a case mod (Vcrpc?)

Psypher5

Psypher5

Psypher5

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Joined
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So the past few weeks have involved me and my mate ripping apart an old VCR and have fitted a pc into it :)

Main aim for it is a small little file server for me at uni, and a bit of fun :D

Specs: 1.8 P4, 256ram geforce4mx and a 40gig hdd for now.


We have sanded the insides down so its all smooth and currently sanded and bondo'ed the front place so its smooth, however the bondo putty didnt work so some fibreglass stuff is on order from the bay (my mate said to trust him, -.-)

ATM we have everything barr a psu (which is hopefully to arrive soon from the MM) an agp riser and a button but ill pop down and buy one soon (a snazzy lian li esque vandal proof jobbie, wanted an led one but 15quid?ha.)

pics will be put up when i get them through (wont be from the start but moreso half way through and such), now a few things that you can help with!

Well we are after a name!

For the duration we've called it VCRpc and well, cant think of anything better :D

Also we havent painted it yet so its a blank canvas. Initial ideas are to black and white monotone it with a simplistic 50/50 front with a button and the mod name on it. Any one got any nice ideas, obviously if it goes with a name that would be better. :)
 
Reserved for pics :)

Edit:

Here are a few of the pictures of the mod so far. Although they were taken after we'd ripped the guts out of the VCR

The failed putty bondo attempt.
p1010023wj8.jpg


We dremeled the back out for the backplate.
p1010024mn7.jpg


Fancy new feet we made involving a tube and some styrofoam(sp?) with a blue led popped in. Will be 4 of these obviously.

p1010006ww4.jpg
 
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i would replace the VCR front with a program-able lcd screen, showing temps or other system info.

colour wise dark blue and black i have been playing about with and it doesnt look to bad.

not sure if the mod name on the front would look tacky, depends how your going to put it on there, marker pen ? :p
 
sounds rad. looking forward to pics of your progress.

i tried to use some glass fiber kit and it totally cocked up. i left the fascia of my case at a slant so it was easy to work with but when i returned after 20mins it'd slid off and just left a mess on the plastic. i spent a good 40mins just sanding it back to the plastic fascia.

good luck :)
 
We were going to get a screen and some media buttons, but simply cant afford it. :P

The logo/name will be subtle, we have some perspex i'd like to incorp into it somehow, maybe an LED lit perspex covered logo on the bottom corner or something :)

He says to have every trust in him with this putty/fibreglass stuff. It cant go as bad as the putty we used last time :D
 
could sand blast the name on to the perspex and then have a LED backlight?

media buttons would look the dogs, couldnt you save a little bit more ?
 
Student loan goes in on monday next week ;)

We had those aluminium/chrome rounded volume knobs in mind and such but anyway.

If I get a job asap trust me, it'll be a lot higher spec and have manny more mods on it (lcd screen and remote/xfi etc) prep for uni has kinda blown any budget yet and we're looking to finish it up and learn mostly.

For now its just a cheapy little bit of fun, if it goes well i'll sorce another vcr and can do the whole thing properly :) a version 1 might you say.
 
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if the loan goes in on monday why not spend money on it then ? learning how to mod is educational surely ?:p
 
I dont want to end up eating the mod when I run out of money to be fair! :P

PLus the matrix orbitals seem to be hitting 70 quid :|


ANYWAY! name/paint ideas? :P
 
Are you gonna do aything with the video slot? It would be a good place for a DVD drive, but you might have to be changed so it flips outwards. That or use the original mechanism somehow.

PK!
 
what about a laptop slim~line drive?

i was going to get one for my case mod but decided against it as i'm low on dosh as uni in a week.
 
New pics added.

More to come tomorrow maybe.

So we made some feet and have the 1u powersupply which is hidiously loud D: Sure we can mod that with some decent fans. Going to wait for the new bondo to arrive and then the plan is to:

1)Reinforce the bottom of the case with a wooden panel which the mobo will screw onto
2) cut a hole out of the case for the psu to slot down into (have cut grooves of of two of the feet so it can stand inside them)
3)Got a fancy new button today (brushed alu one, lian li type "vandal proof") which we have a very nice idea for (more diffused blue LED's coming)
4) bondo the front so its smooth, if it arrives. Smooth over the whole front probably.

The feet lights look quite impressive even if they are a tad crude. But you cant tell in the dark, haha. I'll clean them up after though.
 
Wow this is weird. I was looking at my gfs VCR the other day and thinking about how it would be great for a small media PC. My idea was the use the tape input hole for a DVD drive. It might need to be made a bit higher by cutting out a little from the top and bottom in the middle but it would leave you gaps to the left and right of the drive for power buttons or usb ports.

I'd really like to have a go at something like this myself if I could find a broken VCR to play with.
 
How about a DVD player? One of the older ones that are a bit larger. Already kind of has a drive.

*Goes off to ponder
 
Tbh I wouldnt use a dvd drive. All my films are on the hdd :)

Update:

The new bondo is working really well second layer just applied to smooth it out and then we'll sand it down and put the button positioning in.

We also cut a fan hole out of the side of the case, lots of sparks :)
 
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