Project Elite 360 Double Barrel New pictures 8/9

[Icejon]

Hi Guys,

I've just started a mod. My objective is to transform a humble $39.99 chassis into a lanbox! I begin with a Cooler Master Elite RC-360.

Going to add
- Red painted internals
- Twin Aluminum Rail Handles
- Custom Side window
- Something else?
- Monitor Mount


I just bought the case on Cooler Master Store as a refurbished since it will make no sense to get a new one and strip it down. Worklog follows:

[Icejon]

The first thing I had on the agenda is stripping the chassis. While I could paint it all as is, since I am only going to paint some of the insides red, I needed to drill out all the rivets. This task is much harder when the rivet heads get stuck in the drill bit.

After drilling the case apart, it comes away in about 10 pieces! It's pretty simple. I then had to sand and scuff up each pieces so that my primer would stick. I ran into a problem with some greases and goos left on by the factory so I decided to give each piece a bath, that is why I have a towel on the floor.

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[Icejon]

Once the surfaces were prepped and dry I could paint some primer on them. I put on a thick layer of Duplicolor self-etching primer. This primer was a little green, but it would allow my red to stick on quite nicely to the bare metal.

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Next I think I needed to sand a little using 360 grit wet sandpaper I bought at an auto parts store! Gotta love Pepboys! I made a homemade block using a 1x1 lumber piece. I think I have to repaint my balcony !

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[Icejon]

As promised, I found the pictures of the painting on the inside of the chassis and I am uploading them for viewing pleasures.
I am using Duplicolor Flame Red SUV and Truck automotive paint. You can see that I have the hard drive trays painted with a single light coat of paint over the primer.

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This is the back panels before I wetsand them with 600 grit automotive paper. I will get rid of those little dust particles and orange peel.

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I finished painting about 3 good coats after a few days and now I am riveting the chassis together. The small hard drive tray structures assemble first with a simple hand rivet gun.

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Now I am working on assembly while trying to protect my finish.

[Icejon]

I had a few problems riveting it together. The first is that a certain order has to be followed as opposed to ripping the chassis apart. I failed the first attempt to install the hard d drive cage to the top of the chassis rather than to the motherboard tray at first. Then while putting it together, the force of the rivet gun can sometimes cause it to scrape against the chassis.

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I did my best to keep the chassis straight even when I had no clamps or jigs to hold it square. The Elite 360 is a small rectangular cube type box so I was hoping that it would rivet back together and still be aligned. Since most chassis are made with stamped steel, when un-riveted the stamped metal will contract or warp into their original forms. When I assembled it, I made sure to test it with a side panel. The panel slid on, so It looks true.

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Also, the best size of rivet to use when installing is 3mm 1/8" rivets. I used arrow brand a 100 pack with white paint. I think the contrast helped me see easier.

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One last picture before I install a side window. The red color is actually a bloody red that matches my carpet.

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[vmodding]

Good ! =D

[PaPang]

Are you going to jam a V-10 into it? I say "jam" because it looks sort of smallish although I have no idea how big it really is. But I think you can do a lot more than planned so that your mod stands out: extreme painting scheme, top window with extraction, front air feed with a spinner, lighted base feet, some 3d effects on the windowless side, strobe maybe? The Elite is a modders canvas because it is so conservative, it begs for all you can throw at it! You still have time to make it smashing. Lots of Luck.

[Dr Torchwood]

Loving the fact that you purchased a 'Refurbished' case from the store for this project.

There are some items that you just don't buy refurbished but Cases tend to be great solid workhorses NIB or Refurb'd.

As I had said in another thread the contest is getting my creative juices flowing & I just wish now that I had decided to do something for it this year.

Seeing you use a refurbished case has conjured up many ideas for me now & of course it is a great money saver at the end of the day.

Maybe we will see more refurb'd items / cases in contests to come.




Dr. T

[Icejon]

Are you going to jam a V-10 into it? I say "jam" because it looks sort of smallish although I have no idea how big it really is. But I think you can do a lot more than planned so that your mod stands out: extreme painting scheme, top window with extraction, front air feed with a spinner, lighted base feet, some 3d effects on the windowless side, strobe maybe? The Elite is a modders canvas because it is so conservative, it begs for all you can throw at it! You still have time to make it smashing. Lots of Luck.

I was thinking about jamming a v10 or something in it, but then I would have to make a new side panel from scratch since the chassis is only 5.5 inches wide about. I am definitely going to change the front panel to make it look fiercer. You're right the chassis is a modder's canvas, I can do anything and if I screw up, I can buy an entire new replacement chassis for the mere cost of a sidepanel for the Cosmos S. Value FTW.

[Icejon]

Thanks for the comments guys. BTW I am just modding this chassis for fun, and not for competition since it is my first time.

