Warning: long thread!

I started work on this case last summer when my sister got herself a new laptop and didn't need her case anymore. The original plan was to mod it , build a junky pc out of spare parts and throw it in the basement to use as an entertainment center. I don't have any progress pics from then as I don't have a digital camera (yet) and I borrowed my sister's just to get these shots.

Fast forward a year and I've got a job and some money to burn. Now the plan is to build a new pc in this case and throw my old one (SA4E) in the basement instead.

The inspiration behind the design is the striped paint job on old muscle cars. I don't have a particular model or realistic example. It's just something i've thought up.

Anyways I resumed work on the case last week. I finnished the chasis and the front bezel last summer and I've kept them in my room since. The top and side panels were more or less done but needed some work so I left them in the garage where they got chipped and mangled up. So I've finnished repainting the panels (save one) and finnished the windows today. Here's what it looks as of tonight when I assembled it to see how it will look:



Overall I like it so far. It would be better if the bezel wasn't ugly in the first place.
There are some problems though. Doing the stripes was a pain over curved surfaces and it's hard to get them to line up.



It doesn't take long to notice that the panels don't match though. When I started I was using this Near Match Orange auto paint from Canadian Tire. When I picked the project back up this summer I could not find a can of Near Match Orange for love or money. I drove to every Crappy Tire in the city and they had every colour but orange. So i took my chances and bought some crap brand and prayed it wouldnt be noticeable but it is so I have to redo it. Bah.



I've started getting parts too. Future Shop was having a back to school sale and it was on sale for $279 (CDN). Ive seen it on most web sites for about $330.
I also got a 22" widescreen lcd too.



Excuse the graininess , I know almost nothing about photography.



Now that the project's back on track I plan to take more photos and update this.

Question: Can anyone reccomend a good brand of clear coat? Or maybe i'm applying it wrong. I bought this can of krylon clear coat and when you spray it on it leaves this mist around the area you just sprayed effectively undoing your last stroke. In the end I get shiny patches and patches of this frosty , dusty stuff and It makes large surfaces (ie the side panel) next to impossible. I cannot get a good uniform coat. It's hard to explain, I'll take a picture soon.

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Firstly, I think the front panel actually suites the 'musclecar' theme, it reminds me of a big fat front or rear valance! maybe a vandle switch and a modders mesh grill from mnpctech.com would just supply the finishing touches there!
As for the clearcoat issue, I'm not a biggy on spraying techniques etc but how long are you leaving between laying down another coat? maybe your putting another coat down to soon?
again Bill Owen AKA mnpctech-guy would have better advice on it!! or ask coel, he's pretty darn good when it comes to spraying etc!
Other than that, Good job!! the colours work well together and I think your photography skills aren't actually that bad!! what camera do you use at the mo btw?
If you want any advice on your photography then just gimme a shout! that is something I do know something about lol
+Rep for a great job so far!

Quote: Originally Posted by MRMOBEUS Firstly, I think the front panel actually suites the 'musclecar' theme, it reminds me of a big fat front or rear valance! maybe a vandle switch and a modders mesh grill from mnpctech.com would just supply the finishing touches there!

I second that, it sure reminded me of a muscle car....

Great job so far. +Rep

Sweet strip! id say go with the mesh as well it reminds me of a muscle car...I should know I own one....

Well I made another trip to Crappy Tire yesterday and the clerk told me that the paint i've been using is discontinued. Is there a way I can get a matching spraypaint to it? Or Is there a way I can darken the new stuff I got a bit? There's no way I'm repainting the top and front bezel.

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That's too bad you can't find another can of that stuff...I've used Near Match in the past, and unfortunately it lives up to its name. It NEARLY matches various automotive colors, but doesn't EXACTLY match anything. I don't know how you'll darken it. I think if you want the 'professional' look, you'll have to repaint it with matching colors. One thing anybody can tell you when it comes to painting: any time you try to cut corners, you'll get less than desireable results.

Time to roll up your sleeves or leave it with unmatching colors.

I found this that i thought was neat, you could actually match your paint, and get one of these:
Preval Sprayers

If you've got a compressor, go all the way to $20 or so and buy an airbrush instead; then you won't be buying cartridges on a daily basis.

I haven't made much progress since last update. I've only been modding on my days off when I have the time. I managed to find a paint that matches the colour I need very closely , unfortunately it's engine paint so I don't know how well it will work on a case but i'll find a way. With some patience and a good coat of clear coat I think I can get it to look nice. Speaking of clear coat I found a better can of it and goes on pretty nice. That krylon stuff sucked.

