Ok this is my first major case mod...and 1st topic posted here.
Basically this casing is gonna be a double decker case, a steel exso-skeleton to support the stock structure. The stock ATX structure is gonna be stripped to the basics and mounted into the steel skeleton and will be anchored to the walls to prevent my pc from flying away with the burglars. Acrylic will be mounted outside to replace the panels. A custom central water cooling for 2 cpus utilizing a high capacity pump with a car's radiator and if my financial permits, i'll purchase extra 12cm radiators to be mounted inside the case to cool the mobo and my case will be sealed airtight to keep dust free.
PS:Im the technical type, not the designer type, i dun expect i'll be coming up wit an artistic look. But U guys are there to give me a lil artistic ideas rite?

Plans:
1) Strip old case to basics then frabicate a steel exso-skeleton.

2) Spray painting with paint and mount glass and acrylic

3) Custom water-cooling mod, cable management and mobo installation

4) UV light mods, extra radiators installation and airtight sealling

5) Termo-sensors installation and CPU torture test

Today, i jus got a FREEBIE from the pc shop. Old ATX case though but nvm, i can chop it wit all my heart and feel no sorrow for it. Pics will be uplaoded tonite or tomolo cuz my digi cam ran out of batteries .Tomolo i'l start stripping the case to get measurements so tht i know how much steel i would need.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Apr 1 2006, 11:33 AM

Sounds Great ,Anyway good luck, cant wait to see

good luck in your mod there bro, hope to see good results

hmmm...if u would show us the pics of the case that u got as freebie...that would be nice

OK got my pack of 8 duracell batteries. Heres some pics of the freebie case and current case.


The free case, RM 0 In return i bought a cheapo 400W psu from him. And the 8 pack batt on the top


Side view. Doesn't matter how it looks, all i wan is the hdd rack, drives rack and mobo plate.


Back look. Looks pretty empty, if you look closely, there's a package inside, thts the cheapo psu i bought from him, not taking out 5 screws in da middle of the night to snap a pic. Chances are, i'll not use tht psu, probably for testing my unit oni. I'll get a better 1 like CM


My current case, the PC gemilang casing though the internals are all changed.


Side view, the mosquito trap on the left and helped spared my legs from aedes

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 5 2006, 02:13 AM

wa...the case looked so old....cuz got some yellowish colour on the metal liao....and y the holes for the PSU is square look so weird???

hope to c wat u r gonna do wif it.....

According to him, an owner put his pc here for repair but nvr claim it for over 6 months so he gave it to me since i always buy or order stuffs from him. Its a AMD Duron age case so the power supply is on the side, i think i'll custom fit the psu on top to make it look uniform with the newer case.

DAY 2:
As i planned i stripped the old case to the basics. Cut a hole for HDD cooling fan with an industrial grinder. The metal wasn't easy to cut though, had to control my pressure on a 10000 rpm disc. Then i took everything off my current rig then re-assembled it back without a case below my table. I still have some work to do with the newer case i took out, removing screws was lots more easier with a batt powered drill..jus spin them out. All done in 2 and half hours time cuz thts the time of the day im free.


Two of my atx casings, newer on the left..older on the right


Most excess have been stripped of, still need more cutting tomolo for HDD fan tomolo.


The side panels, obviously the white one is the older type as panels used to be made in 1 whole piece.


Its all a mess in my room when i take apart my rig, my dad was doubtful if i was gonna put everything back in working order


TaDa...everything is back in perfect working order in no more than 30mins.



The CD drives have no choice but to lay vertical, partly on the ground and partly on the wood. Jus by co-incidence, my psu can fit exactly between the 2 metal support beams


A closer view, the white tape is used to hold my vga card and prevent its weight from breaking the agp fingers. Opps, forgot to use macro mode

Thats all for today, tomolo my dad and i will pay visit to the steel shop to get some L shaped steel beams so i can start my work on the exo-skeleton on tuesday.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 6 2006, 03:32 AM

Wah. Another good story teller in case mods section. Good stuff n nice reading stories for once instead of me writing writing writing. Hhehehe. Keep it up dude.

I still need to learn a lot more, you very pro in case mod until can do mods for other ppl. Need to learn more from you like how you lap mr bond's WC block until so shiny.

friend..try to position your HDD in total vertical or horizontal position. Tilting it to more than 30 degrees would cause the plate spinning inside to vibrate which in the long run causes problems.

wont be long before ur HDD start to show signal of kong-ing if you keep it like that way... anyways, good to see a mod on that fugly free case you got hahaha... really short like dwarf the casing... good luck for ur mod and keep posting

Thnxx pal, tilt it bak to 15 or 20 degrees. Even if it spoils, i can send it back for rma I know the shop's boss very well and i ask him not to put a sticker so tht i can rma it e ven its over some years.

