Maximum PC

After reading several threads about some of the wicked mods around here, I think I'm ready to start my own, and, after discovering a quite old but still workable Mid-tower case, I actually have a test subject (pictures of everything to come).

I'm not looking for anything super complicated, just cutting out a "window" (I don't really want a window, but something that air can pass through (Modder's Mesh or a substitute that I found taking out the trash at work today, like round modders mesh but with much smaller holes). I was thinking of writing the word "CLIMB" at the bottom of the "window", in a positive-negative sort of fashion, rather like hurv did with his stormtruper helmet in his STORMTRUPER mod. My case also has no bezel, and I was thinking of using either wood (to model a climbing wall at a summer camp I've attended) or using the pink foam as hurv did to model some sort of climbable cliff face. I may take the DVD Drive and rig it up vertically, to fit better within the wooden scheme. Would this have any negative effects on drive performance? The case has no fans, but I was thinking of adding 2 or 3 or 4 (120 mm's on the front and back, and maybe 80mm's on the side and/or top).

After reading the Cooler Master 840 thread by MNPCtech, I bought some 20ish TPI jigsaw blades (already own the jigsaw) and, I believe, have found a Dremel that I can borrow when I need it. I also have a mouse sander, belt sander, and a sanding block.

Does this sound entirely too complicated for someone who is new to mods, dremels, and working with metal in general? I'm pretty good with wood, but I have no experience cutting sheet metal, etc. I think this'd be a great way to revive this old case, possibly for use in the gaming rig I'd like to build in the next year or two.

I'd say my priorities for this mod are:
1. Gain experience
2. Don't have it look awful
3. Have good cooling and air circulation
4. Make the case look good.

Looks aren't the biggest deal here, I'd rather have well-performing case than a "dude--that's sick" case.

Any general pointers, comments, questions for me, etc? As I said, pics coming soon, hopefully by the beginning of next week.

I will always say nothing is impossible and as long as you are good with the learning curve and have patience, you can do it! I have heard that using any disk drive like CD/DVD on its side after long time with the same disk can lead to rotational scuffing on that disk. One last thing try to plan as much as you can. Draw it out even if it doesn't look like an artists rendering. Good luck! I'd really like to see how this turns out!

Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jaseclimb7/ ... directlink

I'm also a little cautious, because I can't really take the side/top off, because it's riveted to the main frame of the case. I could drill out the rivets, but I'm not sure how I'd reattach the right side/top to the frame.

In my design (which I made using GIMP and Open Office Drawing) I'm only worried about the carabiner (I will attach the middle parts of the B to the Modder's Mesh (or substitute, see pictures). But I'm worried about the carabiner. Is the wire going to be thin? It'd be pretty small, probably less than a mm thick. It won't be supporting any weight, but it's still a concern. I could fill it in, that doesn't look horrible, but I'd rather have it not, so that it looks more like the original.

I'm leaning towards the cliff face,because then I can accommodate a fan in what I think will be a decent looking method that doesn't totally mess with my front design, by making the whole for the fan a "cave" in the cliff face. I'm going to want at least 2 fans, front "inhaust" and rear exhaust. On my current build I have a fan rigged on the side of the case, exhausting out of the vent on the side of the case and an air duct over the CPU, no fan in the front, but with a 120mm exhaust in the rear.

Wiked_smart, when you say a "long time", how long do you mean? A year? A month? A week? Is that with continual spinning of the disk, or just sitting in the off drive?

I'm not sure if I'll be able to rig the drive vertically, as I was thinking I'd rig it in the 5.25 drive bays. I haven't pulled a drive to see how well that'd work, but I plan on doing so. Though if I do go with the cliff face, I will probably end the cliff face at the bottom of a normally mounted disk drive. ((Though I'm thinking about integrating the drive into the cliff face by keeping the drive back flush with the surface of the case and adding foam around it (rigging something for the button) and attach foam to the drive bay. Would this become to heavy or lead to problems after the epoxy was added?

Nice to see another climber on the forum ... good luck with your mod. I demand pics!

To answer your question, it varies but it would be at minimum a year(actually using it) and its typically from the starting and stopping and again that is if it is the same disc.
After seeing the pics I would say mount it in one of the 5.25 and like you said add it into your rock climbing foam fascia. I'm more than sure that you can add foam and epoxy to the front of the CDROM/DVD whatever it is and it will be fine.

Well, after thinking about it, I'm not sure if the foam thing is really going to work. While I think it'd be cool, I feel like any detail work I wanted to do with the foam would get obliterated as soon as I put the epoxy on. For something like this I'd want several tiny cracks and miniature ledges, whcih I feel would be extremely difficult to pull off with the epoxy, based on hurv's comments about how hard it is. I may try and see how large of a fan I can manage to fit in the front (based on how big the space is) and get the largest one I can and cut out a hole for that, and do something similar on the pack, getting rid of the punchouts for the Parallel and Serial ports, etc. The only problem I see arising with that is that the back of the case has a "level" change, but I could accommodate for that, I'm sure.

I'll be thinking about this. It was always the plan to start with the side, and that won't get done for at least a week.

Oh, and as far as the paint scheme goes, I was thinking of black for the bulk of the case and grey (if I choose to go the foam route) for the front and the inside of the window (the "modders mesh" substitute would be grey, for contrast) or white if I decide on something else for the front. I'm not entirely sure though.

Have you come up with any more or is this project dead in the water now?

I've been busy getting going with school the past couple of weeks, but I'm going to try and get going again in the next month or so.

Alright keep it going on paper if you have the time