i just got one of those ammo cases but its only 7 inches high, 11 inches deep and 6 inches in width, and i was thinking in stuffing this old hewlett packard computer sitting under my bed (its got 192 meg of ram and its a 633mhz celly, its got an 8x2x32 burner and a dvd, and a 20 gig drive) and i was planning on stuffing all of that in my ammo case, but the mobo is half an inch too big for me to close the lid, i already got rid of some pcb of the mobo that was useless, but it still wont close, i was thinking of maybe adding some stilts to the bottom of the case and having some part of the mobo stick out so wires could be connected from the bottom instead of ruining the top lid, but i´m not convined of doing this, have any ideas? i really want to have a comp inside that case as it´s small and would totally rock as a mp3 player or maybe as my lan computer (we usually only play counter-strike, quake 3, starcraft or warcraft 3 and this pos can run those nicely)

but can you help me with any ideas on how to get the mobo to fit, maybe some ideas on how to mount the full size cd-rw and the hdd?
also would a vu meter look good on it? i need some ideas!
Thanks all in advance

Um, get a smaller mobo or a bigger ammo box, or fit the mobo at an angle?

i cant get a smaller mobo i got no money, and if i placed tand if the mobo was at ANY angle my modem and my NIC wont fit (as i have to deal with the fullsize cd drive)

another problem would be fitting the psu inside, do you have any idea on whats the smallest psu out there? i may be able to fit it all inside, if not maybe painting the psu and welding it on one side, what do you think?

Quote: Originally posted by RORSCHACH i already got rid of some pcb of the mobo that was useless

Umm, does this imply you physically cut off a part of the PCB? Cause if you did I would be shocked if it still works.

yup, i got rid of some with my dremel, it was jsut pcb, nothing was in it, and i tried it and still works

Quote: Originally posted by RORSCHACH i cant get a smaller mobo i got no money, and if i placed tand if the mobo was at ANY angle my modem and my NIC wont fit (as i have to deal with the fullsize cd drive)

Know anyone with a MIG welder? Sounds Like you're going to have to make the ammo box bigger by cutting it in half & welding some extra bits it. You could also think about rivetting extra sections in yourself.

As for the PSU, you could leave it outside the case & fit a plug & socket (pretty ugly though).

ok i took the dremel to the crate and made a faceplate on the top lid and found out that the whole mobo fits, next i will try to mount the hdd with some plexi to the side (i´ll sandwich the hdd in between plexi and the crate side) the cd drive fits, but i have no idea on how to mount it (maybe i´ll just fold the cuts made for it´s faceplate and use some epoxy to glue it, with some luck the psu that came with the hewlett packard will fit in, but i´m not convinced at all with the mounting of the cd-drive and the hdd, got any ideas on this?

i will visit home depot and get some green paint (to match the ammo case´s color) and see how will the psu (already painted) look on the outside, my guess is pretty crappy, but i was thinking in placing some leds on the inside of the psu so iw will look slightly better, maybe hitting the psu´s outside panels with a hammer to match the tattered look of the ammo crate, maybe even some yellow letters as the ones on the side of the crate mentioning the caliber of the ammo that it used to hold, will try to get it done by this week and if i can get a cam, i´ll try to post my 3 cases on friday)

here is my suggestion if you are doing an ammo crate mod.

In a nutshell: Use more then one crate.

What I would do is cram as much as possible into a larger one. this will be the Mobo, NIC, whatever cards you need. For the interface you make one out of some pexi or some remains for a window cutout (i always like to recycle so i ALWAYS save stuff like that) and make a faceplate that will go INSIDE the case so it will look like any other ammo crate until you open it and see the connectors all sitting there.

Get another crate to fit the PSU, same deal, all inputs and outputs are on a faeplate that is covered by the top when closed. All drives either get their own crates or you can probably fit a couple in one crate. If you use just amodicum (don't you love that word) or creativity you can rig it up so that you plug the IDE cabe into the faceplate and also have the drives that need to open do so through the faceplate which, again is "stealthed" when the top is latched shut.

What you end up with is maybe 3 seperate cases, but god damn that would look badass if you do it right. walk in to a LAN and open up three normal looking cases to have a badass interface. maybe mod up a fourth crate to carry all the wires and some CD storage space. I would add a few "cool looking" LEDS to each faceplate to mke it look more MilSpec and BAM!!!


Oh yeah, paint the Monitor OD also, or maybe the yellow and black caution stripes


EDIT -- yes, i did see the part where you said you can't afford another crate and beliebve me, i know the feeling. I was just having some fun with a badass visual i had thinking of this mod. If you want it to all fit in only one ammo crate, scour the Surpluss shops for "missle crates". they are what you see the bad guys pull the stingers out of in movies. if you can get a VFD or LCD monitor and mount that in there along with all the other parts it would be an insane LAN box LMAO.. love the new mileys BTW

DAMN!! that sounds friggin´ nice!!!! i´ll just need to ask my uncle in dallas to send me some bigger crates so i can try that! (i really doubt finding some of those here where i live ) i saw some military toggle switches with red covers on top of them and was thinking of getting one of those to use it as the start button, i just didn´t got something clear, you are saying that to have access to the cd drive i need to open the crate? i like that idea too much to end up using it as my hewlett crapard´s box, so i think i´ll use it for my athlon box, thanks a lot for the wonderful idea, now i cant wait to actually start doing it!

no, i may had that wrong, i could not afford another mobo, sorry

actually now that i read the word LCD i thought it would look badass on the crate!! just think of the green LCD (i think green fits more to the military theme than blue) besides the red toggle switch!! i think i´ll sell my dvd, hey my friend is willing to buy it and i am willing to sell it, never really used it that much really thanks for all the great ideas Miststlkr!

Quote: Originally posted by RORSCHACH ...thanks a lot for the wonderful idea, now i cant wait to actually start doing it!

LMAO.. that's all i'm good for man. enjoy and yes, the way i have it pictured, the crate lid would have to be open to open and drives that need opening (CD, DVD, etc) but if you can picture this, open the top of the crate, the drives would be mounted flush with the opening. i can't think of a better way to say that at the moment, i'll make a pic if needed.

2 reasons that that doesn't really matter:[list=1][*] The methofd i was describing to the kid would kep the crate looking original, all parts would be completely internal which, IM-not-so-HO is far more badass.[*] Even if he did cut the crate like that, what are the odds that anyone who will ever see his caase (or crate as the case may be) have ever seen the one you linked to or any of the other ones out there? Answer: definately not likely. [/list=1]

so chew on this for a bit: and stop hating on the n00b. At least it's more original then another god damned LL with a window and a CC

yup, i already saw that case, and no what i have tought for mine does not look a bit like that case (apart of them both being ammo crates duh :p ) neither does what miststlkr has planned , and yes im sick of those window and cc mods, they were all cool and new when i first saw them but now they´re everywhere!

Is that an analog DC voltage meter I spy?

Those things are a bitch to cut.

****.. i would immagine. they're heavy as a mo-fugga too for their size. of course, i'm glad they are rather then too weak to protect the ammo inside that could lead to problems...