Now that the chassis is painted and ready for other things. I decided to start cutting and actually working in the chassis. My motto framing my whole project is to create as much as I can, using refurbished and scrapped parts from other chassis. I did some shopping on CM Store and bought alot of promising replacement parts from other chassis. When I couldn't find it on the site, I submitted a spare parts request and bought it direct. Below are 3 exiting pieces of kit belonging to three different chassis that I am going to put in my mod

- 2 x Hollow Machined Aluminum Handle Bars (ordered as a special order refurb from the front panel of the Centurion 532)
- 1 x Side Panel window with security grid pattern (ripped from an HAF 932)
- 1 x Scrap of thick, acoustic foam insulation (ordered from a special order refurb from a SIleo 500)[/list]

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One note about the handle pipes. They are hairline treatment finish, solid aluminum and a diameter of about 2cm in diameter and 17.4" long (a little longer than the length of my chassis). If you look inside you can see they have two holes about 5mm apart that are threaded for the standard long chassis type screw (like the one used on radiators to attach a 120mm fan). They are really robust, and served no purpose on the original 532 design by Cooler Master. In my RC-360, I will need to use them to bear the weight of the chassis and create a bracket that will be able to attach to the flat plane of the chassis top. This is compounded because I have no metalworking skills! I was thinking about using 90 degree bent lexan. I would cut a mini lexan book stand riser display in half and use both ends.

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I need help:

- Any suggestions on how to securely mount the top handles to the chassis?
- Would Lexan right angles support the weight of the chassis AND be able to be screwed using existing holes 5mm apart?

[PaPang]

I´m pretty sure you explained everything well enough, but I´m having a hard time imaging what you are trying to do. Do you have a sketch or better yet, something developed on Sketchup?

Cheers,

[Icejon]

I have included a sketchup view, but I am not so good at sketchup yet. Both aluminum bars have to run parallel to the top of the system chassis. Because of their length I will have to attach them using L shaped brackets on two sides (similar to a bathroom towel rack). Functionally they need to hold the weight and will be drilled with 4 small holes on the top and 2 holes on the bottom to bolt into the chassis frame. I need to know if I should use lexan/polycarbonate since they will be easy to work with normal wood tools, or use an aluminum right angle of which I do not have all the tools to cut and drill yet .

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[PaPang]

If you are going to use it regularly (like lan parties & such), lexan might hold up a while, but in the long run, I would use aluminum (1/4"). Thick aluminum looks good. You would have to have a press at least and bend it with a mallet but protect it so as not to mark it or use an angle as you mentioned. Polish it up or paint it and your good to go for the long run. I would use at least 1/4" machine screws with a pressure washer and nut. Your machine might not weigh as much as a full tower but why risk it?
If you polish your bars up to a mirror finish, it would look cool vs. the red/black of the case. If you put leds into the ends, you would get extra bling. I have not seen anyone do so before, so it would be a first or very rare at most (I look around forums all over the world).

Cheers

[Icejon]

If you are going to use it regularly (like lan parties & such), lexan might hold up a while, but in the long run, I would use aluminum (1/4"). Thick aluminum looks good. You would have to have a press at least and bend it with a mallet but protect it so as not to mark it or use an angle as you mentioned. Polish it up or paint it and your good to go for the long run. I would use at least 1/4" machine screws with a pressure washer and nut. Your machine might not weigh as much as a full tower but why risk it?
If you polish your bars up to a mirror finish, it would look cool vs. the red/black of the case. If you put leds into the ends, you would get extra bling. I have not seen anyone do so before, so it would be a first or very rare at most (I look around forums all over the world).
Cheers

Thanks for the tip! Well I decided on aluminum right angle. I found a 1.5x1.5"x1/8" aluminum angle piece at home depot since I don't have a vice or a mallet to make a clean bend myself. You're right, the lexan especially with 4 holes on the top parallel and very close together will break in the long run. Since the insides of the bars are hollow, I plan to wire LED through the bar and perhaps illuminate something. I can't polish the handles yet because I have something really cool planned for them.

[Icejon]

I did something easy while I am thinking of how the top piece is going to work so I decided to put in the window. Being that the chassis is around 15-16" long it makes no sense to have a huge window. Also since the chassis is too narrow, I still need plenty of vents for air circulation. So with this being said, I needed a small window exactly the width and length of the chassis that didn't cover the grills for the power supply or grill.

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Here is where the HAF 932 window comes in! It fits the perfect size and includes the holes predrilled as another bonus. I just had to tape it off very carefully since by installing this window I am cutting through and over a 120mm fan grill. While I lose the airflow over the cpu, I think the window fits my look even better than the HAF being its unique shape and grid pattern.

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I taped off the window, and made sure to mark all the little holes. These holes I will cut out to match the windows holes. I need them to be clean so the window can close and also need them to be accurate since the side panel of this Elite 360 case warps a little.

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I simply make the cut, but since it is my first time I screwed up if you look at the top left corner. I used a dremel cutting wheel + jigsaw and I held the dremel too close to the chassis. I ended up scratching the finish with a long gouge from the spinning dremel chuck . I ran to the store, and got some flat black paint to touch it up. I also had to file the edges of the chassis since they weren't so cleanly cut.

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You can see the ragged areas where the grills were that I couldn't remove since I was worried about taking away excess material too close to the window holes. I used the CM stock plastic rivets which are easy, just push into hole and they expand and fix the window firmly. I got these as a Storm Scout part request and you can see that they add to the side panel's strength rather than taping it. Viola, here is the final product of the first RC-360 + HAF 932 Frankenstein side panel.

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