Maximum PC

To save money on a $800 or less build Im going to use an old ATX case from years ago. Id like any tips on painting it a flat black color.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060283.jpg

Its basically a good case, its just looks old. painting it will help out its looks a lot. I need to paint plastic and metal.

I was thinking about using this stuff. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... G_0794.jpg
not sure how good it is for this though.

Also if anyone knows anything about these odd motherboard stand off please let me know. http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060293.jpg I am missing ONE and it is preventing me from being able to get a full atx board. This tray uses two different kinds of stands offs the usual ones and these, no idea why. I have seen different sizes and don't really know what this size is. It may be the medium. I could never find the right one. Id like to just replace the motherboard tray...

For the paint question:
with a fine-grain sandpaper, rough up any smooth surfaces a bit. Then apply primer, and once that's dried and been sanded, use some flat black Krylon spray paint- it should be easy to get a nice, even coat.

Thanks.

Do i also primer the inside of the case?

I wouldnt worry about one standoff. just scope it out and figure out where it will be least useful. ie you need em in corners and areas were there are high insertion force cards and such but not needed near SATA ports.

Thanks,but I was told a long time ago that not having a stand off somewhere might short secret the board. Well im going to be getting a micro atx board I guess anyway. Cheapest board I can find.

It depends. Krylon doesn't need primer to get a pretty good coat, and if you're afraid that the thickness of the paint will make stuff not fit (for example, if drives are already a tight fit in the bays), then I wouldn't. But where the mobo goes and areas where stuff doesn't have to fit very accurately I would still prime it.

an extra standoff can short a mobo. a missing one wont. just makes it a bit less stable when inserting cards and such. the mobo would be off at that time anyway.

i used Plasti-Dip for the inside of my case. I didn't use any prep coats of primer or anything. Just washed it and hung dry the pieces. I liked the Plasti-Dip, because if i messed up, i could peel it off and try again

Im just going to do the outer shell for now, this is just temporary. Ill post after pics of the case when im done. Don't aspect perfection lol.

Here are some pics of the progress.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060296.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060309.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060307.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060302.jpg
Still need some paint in the front and some touches here are there. I am probable not going to keep the front blue part blue. Doesn't look good. Any suggestions? I was going to put red LED fans in it so I was thinking a dark red. Or just black.

looks good. Paint that front panel red and add red LED fans to it. That would look great.

yeah, im probably going to do that. Although if I have more black left I may just cheap out and do it black too.

Here are the finished pics.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060311.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ ... 060310.jpg

The white drive is a great old PATA CD/DVD R/RW. Cant see me not using it, still works. It will be black sooner or later.

Doesn't look great by any stretch but I kind of like that it looks rough around the edges. Scuffs and scratches that will no doubt happen will add to that. And yes I cheaped out and just used black for the middle. It may turn red, it may not.

Thanks for the input.

Looks very good for the Paint Job.

One thing why did you not paint the inside?It would look alot better if you did IMHO.

I might, I might not. This is really just a cheap way to get a decent looking case. Saving me around 80 dollars off my build. I may get a new case in the future so I didn't really concentrate on the looks of the inside. Yes though the inside would most deferentially look better black. That is one of my most important criteria for the new case I will get.

I see