[repo_man]

Ok, after checking out all the amazing build logs and mod threads here I got bit by the mod bug

and decided to mod my case. The story of the whole thing is my tech savvy friend was in the electronic junkyard around here grabbing misc parts and found this comp. An HP Pavillion a462x (same as in the sig) and grabbed it. All it needed was a new HDD and it was back up and running.

I bought it off him for a new rig when I go move out to another college this year. Tuned it up and got it running great, etc. But the case....mant he case,lmao. It had BOOTPRINT in the side (yea, like Timberland, a bootprint

) misc dents/scratches, and for some reason, holes in the side panel (like drill holes?! ***) I dont have a shot before all the mods sorry, but heres what it looked like (plus a bootprint/dents/holes)

First Mod: Cold Cathodes + 80mm blue led fan.
I had a set of these lights from a stereo build in my truck last year I wasnt using soI figured why not,lol. Spliced a molex connector onto them and set them in. The fan was donated by above said tech friend. I put it in the front over the HDD cage. The hole where it is was originally a media reader+floppy drive (reader was broke and I didnt want the floppy) I zip-tied it to the bottom cd-rom drive and the front of the case. Makes a nice push/pull setup with the rear exhaust fan.

You cant really see the fan now, looking at the pics. But in the second one you can see the glow from it,lol. You'll see the fan in later pics.

More mod's being typed now

 

[repo_man]

NOTE: These pics were took with my 2megapixel camera phone, so bear with the resolution and blur on some pics,LMAO.


Next mod: Cable management

I originally just did the cable management. I had just found OCN and seen how good it looks, so I re-ran the wires. Then I read the mod's forum and decided I wanted to paint as well,lmao. So I ended up re-running the wires again after paint. Heres pics of the first cable management.

Cable Management V.1

^^Here you can see that led fan in the front, it was actually just sitting on top of the HDD in these pics, I had took the zip ties out to remove it for paint. Also you can see the cathodes I had taped in, I was still deciding where exactly to put them at this point so I temporarily mounted them in a few places.

 

[repo_man]

Window time!

Everybody had all the sweet windows and stuff, dangit, my junkyard desktop needed one too! LOL, I dont have a pic of the before or during process ( I have this bad tendency to take pics AFTER I'm done if you havent noticed,lmao.) but Heres the final product. I drew out a tribal on the panel, got out my jigsaw with a metal bit and cut it out. I could have planned a little better and made some of the turns less sharp, the jigsw wouldnt make some of them. I still need to file down the rough edges, but this is a backyard build, so I wasnt expecting to come out this good to even start with,lmao. Alas, I read/seen the 'magic' tape after I had done this, so it has screws holding the plexi in. Wish I could have seen that earlier, but hey, you live and learn. Its my first build!

Also: The drill holes you see in the bottom half of the design were put there because of the holes that were previously mentioned to be in the case. I just drilled a few more and made it a side vent *shrugs*

 

[repo_man]

Paint!
Another Cable management?!
Etching!
Oh my!

Lol, as previously mentioned, I re-ran the wires after paint just cleaned up a few extra things here and there. Also the etching in the side was done yesterday (after I had painted it) but I neglected to take pics of the finished (or during for that matter) paint until yesterday when I did the etching. So I'll just throw all of this in together,lol.

I primed the case and all the parts first. Then added 3 coats of gloss white to the inside, 3 coats of gloss black to the outside, and 2 light coats of silver metallic over the black. The silver flake gave it a real nice kind of silver kandy over the black (looks spotty in the pics, but its pretty even) but it flattened it out. I need a few coats of clear to really bring it out, but it gave the desired effect.

Here you can see the white inside and the other cable management. Also, theres a good shot of the LED fan in the front pulling in fresh air.

^Excuse the fingerprints on top,lol. Made the flake look spotty as hell, but its not.

^Now theres the only good shot I got of the flake and how good it looks,lmao.

Seeing how the rig was saved from the junkyard, I thought a recycle symbol would be fitting of the window,lol. It didnt come out as good as I wanted (shaky hands+rotozip =

) but it looks decent. After looking at it, I wish I would have just taped off the stencil, and sanded it so the whole thing would have glowed, oh well. It does give a real nice glow however. OH, I had to move the cathodes, one died so I mounted the other over the top of the window on the side panel. It had just enough room between the door and the side of the PSU. It makes the whole window glow, isnt seen now, and just gives a better overall lighting effect imo.

 

[Perry]

Not bad for a recycle bin reject.

I've been wanting to change my case up a bit but I don't really have the time...or materials...or patience...or talent.

...I never want to change my case.

 

[repo_man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perry Not bad for a recycle bin reject. I've been wanting to change my case up a bit but I don't really have the time...or materials...or patience...or talent. ...I never want to change my case.

Thanks! Yea recycle alright, I think this ENTIRE build (so far) has only cost ~$3 for the paint I used. Everything else I had laying around,lmao.

 

[Run N. Gun]

Excellent job and you can't beat the cost! + Rep

 

[Penicilyn]

Nice work there, too bad it's an HP.

 

[repo_man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Run N. Gun Excellent job and you can't beat the cost! + Rep

That means alot from you Run N Gun! I've been drooling over your antec build log all week!

 

[repo_man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penicilyn Nice work there, too bad it's an HP.

At least its not a Dell,lmao. It runs great though, I hope to upgrade it peice by peice until its a new rig,lol.

 

[mtbiker033]

good job! looks really nice!

 

[pbpenguins412]

Great work, very impressive.

 

[repo_man]

^^Thanks as well. If anyone has some suggestions, feel free to drop them here. Im not done with this by any means. Until I get the $$$ for an Antec 900 (yea, Im such a follower,lmao) I'll keep tweking this case, its not like its costing me and arm and a leg,LOL.

 

[CyberDruid]

Good Work man...saved another life.

 

[Syrillian]

Grrr... boot print...

Perhaps some Fool does not know the difference between a step-stool and a computer...

I am glad that you rescued that system. You did a great job.

There is really something to be said about resurecting older cases and/or hardware, and that something would be, "BUYAH!"

+

 

[repo_man]

Druid and Syrillian, thanks guys! Means alot! Syrillian, hell yea, I mean it was just all on the side like the dropped the leg hulk hogan style on it,LOL. Buyah, and Oh yea bruther ! Lmao

 

[thriller]

i think the only upgrade u can do to that system is a new GPU, i had a MX440 once and i still hate it (sits in family comp). after i new gpu i call save all money for new rig

 

[Bal3Wolf]

nice man lol to bad i dont have the tools id do more to my antec 900 all i did was drill some holes to hide my wires.

 

[davek]

Very nice and original. Best looking HP i've ever seen. I like the design you cut for the window lots, and the recycling symbol cool.

 

[repo_man]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thriller i think the only upgrade u can do to that system is a new GPU, i had a MX440 once and i still hate it (sits in family comp). after i new gpu i call save all money for new rig

Yea, I agree. Its better than a stock one I guess *sigh* Lol, I want to start peicing together money for a new cpu/mobo/ram upgrade first then a graphics card/powersupply/case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davek Very nice and original. Best looking HP i've ever seen. I like the design you cut for the window lots, and the recycling symbol cool.

Thanks! I hand drew the window tribal, came out alot better than I was expecting to have cut it out with a jigsaw,lol.