# My first worklog



## t_ski (Aug 19, 2006)

SVC.com has these cheap $20 full-tower cases on clearance, so I picked on up to mount my GT360 rad internally.  I thought I'd do my first worklog here, and share my ideas.

First, some before pics for you:



 

 

 

 

 

 



So my goals are this:

1. To open the case up to allow as much airflow as possible
2. To mount my GT360 in this case (not an easy task - I'll explain more later)
3. To try to do my first mod with a theme
4. Use some new techniques that I have not seen before

First mods are:

Adding a 120mm fan mount to the front of the case (replacing the puny 80mm restrcited hole there).  Before:





After:



 



Next, you'll notice another puny 80mm mount on the top rear of the case:





Bye-bye:





And finally for today...  Due to the slide-out feature of the motherboard tray, the only fan mount available is a 60mm mount.  I don't have a 60mm fan, and the last I knew they were either under-powered or overly-loud:





good-bye to you as well:





The front 120mm fan hole will be left open, and the other two areas cut out today will be filled in with some modder's mesh.


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## drade (Aug 19, 2006)

Wow... Looks like a terrible case! Thats what modding is for I will follow up on this worklog to see how it comes out!


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## t_ski (Aug 19, 2006)

It's not really a bad case, especially since it sells for $20 plus shipping.  It's all solid steel construction, so it weighs a lot but it's very strong.  It's also got plenty of room, and the whole PSU and 5.25" bay area is partitioned off from the bottom, which should help a lot with controlling heat and airflow.


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## drade (Aug 19, 2006)

t_ski said:


> It's not really a bad case, especially since it sells for $20 plus shipping.  It's all solid steel construction, so it weighs a lot but it's very strong.  It's also got plenty of room, and the whole PSU and 5.25" bay area is partitioned off from the bottom, which should help a lot with controlling heat and airflow.



Well for 20$ I guess its as good as it gets.


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## i_am_mustang_man (Aug 19, 2006)

this should be fun to watch, in a good informative way


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## POGE (Aug 19, 2006)

Replace the front panel with a custom plexiglass bezel.


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## t_ski (Aug 19, 2006)

The front bezel is actually slightly transparent.  That could make for some nice lighting effects.  But in all honesty I think I'll leave it in place (maybe with some new paint) to help cover the rad.


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## drade (Aug 19, 2006)

t_ski said:


> The front bezel is actually slightly transparent.  That could make for some nice lighting effects.  But in all honesty I think I'll leave it in place (maybe with some new paint) to help cover the rad.



Good Idea


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## pt (Aug 19, 2006)

not a nice case now, but it will soon be 
what are you planning to put above the PSU, where the 80m fan was?


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## t_ski (Aug 20, 2006)

That's going to be filled in with modders mesh.  Since I'm going to mount the rad in the top, and the top section is somewhat divided from the bottom, I need to get the air out.  One little 80mm isn't going to keep up with three 120's, so I figured the best bet would be to let them push their own air out.


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## t_ski (Aug 22, 2006)

I got up early, so here is the update.

As you can see from the pictures of the front, I have a fan mount created for a 120mm fan.  However, the front bezel does not allow much air to move through it.  There are just little slots there, and the bottom of the bezel is not open due to the "grab handle."



 



I need more air!





The next step is to mount the rad in the top.  A lot of careful measuring and drawing:



 



Several hours and several cutting discs later:



 

 

 

 

 



As you can see from the pics, the case is not deep enough to contain the radiator by itself.  I had to offset the rad forward a little so the back end is inside the case, which still lets the front get covered by the front bezel.  SVC did not list the case dimensions on the site, so I was not able to prepare for this.  But I think it turned out well.  As you can see, I need a small spacer between the rad and the case.  I had one made out of plexi, but it's too small.  I went to Staples and had them print out the template on 11x17" paper, but for some reason they shrunk the image slightly.  Not enough to notice and cause me to think I should measure it, but when it came time to check things out it was about 1/2" too small.  I know, I know... Measure twice, cut once....


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## drade (Aug 22, 2006)

Looking good, loving the mount of that rad!


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## t_ski (Aug 22, 2006)

Thanks.  I'm thinking of getting one of those black RadGrillz for the top.  Gotta get the fund together though.


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## mikeownage (Aug 22, 2006)

thats going to be one very pimped case


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## drade (Aug 22, 2006)

T_ski Paint the front of that friggen case....It makes the whole thing looks like sh!t


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## Azn Tr14dZ (Aug 23, 2006)

This is a worklog, so he's not done with everything yet.


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## drade (Aug 23, 2006)

Azn Tr14dZ said:


> This is a worklog, so he's not done with everything yet.



