nice work already.

but i am wondering?
Is it not easyer to start with L-shaped iron and close that with plexi. than to buy a case and cut it so there is noting more left than a few pieces of iron ;) ;)

Thx, for the offer (i think it is an offer ?), but i'll try it myself (this time on an XP1600 (the 1700 stays in my work PC)) ...

4 days later, no replies yet.
How's it going? Update? Pics?
/Me is getting curious :)

I don't had ANY time to work on it.
Just have 1 afternoon and 2 evenings free to finish the thing before the end of september.
If there isn't time left, the painting will be done later on.

This is most impressive! Are you going to smooth the edges of the plexi out using a buffer or something? I've seen rough edges on plexi before and its not pretty :)

OH! you could also drill tiny holes in strategic spots in the plexi and mount bright LEDs to have the walls of the case illuminate everything ;)

Plexi = cut & smoothed
Case = cut & drilled & smoothed ... a lot of energy went into the smooth-making ; no sharp edges at all !

All what has to be painted has had a primer job.

Don't have the time to install everything for a test run before painting.
Don't have the time to mod the PSU (still can do that afterwards)
Don't have the time to make it look like a factory job ... hehe, still have an excuse : it's my first REAL modification job. And "making it look like a factory job" wasn't my starting point anyway.
Don't have the time to install a kewl looking illuminated MADlogo inside the case (still can do that afterwards)

Everything has to be painted before i go on a short holliday next thursday. When i return the following tuesday i should have sufficient time to put everything together.

When i have some time left i'll unlock the 1600.

what dremel bit do you use to smooth the edges and to cut the metal??

Just some pictures to keep you warm :^)

Iron cuttin' is done with regular electric saw, if you flip the side of the saw you can make a circle very easy. Then i filed the edges with an iron file ... and some sanding afterwards.

Panels have had their first color-spray.
Tomorrow i'll sand them and give them their second color-layer.
Wednesday a last layer ... of clear laquer.

Shabby picture of the case, had to use nightvision to make it ... i'm painting underground. The hinges, I/O-shield + euh … don’t know the correct name … things at the back that you flip out if you want to add PCI-cards … will be black also.
Bummer, no time to paint the psu also … someday maybe.


Yellow front + top + pieces of CDROM & floppy.


The front is more sculpture-like. Took some time to make everything fit and you can see it won’t look like a factory job … some lines are crooked, some edges cracked, circles are not as round as they should be … You can see the holes for attachment to the case, holes for attachment of the 120mm fan, the 2 blowholes, holes for floppy & CDROM, holes for temp probes & HD-ventilation (front of hardcano looked like **** so I trew it away), holes for rheo, holes for start- and reset-button, 3 holes for the leds, and some front-usb-kinda-ports.


And last but not least the back- and rightpanel. I discovered that the 3 middle panels were a little too short … after everything was sawed. I had no time to resaw the 3 middle plates. Hey, it might look like crap but it won’t dissapoint me in silent-air-cooling-powah.

can't wait to see in broad daylight :)

The painting looks crappy. The painting is not firm enough on the plexi (i used decent primer and a double layer of transparant coating though). I have to be extra careful during transport.
The black painting attrackts dust like hell.
Bummer i don't have the time to mod & paint the psu.
Nevertheless some pics.

Colorcombination doesn’t look too awful I think.


PSU should be black … maybe someday. Don’t know what to do with all the wiring … yet.


El custom and super cheapo grill … matching the bolts.


Modified power and reset buttons.