Amputer

[Throbbi]

Hey guys, been here a week or so and since then the modding bug has really taken hold again. This is a project I've been planning.....wait, that's a blatant lie.....thinking about for several months now and involves a build with a custom (and I think pretty unique) case.

NOTE 1 - Sadly due to being not all that well off you'll have to put up with the Iphone camera but once completed I'll at least get the use of a decent shooter from a friend of mine .

Components - Again, I'm not rich so these will be fairly low power parts from my previous rig and will more than likely function as a browser/HTPC since space is at a premium and a decent GPU will likely not fit. The components at this time are:
- AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition (I know with 100% certainty that this bad boy unlocks to a quad-core B60 :rock
- Asus M5A78L-M LX mATX motherboard
- 2x4GB generic DDR3 RAM@1333mhz. Not great but has simple and clean spreaders on matching the colour scheme.
- 320GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 (can't afford a new drive or SSD )
- 250W mini-ITX sized PSU salvaged from a god awful Packard Bell micro thingy. Yeah this is tiny but it really won't need much power.
- CPU cooling is a secret for now :nono:
- NVidia GT520 passive card, mainly for the HDMI output. (assuming my mate lets me buy it from him)
- No optical as an external is available to use.

The case in which parts will be fitted is currently this...
Front..

And back...

Yeah that's right, it's a very old (and dead before anyone asks) guitar amp :rock:. This example is from around 1973ish. As you can see it clearly can't have parts installed in it yet, so some work is required. This always begins with the fun part - ripping it to bits! :ar:

Hmm, there's not a lot in there, I guess valves were rare back then...

Really not a lot, that's the entirety of the electronics inside! :lol:

That's one tiny amp...

That's all the electrics out!

And the rest of it!

It's left me with useless gubbins! (yeah, cause I really need more bit's in the box of generic PC crap )

That's a 240V-24V transformer (I assume AC - DC as well due to the wiring being both yellow), the 5W amp itself with the input and output 1/4" jacks still connected and a rather old, but intact, 5" speaker cone.

More to come of course, this is just the beginning Updates won't be daily but I'll keep them going pretty regularly, assuming work doesn't screw me too much.

P.S. If any of you like to tinker with assorted bits of electronic junk give me a PM and I'll send those remaining bits on to you to play with.

 

[Feronix]

Pretty cool! Curious to see where this is going

 

[Mathius]

This is one mean-@55 look Motherboard Speaker... :lol:

This a lots of potential, should be good to watch it unfold

 

[remember300]

Looks awesome cant wait to see this up and running what would be cool is if you could rig LED's to one vol and the other as a fan speed controller and turn the jack inputs into usb ports that would be awesome

 

[Throbbi]

Pretty cool! Curious to see where this is going

Cheers! I promise to at least give some unexpected additions if nothing else.

This is one mean-@55 look Motherboard Speaker... :lol:

This a lots of potential, should be good to watch it unfold

Effing lol! You'd crap your pants every time it turned on! :lol:

Looks awesome cant wait to see this up and running what would be cool is if you could rig LED's to one vol and the other as a fan speed controller and turn the jack inputs into usb ports that would be awesome

This is along the lines I've been planning. My first thought was to put antivandal switches in place of the jacks as they look virtually identical and to have the original power switch for lighting on/off leaving the 2 knobs for 2 fan controllers but now you've set me off thinking about variable lighting.....do all custom builds do this? Constantly change in your head when someone makes the smallest of innocent comments :yelrotflmao:

 

[remember300]

This is along the lines I've been planning. My first thought was to put antivandal switches in place of the jacks as they look virtually identical and to have the original power switch for lighting on/off leaving the 2 knobs for 2 fan controllers but now you've set me off thinking about variable lighting.....do all custom builds do this? Constantly change in your head when someone makes the smallest of innocent comments :yelrotflmao:[/QUOTE]

Ah that would be cool too im definately going to follow your build
and im sorry i just think function and form and go together. The other thing is other people might have ideas you have just not thought about, thats why i love this forum. Im waiting for help with my dilema lol

 

[sheroo]

Love where this is going. I wouldn't make too many changes to that I/O panel though, as you want it to look as original as possible.

Where do you plan on having the rear I/O?

 

[Throbbi]

Love where this is going. I wouldn't make too many changes to that I/O panel though, as you want it to look as original as possible.

Where do you plan on having the rear I/O?

Thanks! The rear I/O is intended to be hidden and facing downwards, the cables will come through the hole in the original back panel which I intend to keep, mainly due to the original manufacturers details. Basically outside I want it as close to original as possible.