DAY 3:

Busy as usual, manage to cut a top blow hole on my newer case when im free. I also removed the HDD fan grills to opt its looks and air flow. I wonder if i could get hold of a drill's side cutting bit. Its hard to find because its mainly use oni by professionals to cut out something from a block of metal. Im planning to use it to make small round holes of different sizes on the acrylics and side panels. later today, im starting the steel works.


I made a cut in the top of the case to make airflow better, i was allowed to used my dad's steel cutting reinforced resinoid cutting wheel and more expensive and better cutting compared to metal cutting wheel.


I removed the fan grills to maximize airflow and minimize noise level.


A side view of what i did yesterday. BTW...those bricks are used to hold tht case in place.


My faithful grinder, it does lots more than grinding, polishing...brushing...cutting...paint removal.. and its a real quality gadget...used for more than 17 years old which is older than me yet working perfectly til now.


L shaped steel beam my favourite type, easy to farbricate and hard to blow a hole when fabricating.


6 Meters of steel..splitted into 2meter/pc to fit in my car...RM20. Asking tht boss to deliver 1 beam is not worth the extra transport charge


Reposition my hdd to less than 30 degrees...thnxx to Acey and abubin for reminding me.

hmm which case are u modding actually

so confusing.. which one are u gonna mod?

You're only gonna use the mobo plate isn't it?

Ermmm...maybe im setting the modding bar a lil high for myself Actually, im planning to merge 2 casings together inside the steel frame, acrylic will be mounted on the steel frame, so its sort of 2 casing in 1 big case.. 1 case on top of the other much like a building going upwards. My p4 2.8,graphics,other hot stuffs will be on the lower deck and will be the air intake, the top deck will be my celeron 1.7,NIC,HDD...celeron 1.7 produce less heat and can stand higher temps and its the air outlet. I'll have a trial torture run with acrylics on to see if bottom intake/top exhaust provides adequate cooling, if not i'll mount extra front and rear intakes.

The invert mobo plate from my plans...actually means putting the mobo plate on the left side. 1 cpu mb on right and 1 mb on left....but after much consideration...I ask myself...hu's gonna sell me a left side mounting mb? i din noe any factory manufacture tht too. So i abandon tht idea.

DAY 4:
Today, i did almost nothing...the whole day i went out wit my parents and shopping around KL

If i was at home all day long, i would have finish making at least 30% of the steel frame...

I followed my dad to find a side cutting bit around pudu area, Jalan Pasar apparently din have tht item, as i was walking around jalan pasar, i saw a street seller selling MyKad reader...i saw some1 wanting to buy a MyKad reader in this forum...maybe any1 hu knows tis guy go tell him bout it before the street seller is gone. A rotary tool set complete it every bits cost rm299 and rm390 in a shop there, they oso sell the vertical tabletop mounting device to hold the tool vertical to make precision cutting..price:unknown,nvr asked

Ok, finally i found the side cutting bit. It looks like a standard HSS drill bit but its different in a few ways, it has four threads instead of two, a screw-like top and has a hole from top to bottom, according to the boss,its used to channel coolant to the tip when cutting on a block of metal.Heres pic of it and cost rm29.00 for a 4.00mm dia, thts 10x more than a black drill bit of its size.This addition to my collection will enable me make smaller cuts especially a 1.5cm hole tht is way out of a jigsaw's range.



I gotta wake up at 10am tomolo to make up for the lost time.


edited for foul language. pls watch the language ya.

Did i??where..the 'd*m' words arr...thnxx for telling me.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 21 2006, 01:08 PM

Part 1 completed...part 2...half completed.

My casings tht have been stripped and painted black.
The smaller casing...the psu will be mounted on top of it instead of inside which will block the view.


The normal size

My cheapo psu..which i'll be using for my celeron. Sprayed in black

Nice one dude.. keep on updating..

Updates.....

My steel frame...top deck..celeron..middle deck..Pentium 4...lower deck..water cooling systems compartment.


Front view...the outriggered wheel base was added due to stability issue.


This is how its gonna look like with the cpu inside the frame.


A closer snap...glass will be mounted on the two sides for thermal conductivity and economical cost.

You built a rack? Gosh, I need your help then. I have to re-organize my folding farm.. Neat and tidy, good job man!

in the picture, the thing doesn't show straight lol

Tidy ar but careless work..i forgot to trim the steel to equavalent length until i welded the top part firmly..then i oni noe the top part is not 90..cannot do anything ade since a made one heck of a weld on the steel.


Yalar..the top part mahh...everything except the top.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 22 2006, 01:09 AM

woah looks very high

the top part. Waaaaaaaay off lar. Leaning Tower of Pisa oredi. U shud haf used rivets instead of welding. Then u can always drill out n redo again if things go wrong.

Still got solution. Just cut off the top part. Straighten everything n join back again. Cut off at the 4 vertical pipes.

This post has been edited by ianho: Mar 22 2006, 01:18 AM

Cam effect...its actually off by jus a mere 2mm..1 side up 1-2mm..not sure...the whole tower never leanin mah. The other side is ok ok. not so severe.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 22 2006, 01:19 AM

Oh, now I noticed the senget-ness.

Btw, you're going to watercool both rig is it? U surely need a powerful pump for that.. Or perhaps few pumps between the loop.

But hell, Im sure the finall outcome its gonna look great.

This post has been edited by c9: Mar 22 2006, 01:19 AM

Cut off the 4 vertical pipes. Make sure they're even then rejoin back lar. After so much time n effort, dont settle for the 2mm defect lar. No syiok lar. After u finish doing everything n install the PCs n find tak puas then u gonna regret not doing it properly.

Im gonna use a high capacity pump used for aquarium. A secondary pump...smaller act as a backup if the waterflow stops. 1 pump..pressure tank(low pres 1 lar)..split water to rig then a car sized radiator



Oni 1 shorty is the culprit...but im gonna give it a bit grinding to see if the steel surrender or not..or else i'l have to use the glass frame to cover up my mess.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 22 2006, 01:29 AM

Source:Newsletter
Tt's HDD waterblock...
Wonder how much izit and is a 7200 rpm HDD so hot or Tt is jus trying to promote their products?

i honestly, truly, hate the senget part...pls do sumthing bout it...

the senget-ness ruin the whole beauty

okla..tomolo try la..dunno got energy left or not..tomolo im takin driving test...gonna wait and wait and wait like an idiot at the dewan.

TT?
Watercooling?
Lol~ they can't even make cases right, you dare trust them with cooling your components with water?
What more the hdd?

this is what i'm gonna do when i will build my own rig.
just a heatsink sitting on the HDD and a fan in front of the HDD.

will certainly work better than this TT crap

Theory of science.

Heat moves upwards.
Alluminium disipates heat quickly
Copper absorbs heat faster
Fan+copper heatsink=Better?

Wouldn't it? Allngap?

correct. but copper is way to expensive, by theory, putting a huge copper heatsink would make ur heatsink run at near to room temperature because it is able to absorb heat so well

So wats ur opinion on Tt's waterblock?..i wan to buy 2 leeee...got any good brands or not and more cheaper...

Anyway of custom waterblock? Jus curious.

Tht mtf*ing tester failed my on the road test....u f*kin indian M***er tester....next time..im gonna give u kopi kao kao kao..once in a lifetime...i give....

I jus came home oni..no mood make my rack(ask 1 forumer call it)..anyways this is my update for today...its the wall fittings to lock my casing in place...and first time i ever got my pc so dusty...

5 of those thing...2 top,2 bottom..each fastened wif a wall screw...the middle is the locking rings....

This is a closer shot of the locking rings...the base is fastened wif 4 screws as this is the most crucial part...theres a lil orange dirt left on it from my drilling.


This is the frame/rack attached to the wall fittings...although all these seems like overkill but i really dun wan my rig get burglared...since i have spent so much time,effort and money for it..i'll definitely be very depressed if it gets stolen.


I still hasn't made the anti-cutting lock cover..it'll be made from 3.5 inch(external dia), 2 mm thick round tube....according to my dad,the metal cutter tht those losers burglar use is rather big and can oni cut wif 1 snip..can't cut like scissors cutting.

PS: Spot any flaws?

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 22 2006, 05:02 PM

just to shout out...YOU'RE ONE CRAZY-ASSED MODDER!! RESPECT!!


really anxious to see your end result...

Great work!!! It reminds me next time not to rent my house to case modders...

Erm..i think u're right....those screws are permanent...1 way trip type of screws..once tightened..cannot be pulled out again from the wall unless its cutted off or pulled out by a hydraulic jack.

But im living in private property...whole wall bring down oso no 1 can say a word.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 22 2006, 06:16 PM

wat if u dowan to put ur pc there adi?

Cut off the screw lo..then drill the screw a bit...fill it up wif filler..repaint.

Updates...

Since i have completed the painting of my case...i decide to mount my pc into the painted case.

Below is the pc which will be running wif the celeron proc..its a cheap gigabyte rz series mobo.


Since i hasn't got my hands on any heatshrink sleeves...i have to do the cable management wif some cable ties.


This is how the top deck is gonna look alike..i dislike the old mounting position of the psu since it will obstruct most of my components rendering my uv mod useless.


In an attemp to match colour of the whole case...i painted the diskette drive's front black.


This is my current P4 rig...the reason mounting it in is to provide a my pc wif grounding.


I hope my CM rounded ides will arrive via poslaju tomolo.

Note:The steel rack in the pic hasn't being fixed...although i made the fix..i dun have time to upload it.

Looks like the floppy drive painted in hurry?

wat makes u think so? The rough surface rite....i painted it during a cold day. thts why...i will fix it wif some clear coats.

yeah, btw, how did you paint your PSU?? did you strip everything out and spray?? i got one 480W icute... white color!!! arrgh..

No..i din...i open it...put some paper to block the vents, the plug and the wires...then paint. Actually stripping oso easy oni mar...4 screws holding down the PSU's PCB...thts all.

looks like i have to wait till the warranty period is over... luckily only 3 months...ha.. yeah, this err, can i remove everything in the PSU to spray it? like removing the fans, switch and all??

Standard psu has oni 4 screws holding the PCB down...those high end type i dunno la...fans oso got 4 screws....if u have a soldering iron then u can remove the power lines and the whole unit is off the case.

Wat i did to mine was..jus cover the cable and spray...its a cheapo anyway...some paint did enter the psu but nvr screw it.

ur coolviva seem like to bend.. are u put the fan on top of it??

My PSU heart transplant....
The new cheapo i got doesn't have AC out...which means i can't connect all both my psu then plug my monitor power in as well.

The cheapo psu...working unit.


The dead psu...i brought it home after i help my not so computer enthusiast fren changed his dead psu. It has 3 rows of vents instead of 1 which is why i choosed it.


New heart in..old heart out...now tht old stuff is gonna feel like its in its mid 20s


Updates coming soon...psu sleeving with some black heatshrinks i got from Jln Pasar.

aaaa, kenot wait to see ya healthy sleeved "patient" here. ahahahha.

What u bought from Jalan Pasar? Heatshrink or sleeving? If sleeving can tell me where the shop got sell it?

I think its a heatshrink...its a something like a flattened black rubber tube.
Erm how a sleeve like? those like a net?

A lot of shops in jln pasar got sell heatshrinks...i bought mine from the furthest shop from lrt. they also have other colours as well...blue,red(if not mistaken) and black.

i think all i need is a wrench to remove all nuts from the wall and i can push your rack out safely..

This post has been edited by exkay: Mar 30 2006, 01:13 PM

ahahah, both of us are eagerly waiting for uglyvamp's next BBS i assume? ahahaha

Ya. Like net one.

Donno when it start.

yah..but what about the protruding screws? You need to pull it out with some jack.

well, i'm not too sure here but it seems like the black bars are slotted into the screws which are mounted on to the wall, then tighten with nuts...

And the nuts are welded off..unless he brings a cutting torch...i can't do much about it then

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 30 2006, 04:22 PM

ahh these clears the doubts

My psu heatshrinking...not the heart transplanted unit...its my 230w unit...gonna get more heatshrinks tomolo.

Since i can't possibly get my atx wires off...i decided to remove the wires via desoldering it from the PCB


Split into 2 bands as i oni got the 8mm dia heatshrink tube.




The 12V atx wires.


Slide it in...


Lets burn!!!


Wires bounded into 1 band.


Results...



Will spray the cables wit flourescent paints so tht it will come to life wif the UV radiation.

Aiyoooo. So blurr lar ure pics. C until headache d.

I nvr put macro mahh..jus pont and shoot oni. nobody help me take pics...have to hold 1 item in hand and snap wif the other

Wooooo!!!! that is a nice modding.......

Got my CM's rounded UV reactive IDE and floppy cables from kevinn7 on Wed

4 IDE and 2 floppy


I put it under blacklight as soon as i took it out of the box...1 problem though...blue and purple looks alike...even wif naked eye.

nice works on psu lor.... hope nothing happen on future...
btw ur picture so big la, can resize.... its much better lor.....

Thnxx...will reduce size.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Mar 31 2006, 06:06 PM

that heatshrink hard to bend. Not so flexible tho.

Yup...thts true...its a bit stiff...jus in case i dun like it..i'll strip it off and get a sleeve.

recommend you take better pics lar, tengok sampai

Heres the rounded cables in my current rig...no uv yet though and a lot of mess from the psu wires as i ran out of heatshrinks


PS:will take better pics next time...tht day the low light condition seems to make the cam unable to focus properly.

This post has been edited by radioactive: Apr 1 2006, 10:02 AM

Thanks for the effort, keep it coming......

NTBD now.....jus sitting around in the morning...college is gonna start on monday
Maybe going Jln Pasar to get heatshrinks

Heres some pics of the fixed 'senget' rack....i chopped of the top and trim each beam to equal length then weld it back on. Cannot see the super 'senget'ness anymore rite.

FYI..heres the unfixed version.




Gonna start welding the screws of the walls today.

Ahhhhhhhhh lidat lar chun. It looked damn ugly when it was senget man.

haha..mr extreme modder perfectionist... Learn from the best....

Yay..blady tmnut fixed the slow speed problem ade......now im bak in my spamming business of spamming this thread wif more pics.

FDD front spray painting...

Tape it wif masking tape to make a cleaner paint and cover up the holes jus in case the paint might be conductive.


The finished paint job...2 layers black and 1 thick layer of lacquer to protect the paint from being damaged from usage.


PSU spray painting...

Like the FDD..i taped the plug sockets to maintain its efficiency from the paint getting into the sockets.


Taped the label so tht i still have info bout my psu jus in case i wan to refer to it in the future.


Completed psu....its the heatshrinked psu...my transplant patient is yet to receive its heatshrink.


My college start ade liao...im at Travex college...any1 from there too? Oni have time on saturday and sunday to do my moddings ....the Tt shipment oso not yet arrive to M'sia...so cannot start anything on my water cooling system.

dude u can take out the floopy front plastic flipping cover/panel to spray.

Also the power supply covers but just some extra job

Know to take out the front plastic i do....lazy i am....more easy i choose.

hoooo sure u got tonns of pations to do thats mod man

if me sure pengsan lio

keep on update man......

pretty risky there, you might get your floppy head ruin with the spray

Nvr happened cuz i taped up all the holes and i spray properly ma....not spray until paint drop everywhere....
If ruined then throw away la...now oso not the fdd age ade...now its the thumbdrive age...i add fdd jus to make it complete oni.

More comin

This post has been edited by radioactive: Apr 7 2006, 07:57 PM

oohoho, u got dat fdd fact ryt bro.. ay, i can see ya transplant patient smiling ar. ahahahah. he'll b overjoy when ya sleeves reach in front of ya doorstep. huhuh

effort bro!

we want more..we want more

ANy update?

Waiting for bombman's supply to arrive....and rather busy wif my college.

what stuffs did you order?

2 cpu waterblocks...1 vga waterblock..but now oni have enuff funds to get the cpu waterblock...if got 1 waterblock..at least i could start something

The anti-rod cutter cover...nothing special...jus a rather thick tube(4mm)...it was lying around in my house...this type of tube is used as a metal pillar.



Rather rusty....


The top view.


When i tested it...it did not fit in as expected...i made a wrong calculation...frustrated..i decide to cut corners...set my welding machine to 140(max) switch to the thickess electrode i can find and let it rip...widened the hole in 15-20mins...the amount of radiation was greater than usual...result...skin burned...


Looks something simillar to sun burn...i shud have worn a long sleeve shirt


How its like to be used on the rack...still wet as i immerse in water to cool it


A top view with the lock in place...if u can see the lock...




I found tht the opened top still has enuf space for the cutter to enter...i decide to place a metal piece on top...sand paper it to remove the rust then spray paint it....it was a cold day so i took the thick metal to my advantage...i heated tht tube be4 i spray it...it works...paint dried as usual like under the sun.



The L shaped hole


The flat hole


I know this isn't good looking but it serves its purpose...its at the back...who's gonna see it anyways.....comments are welcomed...

Been busy wif college lately...i hardly have time to do my mods...and my Tt waterblocks are still not in malaysia...hopefully they imported enuf waterblocks...