D's G5 Mod

[Detale]

It is now!

Na No biggie I am just going to make a cut in the bottom of the case and bend it straight so the PSU can fit tight to the back of the case so I can cut the proper hole for the PSU plug. I will do it in a way that you can't see its bent from either the inside or the back of the case.

[clocker]

OK, pictures required.

[Detale]

I know I know sorry. I've been working again so I'm too tired to go down there. I will make it a point to go down tomorrow and get some pics.

[clocker]

Jeez, you make it sound like Journey To the Center Of the Earth.

Beware dragons, traveler.

[Detale]

It honestly does feel like that sometimes.

[7th]

I'm here to say that I miss the pictures too =/

[Detale]

OK so finally I made some time and did some work on it. Damn feels like ages since I went down there.

OK so I cut the back for the Motherboard tray and the PSU. After getting the new PSU though I noticed it was slightly wider than the old one I was going to use. So I had to re-cut it.


I had to make it square as the G5 has no corners on the top or bottom.


I do plan on cleaning up the edges a bit maybe using some "rubber edging"

Now I moved on to the DVD drive mounting. For those who don't know there is a fixtue on the G5 that slides the bezel down as the tray opens.


I opened up this mechanism and removed the metal packplate from it.

I used 1/16" X 1/4" aluminum and bent a "90" on it like so


After I measured where the drive should sit and penciled some lines in. I drilled some 1/8" holes and used thumbscrews so I could adjust if I had to. screwed it to the metal cover of the DVD bezel assembly like this









Be carefull where the screws will end up as it is pretty close to the workings of the sliding door. I had to use the dremmel to cut off the back of the screws so they wouldn't interfere.



Now this "assembly" pretty much snaps in to the front of the case. Initially I was going to use the existing standoffs and make another "90" out if 1/8" aluminum to support the weight but as it turns out it doesn't really need it. That thing snaps in there tight.


It's so tight that in fact I had to use a long piece of the 1/16" to release the spring pins that hold it in place. I may add some "just in case" support under the DVD drive.

Back to the back

I was planning on drilling some holes on the bottom of the Mobo Tray to screw thw PSU on but as fate would have it the holes are slightly below the bottom of the tray so I can easily pinch the PSU in place and it holds just great!


The theme of this build will eventually be red/black and so I thought I'd lock myself into these colors by getting a snappy red Enermax fan for the Mobo tray replacing the stock one



Now lets have a look at that DVD drive in action shall we
[youtube]vTnSmh-SZdo[\youtube]

*EDIT couldn't get the Youtube tag to work so here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTnSmh-SZdo


Also as point of fact I would recommend to anyone doing a G5 mod DO NOT BREAK THE STOCK STANDOFFS OFF! wait until you decide what to do. I see a decent way to mount most anything using them. If you use the aluminum strips like I am you can drill holes in them and screw right to the standoffs. creating a solid mounting structure. Everywhere I have read recommend snapping them off pretty early I would say wait until you are done to remove them. I started to take mine off when I first got the case and then stopped realizing what I was doing. I hope you guys like it so far as I am very pleased with the initial results. Hopefully it wont be so long until I get more work done on it.

[Snee]

[youtube]vTnSmh-SZdo[\youtube]

*EDIT couldn't get the Youtube tag to work so here is the link

[youtube]vTnSmh-SZdo[/youtube]

[clocker]

Also as point of fact I would recommend to anyone doing a G5 mod DO NOT BREAK THE STOCK STANDOFFS OFF! ...

Are you- or would you if you could- mounting the motherboard tray to the original standoffs?
Doesn't that eat up a lot of room?

[Detale]

No I'm not mounting the Mobo Tray to anything inside the case as of now. It is only held in place by the screws in the back ATM. As it turns out, between the backside of the mobo tray and the standoffs I am left with about 1/8" for a total space of about 3/8" from the case side and the underside of the mobo tray. It's not like I nudged the Mobo tray over either, it just ended up that way. Look at the spacing on the back- Ummm I just realized I didn't take a pic of the tray installed, I will in bit. I will say the tray is pretty much as tight as it can be to the side. There is a slight "lip" on the back of the case I am tight up against. You can kind of see it in this pic


If one wanted to they surely could mount right to the standoffs but it IMHO would be waay more work than is required. Screwing the tray onto the back stiffens it up big time. I plan on using a spacer in between the tray and case in case of vibration but I dont think it needs it one bit.