Kindof mod - my shiny Lian Li

indigo_prime

indigo_prime

indigo_prime

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22 Jun 2006
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115
Had this case for about 3 years or so now (I think). Did the polishing when I first got it but never got up the nerve to carve into it with a dremel. All thats going to change later this year though as I'm going to get some aquacomputer cooling gear inside it which is going to need some serious planning and some slightly more complicated modifications than I've done before!!

OK, here we go with my Lian Li and also in a couple of the pics is my Coolermaster ATC 4000. The Lian Li is going to become my first watercooling project (with some rather serious changes being made to the structure of the case) and once I'm confident in my abilities to watercool a PC without frying everything, I'm going to start a new project on the Coolermaster case.

First Pic: Lian Li and CM side by side. The CM is rack mountable and is 4U size. Slightly narrower than a normal ATX case but about 15cm longer!!

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Second Pic: 3/4 view of the Lian Li. Should have said before, its not chromed, its POLISHED!! The case was standard brushed aluminium as you find them in the shops. I used 240 grit to take the brush effect out of the panels, then wet sanded (by hand!) all the way through to 1200 grit to smooth and shine before polishing. The finish isnt perfect as it gets light scratches on it every now and then, but a couple of hours hard work should see it back to its former glory!

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Third Pic: A shot of the front panel. From the top there is my optical drive which is fitted behind a Lian Li drive cover, a quality piece of kit if I ever saw one!!. The fan bus was made from a cheapo fan controller and a spare Lian Li face plate, drilled and fitted quite nicely (although ever so slight unlevel!). The switches are aluminium vandal resitant momentary switches. The front panel had to be drilled out to replace the slightly tackier Lian Li plastic ones. The whole front panel was then covered with carbon effect vinyl to match the top and bottom parts of the case door.

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Last Pic:

A shot of the internals. ASUS A8N32SLI, AMD X2 4800+, 2 GB Corsair XMS4000, Leadtek 7900GTX, XFi Xtreme Music, Raptor 150 GB, Maxtor 250GB. I cut out a wire run in the top of the case (out of sight) and also one on the right side of the mainboard tray. Most cables are passed out behind the mainboard tray, then in through the cutout to connect to the motherboard. All other cables are shortened or tied to keep the layout clean and the airflow clear.

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Last Comment - Before any numpty says it looks like a toaster, I've heard it at least a dozen times before!! It might get a very tidy respray once I've gotten the watercooling and modification done and if it comes out as planned it might go up for sale :)

Comments or questions welcome.
 
Looks like a fridge. ;)

Very nice looking, better than stock thats for sure!

Good work, I will add this to the sticky later. :)
 
Im going to go for AquaComputer parts for most, if not all of the system. CPU will get a Cuplex XT and the NB and SB will each get the XT Chipset Block. GPU will get the AquagraFX 7900. Radiator will be a 240mm but Im not sure of make/model or style yet. Also undecided is the pump and any reservoir.

Planning the WC setup is going to take some time and I need the main re-working of the case done before I can start to lay out the rest of the components and tubing. I like a clean case, so Im trying to figure out ways to keep the tubing tidy and not have loops all over the place.

There are 3 parts to the front of the case: The door, the front of the case itself and a third part which is rivetted to the front of the chassis.

The front part of the main chassis is going to be removed and a new front made and re-rivetted to allow for the radiator. It also means modding the 5 1/4 bay area at the top to allow clearance for the radiator and fans.

The front of the case is going to be produced from scratch to match the front of the chassis to allow for the radiator. I'm probably going to leave space for two (poss 3) 5 1/4 bays as the plugs for the 240 rad will reach to the last 5 1/4 bay area.

The door is also going to undergo some cutting and grinding to improve airflow for the rad, but Im working on some 'detailing' ideas so it doesnt just end up as a big ugly hole in the front of it.

The back panel of the mainboard tray is also going to be reproduced from scratch with a few minor modifications to it. Its a flat 2mm thick panel rivetted to the tray itself, so should be easy enough to remove, re-work and re-attach.

Last but not least might be a paintjob. My brother has been producing fibreglass installs for car stereo freaks and ricers and has gotten quite good at both the fibreglassing and painting. He's got a good selection of some amazing paints (flip colour, pearlescent etc) and has already agreed a paint job if I want to :D
 
That's really nice. I was thinking of doing a shuttle and bottled out due to the work involved - it must have taken you ages, but it certainly looks very nice indeed. Definitely has a touch of the Dualit's about it though. They're a quality product too, of course ;)
 
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