[superk]

So yeah, I decided to take a page out of repo_man's book, right down to the gas mask and bondo lol

The goal of this project is to turn this old, yellow (once white, previous owner smoked), piece of crap case, into some serious eye candy. Not just eye candy however, I also am making a serious attempt at some airflow creation, cable management, and overall functionality.

I will be taking this old case, which is plain jane, and redoing it. To date, Ive done the majority of the work, now im just waiting for parts. While I wait, I will be preparing the side panels and fine tuning my design.

So here is the original case.

And then the case with the front off.. My oh my what dust in there.

Here is a quick snap of the rear of the case. You can see where I plan to make my first cut.

Off comes the top, and wow, what a crappy design. Without the top, this case will just fall over onto itself.

Ok! Cuts 1 & 2 complete!

Ok So now I put the top back on. I just wanted to see what I was up against, ended up drilling out a couple rivets. Threw in an old PSU and dvd burner for some weight and to get some spacing done.. Kinda had to enlarge the hole in front... something big is gonna go in there, needs to be removeable.

Hmm, whats that weird looking thing with the pink stuff for?

A little close-up of the 'duct' as I have named it with such epic failure.

Hmm, some plans for usb on this case? Maybe an extension of sorts?

Yes!

Me after about 8 hours of off and on bondo-ing.. too bad I didnt take pics of the in-progress body work...

Time to take a break from the fumes for a while, let it sit and dry. Ok, so what next? *** is this doing there, it looks ugly.

Onto what will end up being my signature in ALL case mods I do. The part that touches the desk or floor or whatever it is the case rests on in your domain. For this particular case, I cannot call it 'feet' as there is no such thing, just look, you will see what I mean..

After some deliberation, a customary top-fan is nice, but its going to be internal. Its just there for now for some tracing of a cut pattern and spacing and stuffs

Ok, see that nice hole in the front of the case, thats my epic duct. At the end will be a 120mm tricool. If you note the two holes in the one bay cover (in the middle) thats my plan for the usb.

If you wonder where the power and reset switches are, for now they will be hidden in the top flap.. It kinda sticks out the top, and if you put your hand on the top of the panel, you would feel them both. Eventually they May be relocated, or not, who knows. For now, the power and HDD leds have both been relocated (look beside the bays). The advantage the usb design is I can move it wherever is convenient for me to place my usb sticks or whatnot, and I dont have to cut extra holes for it lol.

Also, note the top panel on the right, its been sanded down and hole for 120mm tricool cut.

It will be pointed directly at the CPU. Since this is a server box, I have no need for a video card, so its not going to be in the way.

Off to priming we go! A night of letting the primer set, and then tomorrow PAINT!

END OF DAYS ONE AND TWO

So thats two days work. Whatcha think? Better than the nine hundred mod so far? At least its original, and on a non-mainstream case.

 

[Syrillian]

Woooah!.... Ram-air induction.

Schweeet!

*subscribes*

 

[Warfarin88]

Yeah, you definitely get some points for that intake.

Cool.

 

[archangelabove]

DUDE. That intake is pretty awesome.

I always love to see how people get their server boxes looking.. you're no different mate

 

[CattleRustler]

Nice!!
:watches:

 

[repo_man]

First of all, why didn't someone PM about this! Lol, I'm sub'd for sure! That intake looks awesome man, and thanks for the shoutout

 

[Kornowski]

Looks great! I've got to say, all the case mods on this forum never cease to amaze me! Sub'd!

 

[superk]

Warning. Update alert!

Here is what the front and top look like after a single coat of VERY GOOD (as it turned out) primer!

I forgot to display in my previous post, WHY I cited the 'Three Rs'

Reduce: Yep, its been reduced alright, right down to just about nothing, more than once.

Re-use: Look in pic2 from my above post, you see that metal wave thats in front? I ran it over with my van to flatten it, cut off a tiny bit of scrap, and mounted it in the top as the grill for the top exhaust tricool.

Recycle: This case would have been scrap, to the dump or the recycling depot. I saved someone the trouble. What was once a plain p3-450 will now be an x2 4200+ with loads of eye candy.

So onto next issue. The sides. One side is original from the case, hence the yellow, and the other one was missing when I snapped up the case from its previous owner.

I am thinking of covering those arrow-like thingies in bondo, and using it as the back-side cover (the one nobody will see). And the other one, which is still white, will have something done to it. I am not sure if I wanna do some sorta design, or just make a simple window..

In conclusion

Some parts needed a second coat of primer, its already on, should be dry by tonight, black paint to follow. Sanding of sides is next on the list in between paint coats.

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN!

What color goes good with black, and red? The case itself will be black, the LED's will be either all red or mostly red, but I want something to break the circle a bit, to catch attention... Was thinking grey/silver, but not sure. Ideas?

 

[wastedtime]

I love the duct

Subbed

 

[Arjy]

This is sweet!

 

[McStuff]

Lookin' great so far. Why did you choose Agamemnon as the project name?

 

[superk]

Agamemnon is the name of the computer. All my computers are named after Greek figures, save one or two.

Eris
Hades
Theseus
Atlas
Agamemnon

and then there are a few which arent greek

Eternity
Yojimbo
Shiva
Eternity

and yeah, my wifes computer, 'tigger'

Agamemnon was the computer I had my 5600 in before I started upgrading it, Its an entirely new computer now, and except for the cpu, all the old components are back with my old board, right down to the case lol. So Agamemnon was its name when it was my main rig, and it remains so.

Quick update, after I submit this reply, im going out to check the status of the second primer coat. Maybe ill do some painting if its dry, which it should be after a couple hours.. last nite this same primer took not even 1 hour

 

[Kornowski]

I think that red, black and yellow would look good together...

Looks great so far!

 

[Manyak]

This is good stuff, subbed!

Though I think this PC should have been named Wet-Dry Vac.

 

[EuroFix]

Nice work and an interesting looking air duct...
That primer turned out very well indeed

 

[pjlietz]

Very nice work so far! Great job on that front intake! I would agree with you that silver would look good with black and red.

 

[superk]

A Quick Update

Although I havent taken any pics yet (kinda not wanting to go outside in the rain to my paint shop) the entire case is painted. Everything except for the sides, and front panel w/ my not patented iDuct technology is ready for clear coat.

The sides are another story. You see, whats the point to having eye candy, if what you are looking at/through is crap. So ive been doing some searching and kinda starting to come to a standstill here temporarily.

This is what ive decided to cut for a window. Its simple, easy to do, yet has a semi-original design to it.

The opposing side will be filled in as discussed, and then painted as well.

See that big piece of acrylic behind the side? Thats a 2x2 sheet. I will have loads leftover after I am done with the side cut-out piece. Any ideas as to what on this case I could put the rest to use in? I dont mind if its complex, as long as it wouldnt end up with me stamping FAIL anywhere its appreciated.

 

[prosser13]

Loving the intake hole - reminds me of that Zalman Fatal1ty case, just without the extra cheese

One of the most original mods I've seen for a while, subbed!

 

[EuroFix]

"iDuct" - Steve Jobs will be after u...

 

[Manyak]

iDuct.....lol