Briefcase mod (HAZ-MAT)

Here is my first attempt at building my own computer case from the ground up. First I was thinking of what to do for a case. I have seen all of those cool mods on Virtual-Hideout, but nothing really appealed to me. I haven't really decided to try my hand at airbrushing so that is out for the time being. 

I am not new to computers, quite the contrary I have been building and upgrading PC for over 15 years now. I am bored with all of those beige boxes. First I got a RaidMax black case with a window in it and a chrome face. I decided that the drives needed to match the front of the case. My first try in case modding was only the drive faces and that really doesn't count; I also have a few keyboards and mice that I have painted.

Here is a picture of the keyboard (old Compaq, removed all the keys and painted them separately) and Microsoft Intellimouse optical with blue LED replacing the tail light on it to not really give it a purple glow.  The paint is a metallic purple and metallic black.  This color scheme is to go with the computer in the Raidmax box. Plans there are to put a UV cold cathode in it so that everything glows in black light. I have a full set of glow in the dark IDE/floppy cables that will go in there, then a little marking with a highlighter and that machine will be done.

 Well I need more of a challenge now...
After some long thinking and a drive in the North Carolina country, I decided that a Mailbox hadn't been done. Everyone thought I was crazy. They just weren't telling me why. After finding a board (a microATX board that I found cheap on the net), I set out to find a mailbox to surround it. Wouldn’t you know that they make mailboxes in only 2 or 3 sizes. The first one I found was 6" wide. It looked like the right size I was hoping for. Then I measured the motherboard, wouldn't you know it 9"+/-. So after that I found that the next size up was huge, 12"x28"x15". Now that’s getting a little big. But alas there was nothing in between, after a talking with a few people and sizing the case I decided that the best thing was to take 8" off the dept of the thing and I’d have what I wanted. Ok, fair enough. I went to some of the people I know that deal in metal and cutting. After a brief talk with one of the guys I found that a mailbox isn't something you want to go welding on, as it is Galvanized and that gives off nasty fumes when burned (ground or torched). So after finding this out I decided to shelve that project and find something else.

I finally settled on an aluminum briefcase.

After some small planning on what was going to happen here. I decided that the CD-ROM and the PS would go along one side and the MB headers out the opposite end. After a couple trips to Home depot and Menard's for parts and tools I managed to cut out the ATX headers and the opening for the CDROM. The power supply is a mod a little. I opted to have just the fan and the power connector exposed vs. the whole back of the power supply. So I used a dremel and many cutting wheels to lop off the back plate of the power supply casing. I cut out the hole for the 80mm fan and the power was simple enough with a roto-zip bit in the dremel.



The big problem was trying to figure out how to get the CD-ROM mounted in the right place. After having my wife look at it for a while she picked up the shell of the PS and it dawned on me that it was the same width as a 5.25" drive and I flipped it over and figured that would work. Having a few AT cases lying around I found another PS with that type of casing and raided the cover. And viola instant drive mounting brackets.

 For those of you who are wondering how the drive bracket, PS, and MB are held in place, I have screws going through the case, in from the outside anchoring them. The Motherboard is mounted to a piece of 1/8" hardboard using 1" long nut and bolt with a 1/4" piece of clear tubing cut to 3/8" for a standoff.

01/12/2003

Have the holes drilled and the power buttons and the power/HDD LEDS mounted.

01/15/2003


Have the cut outs made for the two fans. It took a few trys at getting the holes lined up so they centered on the lid but with a convenient little ruler my wife had it made quick work. The fans behind are clear with red LEDS so this will (does) make a cool back lighting.


01/17/2003

The fans are in and look great. I also installed a secondary USB set of ports on the edge by the handle since the ASUS motherboard i am using has support for up to 6 ports i figured a total of four would make it less likely to need to borrow a hub.



Sometime after... I forgot to document the end of the project too caught up in the LAN party thing and then it was finished. 

This is a shot of the completed ATX back plate end. I glued the aluminum plate into the hole cut and the board slides into it like another MB and case does.



This is the CDrom end of the machine. I painted the face plate of the CD and the power supply fan grill cover stainless steel (Rust'o'leum)


A look into the completed box. Lots of room still. The fans are set so one blows in and the other blows out so that the air insice is circulated nicely ( i hope)


This is the shot of the edge where i put the second set of USB prots. seemed a nice and conveinent place to put them.


Things left to add.

Get a faster graphics card or a motherboard with Geforce 4MX built-on


Parts List.