After I got back from school this spring my computer started flaking out on me again. It had a boot sector virus as well as some overheating problems that were causing automatic shutdowns. After cleaning off the virus I decided it was about time the replace the power supply (the fan had not turned in at least a year). So I got a 350 Watt Antec supply as well as 3 case fans to help with the cooling (the fan on my video card doesn't work either). Of course all this new crap did not fit into my old hp pavillion case. So I ran out to home depot and bought a pile of aluminum and ordered a few hundred machine screws and set to work on a new case just for the hell of it. Here is how it is going.
Step 1, building the outer frame. The outer frame that everything will eventually mount to was built out of aluminum angle rod with the corner brackets shaped out of 1/8 inch thick aluminum plate. The finished frame consists of 12 peices of angle rod, 24 corner brackets and is held together by 96 machine screws. Overall dimensions 8"W x 18"D x 14"H
the finished frame
the finished frame again
corner detail on frame
Step 2, the power supply and motherboard. Next I built the mounts that would hold the power supply and motherboard. The power supply will be held by more aluminum pieces. I removed the motherboard pan and I/O sheild from the old case and attached them below the power supply mount, to hold the motherboard and expansion cards.
Power Supply mount and motherboard housing
Step 3, the drive bays. Some more aluminum, alot more nuts and bolts and the drive bays were finished. I have enough room for a cdrw, dvd-rom, floppy drive and hard disk.
drive bays from the front
drive bays from the side
Step whatever, the sides. Some aluminum mounting brackets, blue plexiglass, more nuts and bolts and the sides are done. this damn thing is finished after 3 months.
empty case from the front
empty case from the back
full case from the front
full case from the back
full case close up on side
