I've been thinkin of modding my rig for quite sometime. Mostly thinking about this first mod on my X-Dreamer pre-mod. I decided I wanted a turbine-type of fan in the front but I didnt want to remove the piece with the power and reset buttons.

After removing the front panel of the case, I unscrewed the LCD and peeled off that black piece of plastic. I glued the LCD into one of the front panels temorarily. It will be there until i get one of the multifunction panels. Then i proceeded to cut away the back of the plastic piece where the LCD came from. I didnt want to mess up the chrome-like finish so i left the two triangular shaped parts sticking out into the circle. I bought a 60mm fan as it was the largest fan that would fit in that opening. After painting it silver, I rigged it up with some hot glue, nails and nuts to hold it in the opening. There may have been an easier way to rig it in there but i'll use whatever works.

I was going to paint the fan with some Duplicolor Chrome but Walmart and Home Depot dont have it. Its probably too expensive anyway. I guess it didnt come out too bad for only 2 hours of work but i am definetly going to put on some finishing touches since its still a little rough around the edges. i'll post a pic later of it all touched up. I have no name for this project because im not going for any specific theme. My next mod will probably be a window for the top panel.

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I like, good job. You might wannna consider throwing some modders mesher or some type of fan gril in front of that fan, you never know when one of your dumbass friends will stick his finger in there. The LCD looks good except in the pic it looks pretty rough around the edges. Consider throwin some bondo around it and sanding it flat, than painting it to achieve that manufactured that way look.

lol yea, I have some dumbass friends, thanks for the tip. The LCD is only Temporary and it looks like butt, i know. All i did was cut a crappy hole and hot glue it in there, maybe i will use some bondo if i can find any.

modders mesh and cold cathodes would look great

Yea I just ordered dual blue cathodes and i found some of he chrome paint. I plan to paint the inside front of the case with chrome so the cathodes will really shine in there.

Lookin good 67_GTO

Your name caught my eye, I had a cherry `65 GOAT few years ago.. then I had to buy a house

There will always be more cars

We need some more Sweeeet pic's............

Quote: Originally Posted by mnpctech_guy Lookin good 67_GTO Your name caught my eye, I had a cherry `65 GOAT few years ago.. then I had to buy a house There will always be more cars

65 goat *droooooool* I like the styles between 65 and 67. Most people like the 68's but i think they look too much like any other muscle car. I am going to have one someday, I'll make a clone if i have to. The only problem is that they sell for a sh1tload now. A fully restored 67 can go for as much as $75,000. I want a beater though so i can restore it myself.

I should have some finished pics soon. The cathodes and chrome paint havent come yet. I am going to be painting on the frame of the case so I have a question, Should I sand it and lay down some primer first? Or will just painting it as is do the same trick. I am going to use Duplicolor chrome.

Has anyone used Duplicolor chrome before? Does it actually look like chrome?

I have used it. You have to prep the surface extreamly well and paint very very carfully then after it drys you can polish it to a bit of a shine its pretty cool stuff actually

you can get bondo at autozone or any auto parts store just about any body filler will do it

Thanks for the info, I have used chrome type paints before but they came out as more of a bright silver like on my fan.

Quote: Originally Posted by 67_GTO Thanks for the info, I have used chrome type paints before but they came out as more of a bright silver like on my fan.

Yep, you're gonna have to work your butt off to get anything more than the shiny silver look. Chrome is nearly impossible to duplicate, even with DupliColor. Good luck though, and let us know how it turns out.

Quote: Originally Posted by hp07 Yep, you're gonna have to work your butt off to get anything more than the shiny silver look. Chrome is nearly impossible to duplicate, even with DupliColor. Good luck though, and let us know how it turns out.

Yea theres nothing like a real chrome dipping process. There isnt any place near me that does that though. If there was, i might consider having the whole frame chromed. The cost though.... ugh.

There is another paint out there that will get you more of a chrome look but you get what you pay for.

http://alsacorp.com/chrome.htm

you should put a chrome cone shaped peice on the middle of that fan.. it would give it more of that turbine look.. and it would go along with the chrome shroud.

kinda like that except for maybe a little bit more of an extreme angle for the cone.. simply enough that fan is called the turbine. It can be found here

Yea I like those aerocool turbines, im gonna order one sometime. Im not sure if i want a cone shaped piece or not. I think it looks good as it is.

that alsacorp chrome is wicked expensive. As far as i can see, you cant but it in any less than a pint and its about 300 bucks.

Finally I make an update to this project after almost 7 months have passed. No major mods have been done recently but I hope to get some work done over thanksgiving vacation.

Things hopefully to be accomplished are:

New aluminum 60mm fan in place of the silver crappy one
Switches to turn off the six LEDs on the front
Blue tinted acrylic to replace the two free 5.25 bay panels
Sleeving for the PSU and possibly paint for it also
Hide the wires that currently sit in a huge jumble in the case

I have had some upgrades since like a Cool Drive 5 and a Vantec Nexus fan controller with 2 blue cathodes. No pics yet because i dont have a camera.

I will probably be lucky to accomplish one of those tasks but I live in hopes that I wont feel too lazy.


EDIT:

Some updated photos... I picked up some Rust Oleum Chrome spray paint and painted the 60mm fan but not long after, the power cable snapped off. None the less, the paint came out very close to chrome quality besides the fact that i touched it before it dried and messed it up.

I need to find somewhere to get some plexi... anyone know of any common place? Home Depot Maybe?

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