[kishagi]

Hello Everybody,

As the title says, this is my first Case Mod and I hope it goes better than my first build log.

I already started and to tell the truth its already nearing completion. I started on December 26th 2012, one day before i had to go to Jamaica on a vacation. So yea lets begin!

Parts Involved: Ill probably post pics later

AMD Athlon II x3 450
Gigabyte GA 880GM D2H
Kingston Hyper X Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 CPU Cooler
XFX Radeon HD 5670 - Gave to a friend; I saw his XFX Geforce 9600 GSO had popped caps
Topower Nano 500w
iCan MB-655 uATX tower
A variety of fans
HP IDE DVD RW +/- Drive
Samsung Spinpoint 80GB IDE Drive - Has Windows XP 32-Bit from older AMD Socket A PC
Western Digital Caviar 40GB IDE Drive
Maxtor 250GB IDE Drive

This build is for my dad who has no Idea how to use the internet, and really only needs a media box for Netflix.

So heres the original case for now:








To be continued

5 Months later:








So thats essentially the case shell, Ill be back tomorrow probably to post the premod plans

EDIT: 7 months later...

 

[kishagi]

Yea sorry bout that 7 month gap. This mod is currently paused until i find a tool to cut acrylic/ plexiglass Anyways here is what I went on to do and screw up... Remember kids, HAVE THE FREAKING PROPER TOOLS WITH YOU BEFORE YOU BEGIN A FREAKING MOD!!!










Heres where I should have stopped. If only I had though of building a server earlier! But instead it was my Dad pc, which he couldnt use to save his life (not trying to be offensive but its the truth).
I believe I was planning to shorten the HDD rack to put in a 120mm fan in the front. as well as put in as many left over fans as I could.

But Im glad I put in those cable management holes in the mobo tray.









I was planning to cut the hole out with my Rotary tool (Got it for christmas from my mom, then went to Canadian tire about 3 months ago to see them on sale for about 15 bucks each

) when my dad said to let him cut it out with one of his hole saws, which would have worked if it was sharp or a bi-metal blade for cutting metal. Instead it only made a mess of my planning sheet placement. So I drilled holes in it the same way I was taught to cut "relief" notches in wood. An then used the dremel (read: crappy rotary tool).








I cut that huge rectangular hole so I could route the PSU cables around the back.



YUP. I should have stopped right then and there. I didnt have a rounded file so everything was pretty jagged until I finally got one, I still need another finer one for smoothing out the edges.

Right after that, I flew to Jamaica for a week, (this is right after boxing day 2012). It got so hot that I found it extremely hard just to walk down the street and back. After I got back I continued to mod BUT I didnt take any pictures...

Sorry about that

 

[kishagi]

2nd UPDATE Nov 18 2013:

So Basically the following happened:

- Continued cutting (and ruining the case)
- Scuffed all the panels
- Primed the panels, each twice with white (while raining and in the snow - Bad idea, I know)
- let first coat dry for 24 hours before applying the 2nd
- Painted with a top coat twice and let dry for 24 hours

and here we are:




























And test fitting of the parts




Completing the Build (using IDE Drives

)







Running XBMC! (for about half a day)




Original purpose mod mostly complete, just needed an acrylic window.

And these are my most current pictures after a complete re-purposing.






What happened you ask?
I decided I needed a NAS / Server after moving my main rig into a microATX state; I just had too many hard drives!

SO I:

- bought two Silverstone CFP52B 5.25" to 2.5" bay converters to use for holding the drives
- cut out the front panel of both the frame and the front bezel/cover which also removed any remaining drive bays
- sanded the top and bottom panels so I could use Bondo to fill them; ummm that didnt work well at all. I definitely should have taken pictures for that

lets just say I used too much hardener
- removed my poor attempt of fiberglass patching and disassembled the case.

Future plans (not in order):

- cover bottom and top plates with an acrylic panel (gotta find a tool to cut the acrylic first)
- change rear panel fan area to accommodate 2x 80mm fans or 2x 92mm (cant remember which)
- Finally add in that acrylic window
- repaint
- add in vandal switches
- use acrylic panel to reconstruct front bezel and properly fit in fans for both Silverstone CFP52B 5.25" to 2.5" bay converters + DVD drive
- Figure out how to setup that Samba thing in Ubuntu (its driving me nuts) or finally install FreeNAS / NAS4Free without problem (I dont know why Im having a problem
- Shorten cables on my OCZ ZS 650w PSU
- Reverse MicroATX

So yeah, thats all for now.

 

[kishagi]

Heres a case i got free after a garage sale: