Modding my odd case...

[Cuda1447]

ok so I've had this case for quite some time. I plan to put my new rig Im building in it. I don't really want to buy a new case, for 2 reasons... 1. I like the challenge and 2. I like the slanted front of this case.


Ive got a few problems though...

1. There is a nice scratch down the middle of the front of the case (from shipping when I moved)
2. Its kind of small, not sure how good aircooling would be if I decide to overclock
3. Its only got room for 1 Harddrive and 1 A drive, I need 2 harddrive slots.


I'm not against heavy modding, and I need your suggestions/opinions. Here are pics to let ya see what Im working with.


Front
Window Side
Back
Other Side
Inside one, sorry for file size...
Inside 2



Thx in advance guys. Any comments/advice is welcome.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

I could swear I see room for a floppy and 2 HDDs. It really doesn't look like there is much for cooling there, especially on the input. If I am not mistaken there is just the exhaust on the back and the psu fan. I would heavily suggest atleast one side-pannel fan. Right over and a bit to the front of the processor. If you want to put a second just over the video card is a good spot usually. If you put tow intakes though you will need another exhaust and I would suggest a top blowhole. It looks like the motherboard mounts upside down though. I have never seen that before. that really is an odd case.

 

[Cuda1447]

I may be seeing something wrong, but I don't think there is any way possible 2 HD's AND an A drive could fit in those lower slots. Looks like a tight for for one HD and one A drive.

Ive never done any real modding to a case before, so Im kinda new at this. But I can learn.

 

[Cuda1447]

What about painting/repainting. Say the scratch on the front (if you can see it) is there any kind of paint or spray that I can use to get that nice look it has now, I don't want to leave brush strokes or something.

 

[pspada]

That case is bass ackwards. Kinda cool looking - but the power supply location probably restricts airflow through the case, and may result in inadquate cooling.

 

[MDE]

You could mount a hard drive in one of the 5.25" bays with mounting brackets, but you definately have to find some way to move more air through there than the little 60mm exhaust that's there right now. You could snip out the part above the hard drive cage and put an intake fan in there, but I don't know about an exhaust. I see a box for an Antec TrueBlue PSU which has dual fans, so that may be enough.

 

[Cuda1447]

bump for other suggestions?

 

[kamper]

If it doesn't interfere with the motherboard too much you could try to find a way to attach a hard drive on top of the top cage. Either attach another cage (if there's room, that sloping front may hurt), or use the bottom screw holes on the drive to mount to the top of the existing cage.

There should be lots of paint/new hole guides out there, maybe try google

And I wouldn't worry about the scratch on the front until you've finished any cutting you're going to do

 

[Cuda1447]

Haha thx. Im not to worried about it, I just want to know that Im going to be able to paint over the case and make it look as nice as it does now.


I was thinking black, but not sure how that would look with my silver power/reset buttons on the front. Maybe I'll replace those with clear buttons of similar form with LED's behind them or something?

 

[Frintin]

Placing a fan in the front bottom (requiring snipping out the frame or cutting into the plastic front bezel?) would make some pretty good airflow from front to back. The exhaust fan placement would make a straight rushing path from front to back if there was room to put a front fan in there.

Very cool looking case...I like it! When I saw the sloping front I thought immediately of some type of color strip across it. Not necessarily stright up and down but maybe sloping from bottom left to top right. The bending stripe would add to the curvy shape IMHO. Perhaps the spray paint color you used could match the front color of a CDRW drive?

What type case is that? Very cool looking and I need to get another one for nephew's computer.