I know that.... Giving suggestions is all Im saying.


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## t_ski (Aug 23, 2006)

If you look at the mod I did on the bezel, I almost have to paint it.  The only other option would be to sand the marks on the back of the bezel completely smooth and buff it out so the marks don't show.

I did pick up a can of Krylon H2O black paint tonight.  Very nice and shiney stuff.  Also picked up some weatherstripping to fill the gaps around the rad below the top of the case.


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## drade (Aug 24, 2006)

So T_ski Howd the painting go?


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## t_ski (Aug 24, 2006)

I didn't get to paint the bezel yet.  But here's the latest update for y'all:

Man, I just feel like I've got too much crap going on today!!!  Aside from starting school and working on this mod, I'm adding a half-bath to my home, plus trying to negotiate a new car purchase (one not going as well as planned either).  Still I'm trying to spend as much time as possible getting this mod done while the weather is decent and before things really start getting heavy with schoolwork.  So, onto today's progress!

First, my recently aquired modding supplies:

The mentioned weatherstripping, some JB Weld for adding the mesh, the Krylon H2O paint, and some liquid refreshment.  (The fan templates again did not print out the right size so I wasn't able to use them.  )





These are the #6-32 x 3/8" socket cap screws I plan on using for the grills.  I was actually hoping for button head screws, but I can't find them locally.  I'll probably add some gloss to these when I get ready to install them.





Here is the top of the case lightly sanded and with a couple quick coats of paint:





And this is the side panel with the two 120mm fans laid out waiting to be cut:





These will have some modder's mesh behind the panel but over the fans.  I have an idea that I think is unique for the window on this side that will go above these fans and go far enough to the left to remove the 80mm fan hole seen above them.

Finally since I've had a few remarks on the tooling and my possibly anal organization skills, I present the following:



 



So yes, I do have a ton of tools.  Yes, most of them are well organized.  But other than that, I have a terrible time trying to keep my workbench clean!   You can see all my packing supplies and some of the stuff I'm trying to sell, as well as boxes for the stuff I normally would be keeping in the house, but now are being stored outside while I renovate the bathroom.


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## t_ski (Aug 24, 2006)

Here's today's update:

I got the top painted as much as I'd like it to be.  It's not a perfect finish, but it's very dark and shiny.





Also, here are the two fan holes cut in the side:





The good news for today is that the modder's mesh arrived.  Here's a couple shots for you:



 

 Just a mock-up there to see what the sides might look like.

The mesh has a flat black finish on it, so after cutting the pieces to size I hit them with a coat of the gloss black:





To mount the mesh in the back of the chassis and in the mobo tray I decided there's nothing better to use than JB Weld:



 

 





 That's my leg reflecting in the top of the case!

As Norm always says, you can never have enough clamps!

That's probably all I'll get done for today.  Not sure what I'll do tomorrow, but any progress will be posted as usual.


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## drade (Aug 24, 2006)

Very nice!


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## t_ski (Aug 24, 2006)

Thanks.  I so want to move into the case now, but I have some more loose ends to tie up.


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## drade (Aug 24, 2006)

Dude its coming to look out great once again, I really like what your doing with it, maybe I will get somone like you to cut some stuff on some cases for my buddy's some day.


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## t_ski (Aug 27, 2006)

Just in case anybody is interested, here is the guy I bought the mesh from:

http://www.xoxideforums.com/sell/71244-modders-mesh.html

Packed it well, and price shipped is as cheap as CrazyPC without shipping.


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## t_ski (Aug 30, 2006)

OK, here goes.  The inside with Carl's Chrome Tape:





I've got the front fan installed and the wires for the reset switch and LED's sleeved.  Here's the back:





Here's the foam weather stripping applied to the inside top of the case:





Here's a nekid shot of the front for you pervs:





That's foil tape on there to help plug the holes and keep air from being recirculated by the front case fan.

And a mock-up of the window:





The window is not installed yet because I haven't totally decided on the mounting method.  I know I want something that doesn't show the screws through the side panel.

Here is the back of the front bezel.  As you can see I added some more weatherstripping there to assist in the recirculation problem.  Now air only will come through the bottom:





Finally, here are two shots to show the case back together:



 



I need to get my Radgrillz soon.  I'm about $20 short in my paypal account to buy both.  I don't want to buy just one now and the other later, since that will practically double my shipping charges ($6.35 for one and $7.05 for both).  For the time being, I'm using some plain case fan screws to hold the ones in on the side, but I only have four black ones.  I had to do some slight adjustments to the grill above the PSU location, as the mesh was a little thicker than I thought.  I have the rad test-fitted in place right now and it looks decent.