Any ways I applied a coat of it and for the most part it was nice but it went on a little too rough in places so I did some sanding and painting and it just started cracking. So I did some heavy sanding and put another coat of primer and it still came out like crap. So more sanding to do this weekend , i'll get it perfect if it breaks my arm!

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Quote: Originally Posted by Morion Well I made another trip to Crappy Tire yesterday and the clerk told me that the paint i've been using is discontinued. Is there a way I can get a matching spraypaint to it? Or Is there a way I can darken the new stuff I got a bit? There's no way I'm repainting the top and front bezel.

well, at least it lived up to it's billing!

Well i've got the floppy drive done. It went fairly well except that I tried to take the door off to paint separately and I snapped the bugger clean off so I guess i'll have to do without. It looks alright , im not sure if you need the door to keep dust out but I doubt it since its already full of dust anyways. Besides I never use it anyways. I probably wouldnt even install one if I still had the bezel.

I repainted the side panel with the window and the enw colour is much closer but still not a match but at least it's a lot easier on the eyes.

The other panel, on the other hand, is taking forever. I had it painted and finnished but it was bent so I put a pile of books on it to straighten it out. I put a towel under it hoping it wouldn't mark up the finnish. But the towel left marks in the clear coat and it was ruined. So i sanded it back down and redid it and it's drying as I write this. This time i'll let it sit out in the sun to harden up the finnish. At least it's more or less straight now.

Sorry for the quality. I took the pics with my phone. Still gotta get myself a good digital camera.

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Good news! I went camping with my dad last week and we stopped at a Crappy Tire in Port Elgin (4 hours away from here) and got their last 2 cans of Near Match Orange. Painting is going along just fine and everything's gonna match after all. Pics coming soon.

I'm about ready to take an axe to this thing. Even though I managed to find two cans of the original paint it still doesn't match. The side panels are still brighter than the top and front. It's been a hell of time painting them too. I would get one side done and screw up the other side so I'm not touching them. I guess i'll be doing the top and front over again. I want it to at least look decent. Plus the panels aren't fitting together right so Ive got to fix them up somehow.

I would have thrown the stupid thing out by now but i've got so much time and money invested in it that I want to finnish it. What I should have done was bought a new case with some nice features and modded it rather than cheaping out and use this old piece of crap. I planned on getting this done before it started getting cold outside but thats not happening. Then again I don't have as much time or energy to work on it as much as I would like.

Anyways here's some pictures to see where i'm at. The colours are messed up a bit but I don't know anything about changing the settings on this camera. They look slightly redder than they actually are. The side panels are a solid orange. The top and front are orange but browner than the side panels.

When (if?) I do finnish I plan to put a couple of white cathodes inside to light it up. I think they would suit this case better than any other colour and not a lot of people use them. LED fans are nice but I think I'll stick to plain black ones since they match the inside colour and they would probably be too flashy for this case. I will get some nice chrome grills though.

Im also thinking about what to do about the front fan. The case only comes with spaces for 2 80mm fans. One intake one outtake. I probably should make a bigger hole since 2 80s seem inadequate for a modern system. Plus I don't like the stupid plastic cage thing that came with the case for holding it on. It's ugly and they're dust magnets. So I might do a front blowhole and maybe that's where the aforementioned modder's mesh might look cool. A 92mm fan might do nicely.

I've just applied for my first credit card so hopefully I can start ordering parts soon. First on the list is the power supply because It won't be obsolete in 6 months. I've already got an 8800gts 320mb and now they've got the 8800gt which smacks it and goes for about the same as what I paid so I'm not sure if i'll keep it. I paid $279 for it which was a great deal at the time and it's going for that now so I might go for it if I can break even.

Anyways nothing's set in concrete yet. I want to ge the paint looking decent first of all.