 

[Cuda1447]

No clue on the type of case, found it on a site a year and a half ago for 30 bucks or so. I figure'd I'd grab it cause eventually I'd use it. Didnt look to closely at it, my only gripe is that its small. Thats why I want to do some heavy modding. Im trying to figure out if there's a way to pull out the back some to give me some more room. Editing the front of the case would be hard though since its slopping. Only thing I could see is painting it. I'd probably repaint it all silver if I could find a matching color to paint it. Thats how it came... thats why I have so many questions about the painting, I want to see if I can get a paint job that will look similar to what it looks like right now (as far as quality goes). Also the fan at the bottom wouldn't work I dont' think, thats where the CD-rom/Burner go. Its odd, but yea there at the bottom



Gotta love that case, if you really want I can try to find the site that I bought it at though (may be difficult, but I might be able to).

 

[Cuda1447]

bumped for modding experts!

 

[tracerbullet]

I'm sure he was right, there's plenty of room for a second hard drive in there. There's essentially 5 slots, starting from the top: Floppy, Hard drive, and hard drive. Then two more, for a pair of optical drives. You'd also have the option of getting a "rail kit" that would let you put a hard drive into one of the optical slots. So yes - it would be a tight fit, but a second hard drive can definitely go in there. I don't think you have an issue there.

Cooling is rotten it looks like, I'm having a hard time picturing an easy way to get good airflow. I like the idea of a fan put right on the side of the case, maybe even stuck to the window if it can handle it. It would be possible, though unusual, to put on in the bottom of the case, and put some feet on the case to lift it up. Either way, I don't see this ever being called an "overclocker's case". Certainly not impossible, just not friendly.

Can't give good painting suggestions. Other than lots of light coats, and use of some 500 or greater grit wet/dry sandpaper from an auto parts store, followed up with a clear coat. Make sure to get the same type, or even brand paint. Otherwise you can get some really messed up effects. (I put automotive clearcoat over top of a heavy duty appliance paint once, and the different chemicals used made the appliance paint blister).

 

[0roo0roo]

looks like more effort then its worth. its steel, has no drive rails, is cramped, has lousy cooling, has too few drive bays, has no screwless door etc. you could take a dremil to it, the 60mm fan in the back needs to be cut out for any air to flow at all really. the front bottom is occupied with drives, so no ability to cut a fan hole there really, can't do the top front either since its round. top blowholes aren't advised as liquid spills can cause havoc and the location makes for a noisey pc. cutting acrylic windows for side intakes is hard, stuff cracks easily. no matter what you don't have enough fan locations to go with low rpm fans. its a rather dead end case to be tossing money at. modding costs easily equal a new case.

painting well is not easy. it involves lots of sanding with different grits, and leaving the case to cure for 30 days if you want a mirror polish.

just buy a chieftec/antec case with big side window and everything already done for you.

 

[Fiera]

I've been looking for a case like that where the board mounts on the left side of the case. This is the first one I've ever seen. Anyone know where to get them?

 

[Zepper]

I agree that there looks to be room in that drive cage for at least two drives besides the floppy and as was said by Kamper, you could even drill holes in the top of the 3" cage and mount another hd on top. If that's not enough, Evercase has a VERY nice removable drive cage that you could mount to the ceiling of the case if it won't block the expansion card slots or to the top of the existing cage. I can see several mounting options including vertical - which might require some bracket fabrication. Newegg was selling the old style Evercase bracket for under $10. shipped, but aren't carrying the new one for some reason - they still . sell the cases. Don't forget to order the rubber isolators for it - sold separately for some reason.
. As for the scratch. Best would probably to either strip the old paint or fill the scratch and repaint the whole front. Testor's plastic model spray paint should do fine.
. Fill the scratch with matching color Testor's brush-on paint - let it dry thoroughly then sand the fill line smooth with fine grit paper or steel wool.
. That might be enough right there if you use something like 000 or 0000 steel wool to smooth the fill line. If not...
. Rough up the whole bezel with the fine sandpaper or 00 steel wool, wipe it down w/ rubbing alcohol to remove the dust, let dry, and repaint with the Testor's spray. Automotive parts stores sell plastic-safe spray paints now (even WalMart has it) if the Testor's doesn't do it for you. Read a book on spray paint technique if you don't already know. Should come out looking good as new except for the label, which should be removed...
.bh.