Hopefully I can start moving into the case on Friday.


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## drade (Aug 31, 2006)

Lookin good tski!


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## g12rxz (Aug 31, 2006)

I see your from illinois, you should come over one day and mod my case !  Nice job so far!


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## t_ski (Aug 31, 2006)

Thanks, guys.  I wish I could have a day or so all to myself and bust out on it.  I'll have to disassemble my current rig and swap out the necessary parts.

I anyone has four black case fan screws they can donate to the fund LMK.  Also, if you guys have any suggestion for mounting the window I'd appreciate those, too.  I know I do not want rubber molding and I do not want rivots or screws going through my freshly painted case.  I'm thinking of either epoxying some flat machine screws in place, using a slot of sorts to slide the window in (but it may get scratched), or coming up with some other type of internal clip.  If I epoxy the screws in place I would need to make some kind of jig to do it, and that's even more time.  I need something simple that won't be seen on the outside.  It has to hold 1/4" plexi, too.

Some of those tubing bends are going to look pretty tight in the top... 

Where are you at, g12rxz?


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## g12rxz (Aug 31, 2006)

I live in the McHenry area, in a suburb surrounded by corn.  It's northern Illinois, bout an 1-1_1/2 hours from Chicago.


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## drade (Aug 31, 2006)

I use to live in Naperville down in illinois for about 8 years.


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## Slater (Aug 31, 2006)

Beautiful mod man.... That case is coming along great


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## t_ski (Aug 31, 2006)

I'm about 3 hours south of Chicago.  More corn, plus beans, too.


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## wtf8269 (Sep 1, 2006)

Definitely the best $20 case I've seen. I think you should do something more to that front panel though to give it more of a straight-line, clean, industrial look to it.


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## KennyT772 (Sep 1, 2006)

damn dude  

that is beautiful. i would have made the window a bit bigger though..


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## POGE (Sep 1, 2006)

g12rxz said:


> I live in the McHenry area, in a suburb surrounded by corn.  It's northern Illinois, bout an 1-1_1/2 hours from Chicago.



Another Illinoisian!  For a while I thought I was the only person online from illinois.   I live in a town named mahomet outside of champaign.  Anyways, nice mod t_ski! That front bezel shure is ugly though!  Replacing it with a plexiglass bezel would look sooo nice. 

And if you want something that doesnt show skrews from the side panel, just JB Weld it on.


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## t_ski (Sep 1, 2006)

KennyT772 said:


> damn dude
> 
> that is beautiful. i would have made the window a bit bigger though..



I have a plan for the side that requires the window to be no larger than it is.  I'm going to start rolling the theme into play in the next week or so.

Today I should be moving in, as I have enough of the mods in place to not require any major disassembly.


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## t_ski (Sep 9, 2006)

Finally getting around to an update.  As mentioned before I moved in to this beast last week.  Here's a shot of the install:





Right now I have just the fans mounted on the top:





Now is the time that some of you may be divided, as I'm bringing the theme into the mod.  The main design is on the right hand side panel, and I plan on adding a few other smaller logos soon.  Here are the parts for the side panel back from being cut (again, with the abrasive water jet):





That's just a mock-up to check things out before I put it all together.  For real this time:





Yes, that is the Imperial Insignia from the Star Wars series.  And yes, that's 1/4" mirrored plexi behind it.  It makes for a really cool effect.  I'm planning on adding some lights to the side - maybe I'll get a free moment to do some testing with that.

Just in case anyone asks - I know the panels are not on all the way.  The paint is still soft and I don't want to mess it up around the thumbscrews in back.  Also, the pics above show no removable storage drives, and that's because I sold the silver ones I had before that matched my last case.  Today I got a new Lite-On light-scribe DVD writer:  Black to match, of course.

What do you guys think?


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## OOTay (Sep 9, 2006)

looks great! I was planning on buying that case aswell for my server, maybe after i buy a new hdd ill go ahead with the idea lol. good job man


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## t_ski (Sep 9, 2006)

Thanks.  The only bad thing about this case so far is that it is very short from front to back.  I actually had to bend the ATX connector past 90 degrees to get the cable to fit behind the HDD cage.  The cage covers the connector on my DFI Ultra D...


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## _33 (Sep 9, 2006)

The only problem I see with those fans on top is that you can't put anything on top of that computer case.  Probably not even a diskette.  If you put your cup of coffee, it might turn cold after a few mins up there.  Nywayz...  Funny.  Good stuff thoe.


