Finally finished the computer decasing and modding project. Just to remind everyone…

decided to decase the computer and mount on an open plane case. Then decided that the power supply and ODD needed to be orange and the fans needed to light up. Then decided that the wires all needed to be sleeved in orange…

Here is the sleeving job about midway:

This was straight forward but far from easy. Getting each molex pin of of it’s connector was a bugger. Even with the right tool it was still very touchy and required just the right angle and pressure. One of the wires came out of it’s pin during this process and it was very hard getting the pin out without a wire attached and putting everything back together.

We fabricated the 5-pin power cables for the drives as the new mounts have them too far away for the original cables to reach. The 4-pin and 24-pin power cables were dismantled and the reassembled using black plugs and applying the sleeving material.

Finally, everything was crammed back into the PSU and plugged in. There was a moment waiting for the power up that seemed like an eternity, but then it sprang to life and all was well:

We were very concerned that we could have mucked something up during the modding. So many wires removed and replaced and so much stuff moved around. It wouldn’t have taken much to make a mistake.

We had made a template for the mounting holes:

so after carefully selecting the location we drilled pilot holes into the cab sides being careful not to go to deep, then the hole size needed for the threaded inserts, then a slightly larger size for just a bit to help get the threads started. Then the case panel just drops into place:

By some stroke of karma the updated LED Wiz/GP’s came back in the mail today, so we can re-hook the controls and be back playing. Tomorrow we go get glass.