, i used to have a P180 Mini, but i wanted the benefits of full ATX so had to get a bigger case, though i wanted the P182 i could only get a P183 at the time. But likewise it is good to hear i'm not the only one keeping this series of cases alive
biggrin.gif


Well i didn't per say use rubbing alcohol i used something very similar to it, some discbrake cleaner i use on my MTB's brakes, but i would have otherwise used some denatured ethyl alcohol 93% household alcohol (basically the same as you suggested) on a piece of paper towel, just watch out for the fiber of the cut pieces of paper towels (if you have air-compressor that make it alot easier to get the case clean), as it would suck to paint over some of those fibers by mistake and have to do touch ups on it afterwards, i did that a places as a was in a hurry, but it was really easy to fix.
 
#19 ·
Cool, I'll give the metho a try and see how I go.

Currently scraping off the old left overs of the adhesive used for the top plastic panel and various anti-vibration pads... I'm sure you enjoyed that time-consuming task
biggrin.gif
.

I'm guessing you spent a while on the net looking at how-to guides for painting?

Any guides that you found most relevant or followed more closely than others?
 
#20 ·
That glue was i nightmare to get off, barely nothing could soften it
biggrin.gif


Yes i saw a few videos on the subject, i found this guy (DIY AutoSchool) to be pretty good, i got alot of tips from him.

But the best tip i got was to preheat the spray can if it is cold outside, like below 20*c, that allowed me to paint my case while it was only 6*c outside, by preheat i mean putting the spray can into a bucket of warm water so some of the cans side is under water and then wait a few min for it to heat up.

But beware is his pretty direct, so if you can get around all of his bull**** then you'll learn alot from him, atleast i did
wink.gif

 
#21 ·
Ha ha, yeah, no kidding with the "pretty direct" observation
biggrin.gif
.

These are the videos I've watched while preparing for the task.

I'll put them in spoiler tag to keep this post looking like a wall of Youtube videos
smile.gif
.


I'm pretty sure I won't be going as detailed as the 4-part guide from Tony D outlines but there's still some good bits of information that I'll be keeping in mind.
 
#22 ·
I really can't believe that that guy in the 'Super easy case painting guide' didn't fully prep his surface with some kind of rubbing alcohol, he just used a rack... If you follow him like he does in the video it will most likely look bad and the paint won't stick as well, as prep work is everything when it goes to painting.

But besides him being sloppy, then it is some useful videos, if you already know the do's and don't's. I have already seen a few of the videos before.

The 10 thicks are really good, i'll have to remember those for next time
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#23 ·
I know it has been awhile since my last work related post, but i've been really stressed about school, bearly got anything done not enough to be worth posting about.

But i have decided to upgrade my CPU from my current I5 4670K to a I7 4790K, it's an equal partner to my overclocked GTX 970 G1
tongue.gif
I'm also looking into getting a younger PSU, as it would be silly to mod a 5 year old PSU, i have my eye on a used Corsair RM 650 and then i'll get a set of black 'n white cables from CableMod for it.
smile.gif


Also bought my first mechanical keyboard, the Corsair K70 RGB, but really didn't like that one bit very weird layout, so got a Logitech G710+ and i'm loving it.
biggrin.gif


I'll update when i can, the next things to get done is minor stuff like the filing down the mounting screws for the fangrills, and painting the screws and the rear fangrill stuff that easily done. And then when/if i get the Corsair RM650 i can move on to assembly, but every last bit needs to be done for that, oh there is also the issue of white, blue or red LED lighting that needs to be sorted out.

At some point this project will be done, i can't wait for that day when i close the sidepanel and call it done.
biggrin.gif
 
#24 ·
I choose not to go for the used Corsair RM 650, as i could not get the deal i wanted to from the seller of it. So i had a rethink and looked at some review sites, and got my head blown when i saw the EVGA SuperNova 750 G2, outscoring everything in it's class, so i had to have that, also i can get a set of CableMod cables for it, the black 'n white kit - even-though the PSU comes with outstanding black sleeved cables that look really good. And to top it all of the EVGA comes with a 10 year warranty, yes 10 years, it is insane
biggrin.gif


Here is a test fit with the EVGA SuperNova 750 G2 installed in the case, it looks right at home already
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Build is progressing, just not as fast as i would like, but it'll get done soon®
 
#25 ·
Looking good
smile.gif
.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear304 View Post

Build is progressing, just not as fast as i would like, but it'll get done soon®
Yeah, thinking the same with my P180 mod
biggrin.gif
.
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by rathborne View Post

Looking good
smile.gif
.
Yeah, thinking the same with my P180 mod
biggrin.gif
.
Thanks
smile.gif
- how far are you in your P180 project ?
 
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