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## pt (Sep 9, 2006)

Pretty cool, but you could have done a bigger window


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## t_ski (Sep 9, 2006)

Like I said, for the window I have an idea, but I just haven't gotten to it yet.  Probably next week I'll try it out and see if my idea works...


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## drade (Sep 9, 2006)

Very nice


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## Agility (Sep 9, 2006)

Nice casing. And who would put stuff above thier CPU =X oh maybe if i have some hot stuff that i need to chill i would probably do that if i have 3 fans on top of my it lol


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## _33 (Sep 9, 2006)

Agility said:


> Nice casing. And who would put stuff above thier CPU =X oh maybe if i have some hot stuff that i need to chill i would probably do that if i have 3 fans on top of my it lol



Most of the time I put some CDs/DVDs on top of the box because I'm installing a game, burning, or swapping disks.  It's very useful because in such case I don't take space on my desk.  Other than that my cable modem is on top of my box  .


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## t_ski (Sep 9, 2006)

Actually I hate it when the wife puts stuff up there like her CERAMIC CEREAL BOWLS!!!!!! Ugh, can you say "scratch the paint?"  Not any more...


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## t_ski (Oct 10, 2006)

Here's an update for you faithful veiwers.  I got the case badge, straight from Directron:





And a pic for you guys of the HR-05-SLI chipset cooler:





I've been having some issues lately with the power supply (I think), so I've rush-ordered a OCZ GXS 600W and a PSU tester.  Those will be here today, and I'll probably be putting those in this afternoon.  The wifey is gonna be PO'ed, but I'll have to pawn some more stuff to pay the balance


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## t_ski (Oct 10, 2006)

Well, I finally got the OCZ in.  The 12v rail looks awesome.  The old Sintek would do about 11.8-11.97v most of the time, and I saw it dropped down to 11.65v today during my game session.  With the OCZ 12v is sitting at 12.1-12.17v, but I haven't had a chance to load it up.  The black mesh on the back matches the mesh I have fairly closely, so it's even cooler.  I was totally surprised how small it was compared to my Sintek, which is huge because of the extra 80m exhaust fan.  It's got a whole lot of extra wires though, which is kinda a hassle to manage.  I'll have to work on that some more when I put the water in (hopefully next week).

Carl has been gereous enough to sell me his unused HDD cage, so I plan on adding that in as well next week.  I am starting to have too much I wan't to do again and not enough time to do it.  I plan on getting som more pics up soon, I promise...


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## t_ski (Oct 10, 2006)

I had last Wednesday off from school, so I dedicated it to my mod.  Thanks to Carl, I had his extra HDD cage.  I cut the bottom off and used some ol' JB Weld and attached it to the bottom of my HDD cage.  Here's some serious clamping action:





Here is the Storm rev 1 CPU block and the lap job on it I did the day before:





While I had everything out of the case, I decide to open up the shelf below the PSU and top of the case to assist with extra roon to pass wires and tubing:





Here are some pics of the new black GTS 360 dual-flow installed:



 

 



You can see there is quite a bit more room now behind the rad at the back of the case.  The X-flow pushed the mesh out slightly, and now there's about 3/8'" between the two.

Here's a shot of the inards sans wires:





A close-up of the HR-05-SLI and a bit of the VF900-Cu:





Look - it's Crazy Carl's Chrome Tape!!!  Who's that ugly bastage:





I wish I could have left the HDD cages out, but with the extra space required by the GTS360 I needed somewhere to put the drives.  The mod to add more HDD room was solely to help with the heat of the drives.  I noticed several times that I could feel serious heat radiating from the side of the case where the drives are.  Three HDD's and a floppy in 4" of space is not a good thing, especially when there's no airflow anywhere near it.  I had a couple weird instances with storage lately that makes me think the heat was causing it, like one day my cookies dissapeared while I was surfing and had to log into all my forums again.  Now there is not any heat that I can feel coming from the side.

The bad part of the HDD cage add-on was that tubing runs were a bit harder than expected.  There isn't much room between the end of the X1900XT and the bottom HDD.

One bad note:  Wednesday night after the work was complete I was using the PC and everything was fine.  I decided to put the side panel back on, but I needed to play with the tubing a little to get it out of the way.  In the process I think I bumped a SATA cable, because Windows started acting funny.  I went to reboot, but the PC would not get past the WinXP progress bar.  I ended up having to do a sector by sector copy of the raid array to my 200GB PATA and reinstall XP.  Everything seems fine now, but it just goes to show you once again that there's no room in this case.  I don't know if the mod is completely done yet, but I think after it is, and after I can get the extra money saved up, I'm going to look into a Stacker or something similar.  Then I'll have something else to mod...


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