HP C2786 rack

abyssling · 28-May-04, 08:46 AM

Well I thought I'd tell you all about a kickass deal I got a couple of days ago that will be my new modding project. Putting project "Jedi" on hold for awhile as i have recently rethought some design ideas and I will be working on project "Imperial Systems" in the meantime.

I got a HP C2786 rack here locally for 50.00. It is a little banged up and needs some serious TLC, but this SHOULD be the biggest modded case to date.

Pics here now are whats sitting in my Computer room. My rack has several dents in it so i have a bit of metalworking to do but hopefully once I am done this will be a truly unique mod.

I will be replacing much of the metal side panels and front and rear panels with huge lexan windows and metal mesh in some places, (this bastard is very very heavy)replacing the fans in the upper deack with more efficient units, painting of course, custom lighted badging to replace the Hewlett Packard Systems with Imperial Systems, tons and tons of Imperial Star Wars themed design all over the case and don't be suprised if you see a Sith Lord or 2 once I'm done.

I will keep this thread updated as I progress on this project, I have set a deadline for myself of late August for completion as that is when I was planning on starting to build my CCNA/CCNP lab. I have had a lot of interest from local networking students who would like a practice lab and are willing to pay me for usage when the schools lab is not accessible

*UPDATED PICS*

Wordbiker · 28-May-04, 09:01 AM

Nice platform to start with!

Since this is Project Feedback, here's my $.02...

I'd stay away from the full windows, at least all clear ones. Looking at the front, if one was to buy a couple fistfuls of LEDs and some model parts, sheet styrene, turrets, etc....you could make an awesome looking Deathstar type mod. I'm thinking lots and lots of detail to make it appear scaled, pillboxes in rows, antennaes, a trench with a window that shows the core reactor, "laser" LEDs that blink...get my drift? That'd be an intimidating machine, no matter what you had inside...

In any case, it looks great and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

abyssling · 28-May-04, 09:16 AM

Thanks Wordbiker, it is something I had thought about. I am really excited about the project, there is a lot i can do with it. I probably wont do the whole front door panel that way but might consider doing that with the middle and or lower half with a lexan window above it with a poster of Vader transferred onto clear plastic like an applique that should look like a looming ghostly image over the Death Star, with his personal Tie-I along the edge of the window, with a similar window on the inside back but that of the Emperor.

The side windows i was planning on using tinted lexan with a Huge Imperial symbol on the side etched into the lexan and Red CCFLs on the edges of the window where You cant see them refracting light through the side so that when it hits the window etch it is lit up red, and possibly an airbrushed mural below the window or vice versa, I can't decide. For now i will probably just do one side window since it will be sitting in a corner and just paint the other side. Gives me more time to figure out what i am going to do with it and it wont be visible anyway in my small computer room

Alternately i had considered taking a side panel and drilling a ****ton of holes in it and backlighting with white leds to simulate a starfield and having an Imperial fleet airbrushed on the side

I am still in the planning and measurement stage right now but I can't see how I could possible go wrong with this case

abyssling · 29-May-04, 10:14 AM

more pics including those of damaged areas I need to fix

abyssling · 29-May-04, 10:18 AM

and lastly something that distressed me terribly when i got it home, didn't notice it in the warehouse I pulled the rack from, but I feel fairly confident I can remedy fairly easily

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28-May-04, 09:01 AM		#2 (permalink)
Wordbiker Apex Tech God	Nice platform to start with! Since this is Project Feedback, here's my $.02... I'd stay away from the full windows, at least all clear ones. Looking at the front, if one was to buy a couple fistfuls of LEDs and some model parts, sheet styrene, turrets, etc....you could make an awesome looking Deathstar type mod. I'm thinking lots and lots of detail to make it appear scaled, pillboxes in rows, antennaes, a trench with a window that shows the core reactor, "laser" LEDs that blink...get my drift? That'd be an intimidating machine, no matter what you had inside... In any case, it looks great and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

28-May-04, 09:16 AM		#3 (permalink)
abyssling Apex Tech Maniac	Thanks Wordbiker, it is something I had thought about. I am really excited about the project, there is a lot i can do with it. I probably wont do the whole front door panel that way but might consider doing that with the middle and or lower half with a lexan window above it with a poster of Vader transferred onto clear plastic like an applique that should look like a looming ghostly image over the Death Star, with his personal Tie-I along the edge of the window, with a similar window on the inside back but that of the Emperor. The side windows i was planning on using tinted lexan with a Huge Imperial symbol on the side etched into the lexan and Red CCFLs on the edges of the window where You cant see them refracting light through the side so that when it hits the window etch it is lit up red, and possibly an airbrushed mural below the window or vice versa, I can't decide. For now i will probably just do one side window since it will be sitting in a corner and just paint the other side. Gives me more time to figure out what i am going to do with it and it wont be visible anyway in my small computer room Alternately i had considered taking a side panel and drilling a ****ton of holes in it and backlighting with white leds to simulate a starfield and having an Imperial fleet airbrushed on the side I am still in the planning and measurement stage right now but I can't see how I could possible go wrong with this case