- Joined
- Mar 8, 2021
- Messages
- 2
- Motherboard
- ASRock X370 Taichi
- CPU
- Ryzen 1700x
- Graphics
- GTX 970
- Mac
- Classic Mac
- Mobile Phone
A friend of mine gave me a functioning PowerMac G5 several years ago, with the express instruction that I was to mod it. Here's the G5 as it started:
My goal was simply to transfer my existing build into the new case. Admittedly, I am no longer running Hackintosh, but I still wanted to put this case back to good use (and I have a 2010 Mac Pro sitting next to the PC)
The case was in rough condition, and I wanted to get this done relatively quickly, so I decided to sand and spray paint. I found another thread that mentioned the below spray paint as being a close match to the original finish, so I bought a few cans of that and clear coat. Thanks, @AppleMacIdiot, for the paint recommendation!
I didn't want to fiddle with trying to mount the PSU elsewhere inside the case, or re-housing it into the original PSU, so I decided to use LaserHive's full ATX conversion kit. I bought the front 140mm fan bracket from LaserHive as well. Ordered a cable for the front panel from G5Cable.
Here's a test fit with the fan bracket and hard drive. I love the original G5 cage and wanted to repurpose it -- simply drilled holes in the shelf and mounted it under the optical drive. I had to sacrifice one screw on both the optical drive and cage to make it work, but it seems secure enough. Fat Tire to help the thought process. Pictured here is LaserHive's fan bracket as well, works brilliantly. Lots of air will flow through this thing!
The rear bottom foot has detached from the inner shell, as a result of the standoffs separating. I tried JB Welding just the standoffs, and then screwing the case back together, but the weld didn't hold. Considering applying it to a larger area, but I won't be able to separate the two halves again if I do so.
Next up: Dremel. I borrowed a Dremel tool and cut the back out. I cut a portion of the shelf out as well, to make room for the PSU.
Following is probably my biggest screw up of the whole process - sanding. Having never spray painted before, I vastly underestimated the both the thickness and coverage it was capable of. So I scuffed up the case a bit with my oscillating tool, thinking it would "help the paint adhere, or whatever" -- and boy was I wrong. Below are photos of the dremel & scuffed up case:
While I stewed about this misstep, I took the time to test fit the bracket and PSU. I took too much in areas: the bottom two screw holes are useless now, and the right side of the PSU doesn't have the G5 case sandwiched in-between.
Even with those issues, the bracket is rock solid. Though, this marks another of the multiple instances in which I realize I'm going to regret not investing in a modular PSU.
I used a rotary sander with a much finer grit and managed to smooth it back out:
Sanding was the absolute worst. Took forever! Spray painting was it's own set of challenges. I didn't paint the front, back, or bottom of the inner shelf, so I masked off those areas to keep them intact. I did however spray paint the entire outer shell.
Here you can see how close the color match is, pretty incredible! I sprayed 4 coats of the RustOleum Metallic Aluminum, followed by two coats of Matte Clear. On the outer shell, right as I was finishing up with the last coat of Matte Clear, I got terrible paint drips on the top handles.
I had to re-sand the problem areas and re-paint. The end result isn't perfect, but it's good enough. Definitely should've taken more time spray painting. Below is the re-assembled, painted case:
And there's the finished build. Cable management is definitely something I should've planned right from the start. I'm tempted to craft a bracket to hide the mess of cables to the left.
Front panel USB and power button work! I don't have FireWire headers on my motherboard, and I don't really have any use for it these days, so that is non-functional. I opted for the additional ground cable there. Audio jack doesn't want to work either - I know in OS X you've got to select it manually, but in Windows, I can't seem to get this to work.
I've been lurking on these forums for quite awhile, seeing how everyone else has handled their G5 mods, and it was a huge inspiration for my own project. I've never undertaken anything like this before, so it was a bit daunting. Couldn't have it done it without everyone here, so many of my questions were answered before I even started. So thanks all, and happy modding!
My goal was simply to transfer my existing build into the new case. Admittedly, I am no longer running Hackintosh, but I still wanted to put this case back to good use (and I have a 2010 Mac Pro sitting next to the PC)
The case was in rough condition, and I wanted to get this done relatively quickly, so I decided to sand and spray paint. I found another thread that mentioned the below spray paint as being a close match to the original finish, so I bought a few cans of that and clear coat. Thanks, @AppleMacIdiot, for the paint recommendation!
I didn't want to fiddle with trying to mount the PSU elsewhere inside the case, or re-housing it into the original PSU, so I decided to use LaserHive's full ATX conversion kit. I bought the front 140mm fan bracket from LaserHive as well. Ordered a cable for the front panel from G5Cable.
Here's a test fit with the fan bracket and hard drive. I love the original G5 cage and wanted to repurpose it -- simply drilled holes in the shelf and mounted it under the optical drive. I had to sacrifice one screw on both the optical drive and cage to make it work, but it seems secure enough. Fat Tire to help the thought process. Pictured here is LaserHive's fan bracket as well, works brilliantly. Lots of air will flow through this thing!
The rear bottom foot has detached from the inner shell, as a result of the standoffs separating. I tried JB Welding just the standoffs, and then screwing the case back together, but the weld didn't hold. Considering applying it to a larger area, but I won't be able to separate the two halves again if I do so.
Next up: Dremel. I borrowed a Dremel tool and cut the back out. I cut a portion of the shelf out as well, to make room for the PSU.
Following is probably my biggest screw up of the whole process - sanding. Having never spray painted before, I vastly underestimated the both the thickness and coverage it was capable of. So I scuffed up the case a bit with my oscillating tool, thinking it would "help the paint adhere, or whatever" -- and boy was I wrong. Below are photos of the dremel & scuffed up case:
While I stewed about this misstep, I took the time to test fit the bracket and PSU. I took too much in areas: the bottom two screw holes are useless now, and the right side of the PSU doesn't have the G5 case sandwiched in-between.
Even with those issues, the bracket is rock solid. Though, this marks another of the multiple instances in which I realize I'm going to regret not investing in a modular PSU.
I used a rotary sander with a much finer grit and managed to smooth it back out:
Sanding was the absolute worst. Took forever! Spray painting was it's own set of challenges. I didn't paint the front, back, or bottom of the inner shelf, so I masked off those areas to keep them intact. I did however spray paint the entire outer shell.
Here you can see how close the color match is, pretty incredible! I sprayed 4 coats of the RustOleum Metallic Aluminum, followed by two coats of Matte Clear. On the outer shell, right as I was finishing up with the last coat of Matte Clear, I got terrible paint drips on the top handles.
I had to re-sand the problem areas and re-paint. The end result isn't perfect, but it's good enough. Definitely should've taken more time spray painting. Below is the re-assembled, painted case:
And there's the finished build. Cable management is definitely something I should've planned right from the start. I'm tempted to craft a bracket to hide the mess of cables to the left.
Front panel USB and power button work! I don't have FireWire headers on my motherboard, and I don't really have any use for it these days, so that is non-functional. I opted for the additional ground cable there. Audio jack doesn't want to work either - I know in OS X you've got to select it manually, but in Windows, I can't seem to get this to work.
I've been lurking on these forums for quite awhile, seeing how everyone else has handled their G5 mods, and it was a huge inspiration for my own project. I've never undertaken anything like this before, so it was a bit daunting. Couldn't have it done it without everyone here, so many of my questions were answered before I even started. So thanks all, and happy modding!
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