Quick update: Got 2 antivandal switches, 2 single fan controllers and 2 short LED strips on the way along with some slightly different than normal paracord.

I think this will both match colour schemes and have a retro guitar lead look to the cabling, don't you think?

 

[sheroo]

That sounds excellent. I like the way you are being sympathetic to the original case. Any plans to paint the inside? I imagine cooling is going to be the tricky part?

 

[Throbbi]

Cooling is going to be surprisingly easy........IF my plan works, I'm relying on a god like welder friend of mine (seriously, this guy cut 2 coke cans in half and welded them together cleanly and water tight) to pull of something a bit crazy.

As for the inside?....More on that later

Right, needs moar piccies.

The front panel has a hole in it and that hole just so happens to be 140mm in diameter. What could possibly go in there?

Why of course, anyone would think it was custom made. (yes it will be facing the other way, I'm not THAT stupid)

There is one issue though, those 4 bolts which the cone attached to won't come out without removing the front material. This might take a while...

At his point I should mention that I live in a small 2 bed flat and have no access to a workshop or garage so right now the spare room doubles as a junk room and my modding space. Yeah, there's a lot of crap in there :lol: I also am not well off so it's ghetto modding a plenty! Hand tools - check, lot's of makeshift solutions - check

Back to it with the hand tools I mentioned. Knackered chisels make for excellent staple removers.

Some time later.....

Much, much, much later.........

At this point I found that no matter what I tried the 4 bolts just wouldn't come out, wtf is going on? So I came up with a way to unscrew whilst keeping pressure on the panel itself so I'm not just pushing it in whilst unscrewing.

So that's why! 2 different threads on 1 bolt, awkward sods.

The interior is extremely low quality wood (read MDF but standing for Majorly Dodgy and F*****) so will definitely be getting painted. The front panel also had a really crappy black coating on the front but as it's behind the speaker screen it's barely visible so it's had a coat of blackboard paint.

The inside will get white to help with illumination and to keep it looking clean and tidy. Now then, where's my paint brush gone......

 

[Chris230291]

This is gonna be rad!.
Just because you aren't spending a fortune doesn't mean this cant turn out awesome.

 

[Xenomorphical]

Cool idea indeed but i think alot of people are being worried about the ventilation part?

See, what i would do is make the front hole bigger so you can mount at least a 200mm fan so you got enough air going in.

Also i think you want at least one 120 quality outtake fan in one of the sides / back to let air out?

Also since the front is where you will be opening the case you need something like this:

And by "this" i mean a solution where you can slide the front panel over some tread and lock it in place with nuts, with probably a washer underneath to keep the fabric alive.

Hope this helps! ^_^

 

[sheroo]

Having nuts on the front like that will ruin the look of it completely. Just use thumb screws on the back panel instead.

 

[Xenomorphical]

Having nuts on the front like that will ruin the look of it completely. Just use thumb screws on the back panel instead.

That would only work if he would mount everything in place on the back panel and then thumb screw the whole thing closed tho?
This was just an idea to be able to use the front panel as a front panel in a pc case

 

[Chris230291]

Could hinge the back panel and mount everything to that?
Like the old G4 PowerMac...

 

[sheroo]

What if he just added some more internal structure with a sheet of plywood and some 2x4. You could then mount the motherboard pretty much anywhere...

 

[Throbbi]

Chris has it closest, I am going for something along the lines of a hinged back panel. I only really need the motherboard on it though as there's space enough to mount PSU on the side of the interior.

Not much of an update today as I've been in bed all day after some rather dodgy ale last night has given me the mother, father, son, daughter and grandparents of headaches. Paracord has arrived and looks a bit different to the image it had but I think i kinda alike it. LED's are here too so it's an evening of sleeving.

 

[Chris230291]

Yeah this is gonna be cool man.

Are you going to have the I/O relocated so it's on the back? You said it was going to be a HTPC so i guess you only need a display out, USB out and power in? Maybe an Ethernet port?

Without actually seeing the case it's hard to see how much space you have. If you did want a dedicated graphics card, have you considered using something like this?..

 

[BPRSM]

Wow. I love this idea. I might even do it with my dads giant 250W bass amp

 

[Throbbi]

Wow. I love this idea. I might even do it with my dads giant 250W bass amp

Haha yeah! Big ass wub-wub server rack!

Quick pic, not done a lot today due to feeling rough as stated earlier.

Paracord sleeving is so relaxing, just the job for me right now. Second one isn't perfect so may get re-done yet.