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Quote: Originally Posted by Morion I'm about ready to take an axe to this thing. Even though I managed to find two cans of the original paint it still doesn't match. The side panels are still brighter than the top and front. It's been a hell of time painting them too. I would get one side done and screw up the other side so I'm not touching them. I guess i'll be doing the top and front over again. I want it to at least look decent. Plus the panels aren't fitting together right so Ive got to fix them up somehow. I would have thrown the stupid thing out by now but i've got so much time and money invested in it that I want to finnish it. What I should have done was bought a new case with some nice features and modded it rather than cheaping out and use this old piece of crap. I planned on getting this done before it started getting cold outside but thats not happening. Then again I don't have as much time or energy to work on it as much as I would like. Anyways here's some pictures to see where i'm at. The colours are messed up a bit but I don't know anything about changing the settings on this camera. They look slightly redder than they actually are. The side panels are a solid orange. The top and front are orange but browner than the side panels. When (if?) I do finnish I plan to put a couple of white cathodes inside to light it up. I think they would suit this case better than any other colour and not a lot of people use them. LED fans are nice but I think I'll stick to plain black ones since they match the inside colour and they would probably be too flashy for this case. I will get some nice chrome grills though. Im also thinking about what to do about the front fan. The case only comes with spaces for 2 80mm fans. One intake one outtake. I probably should make a bigger hole since 2 80s seem inadequate for a modern system. Plus I don't like the stupid plastic cage thing that came with the case for holding it on. It's ugly and they're dust magnets. So I might do a front blowhole and maybe that's where the aforementioned modder's mesh might look cool. A 92mm fan might do nicely. I've just applied for my first credit card so hopefully I can start ordering parts soon. First on the list is the power supply because It won't be obsolete in 6 months. I've already got an 8800gts 320mb and now they've got the 8800gt which smacks it and goes for about the same as what I paid so I'm not sure if i'll keep it. I paid $279 for it which was a great deal at the time and it's going for that now so I might go for it if I can break even. Anyways nothing's set in concrete yet. I want to ge the paint looking decent first of all.

Not looking that bad really.

There's no such thing as perfection, we can only strive towards it!

Well i've taken off the top and front panels and started repainting them. I turns out I cheaped out on the painter's tape. The paint bled through it and the lines came out terribly. So I bought some better stuff and it came out fine but I got some orange peel. Long story short its being a real pain in the ass.

Anyways I'm starting to buy some hardware. I've settled on a Core 2 Quad Q6600. This site Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor Intel BX80562Q6600 LGA 775 CPU Kentsfield Quad-Core 2.4GHz 8MB L2 Cache-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com has a good price. It says it has g0 stepping but below they said they cannot guarantee core steppings. To all of you who got the 6600, how can you be sure you're getting a G0?

if you're thinking about a different video card,
The Best Gaming Graphics cards for the Money: December 2007 | Tom's Hardware

Quote: Originally Posted by Morion Well i've taken off the top and front panels and started repainting them. I turns out I cheaped out on the painter's tape. The paint bled through it and the lines came out terribly. So I bought some better stuff and it came out fine but I got some orange peel. Long story short its being a real pain in the ass. Anyways I'm starting to buy some hardware. I've settled on a Core 2 Quad Q6600. This site Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor Intel BX80562Q6600 LGA 775 CPU Kentsfield Quad-Core 2.4GHz 8MB L2 Cache-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com has a good price. It says it has g0 stepping but below they said they cannot guarantee core steppings. To all of you who got the 6600, how can you be sure you're getting a G0?

18 bucks cheaper....OEM
ClubIT Product - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor OEM HH80562PH0568M SLACR

Quote: Originally Posted by BeetleMan 18 bucks cheaper....OEM ClubIT Product - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping Kentsfield 2.40GHz 8MB L2 LGA 775 Processor OEM HH80562PH0568M SLACR

Thanks for the tip. But it doesn't look like they accept Canadian customers.

EVGA nForce 680i SE SLI (TR Version) Motherboard - NVIDIA, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, SLI Ready, PCI Express, Dual Gigabit LAN, SPDIF, USB 2.0 & Firewire, Serial ATA, RAID 122-CK-NF63-TR at TigerDirect.com
This is the motherboard I'm thinking of getting. Anyone know if it's any good? I'm still undecided on SLI but I definately want the option. I don't plan to upgrade the CPU for a good long while so the lack of 45nm support doesnt bother me all that much.

Also what type of RAM should I get. I've heard good things about Corsair's XMS TWINX and I was looking at this deal Corsair XMS2 DDR2 SDRAM Desktop Memory TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2 x 1GB DDR2 800 PC2 6400 Dual Channel 240-Pin Enhanced Performance Profiles-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com. Any good?

on newegg, that ram is rated 4 eggs, these are the same price and rated 5. I've got the patriot, it's really stable and overclocks well.

Geil
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Patriot
Newegg.com - Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail