pardon any spelling errors
Well i figured out how to remove the tool-less bay mounting brackets without breaking them or the parts that were keeping them in. It turned out to be very simple and starightforward, and in fact there were no parts keeping them in. just a little flex with the help of the screwdriver and they slid over the notched metal part of the bay and off them came.....easy. I did this so i could paint just two areas that were glaringly visible.
-the back of the inside of the case,
-the mounting cages for every drive you would ever want to install in this thing.
I purchased this case so I could have a somewhat conservative and classy case but have something not too expensive that I would be scared to mod as this is my first mod.
The following pic is a collage of pics put together to detail what i did. the numbered sequence will detail the process:
1.) this is the case as it was purchased from newegg. i ordered this specific model so i would have the side-window WITHOUT the huge etched CM centurion logo in the plastic. it came with a CM 380 watt PSU and thats gonna go into a folding rig right away. something better of 500+ watts will go in its place
2.) The front of the case easily pops off with a very minimal wedging from a large flat edge screwdriver. and this is what we see. (ive removed a few drive plates, but they include points to screw them back on if you want to)
3.) I noticed that down near the bottom theres an 80mm intake drive cooling fan being blocked by a mesh just behind the power switch....i took the dremel and removed it quickly.
4.) putting back on the power switch assembly, the airflow is now unobstructed and cleanly through the mesh front, through a very thin layer of foam, and into the fan. lots of flow. i like the foam its only about 1/16" thick. a nice filter.
5.)This is the origional stock inside of the case. you can see the slide locks to lock your drives into place..and they do so VERY firmly when locked. very nice touch from them. but as you can see, any looking through the plastic will reveal the left hand side of the awesomly tacky aluminum sheet look of the drive cages and the backside of the case interior. i just couldnt have that!!
6.) I removed the slide locks mentioned in the beginning of this post
7.) Then the metal spring clips that are pressed into the sides of your drives to keep them in place, acted on by the plastic slides.
8.) I masked the case to cover the areas where i didn't want any paint (with an entire best buy sunday paper insert....what else are they good for) and took it out back and hit it with automotive primer....(all i had laying around was "Omega-automotive sanding primer, wich turned out to probably be the wrong stuff...but it was a start) primer dries very fast especially when you do multiple passes of very light misty layers
9.).....so after that dried in the direct sunlight, I began light misty layers of the black paint i also had laying around. RUST-OLEUM high performance enamel. Gloss Black. I tried my best to get even coats without it pooling in any corners or nooks/crannys. i painted in the direction people would look at the case. the back side of the drive bays are not usually seen so i skipped those sides to reduce the chances of screwing anythign up! you wouldnt see any imperfections unless you were closer than a foot, and then theyre very minimal. (nothing like a stuck fly or anything.)
10.) The inside back was a last minute idea and im glad i did it.
11.) After it was dry I re-installed the spring clips that keep the drives in the bay.
12.) Make sure everything is very dry before you try to put things back together, or else you could screw up the finish as i did here. A good thing as it will not be seen when re-installed...but double check, dry to the touch dosent mean its ready to have parts rubbing against it. and you might have parts permanently stuck where they shoudl be moving/sliding!
13.) Everything almost back together here, the last drive lock on the bottom is not in yet but you get the idea of how it looks now in comparison to #5 above....much better in my opinion.
So when youre painting. make sure you have an idea and a plan. sit and look at it for a while and think to yourself if its a good idea and how much work it will take. it took me probably the better aprt of an hour to mask the case appropriately, once i decided what to do, and then an hour to paint it. another hour to unmask it and re-install a few things. now to let it fully dry overnight before putting the fans i want to use in and all that good stuff. Still waiting for a few things in the mail.
This will be watercooled. i'm using a Black Ice extreme II radiator w/ 1/2" fittings and 1/2" hose all around. cpu and VGA blocks. fans used will be 30Db max or less and all red lighted. the drives will be in the 5.25 bays in passive coolers and the aquarium pump will be in the bottom where the 3.5 drives usually go. I'm focusing on a VERY clean installation. this will initially be used on my XP mobile setup (on a 230+FSB and ill see how far i can go on a 1.85vcore) and then ill go over to a s939 single pci.
updates to follow. take care!
