another G4 graphite mod

[jamba]

I found an 2004 graphite for just 10 Euros, looks nice..boots with OS 9

loaded and naked, standoffs removed.



does anyone know a good way to remove the plastic panel of the IO shield?? this is the only piece I cant get off and I dont wanna brake it..

 

[rick26]

Great great!,

I think that you can pull it off by gently using a screwdriver.

Good luck,

Rick,

 

[Olli73]

Hi Jamba,

there´s some plastic latches that You need to bend gently, using a screwdriver, like Rick said. You can see the clips, in the PCi bay for example. I still have my panel, if You want, i could make a photo so You´d know where to look.

Olli

 

[jamba]

yeah, thanks guys, I figured it out..its a quite tight fit.

today I sawed the IO panel and filed it down to fit. The hole is bigger now but I will make an extra shield for it.

Then I drilled holes for the new standoffs, first I measured and only drilled 3 mm holes for standard standoffs, but afterwards there were 4 poles that didnt quite line up exactly..wow, nice ..

As the G4 steel is a bit harder than the G5 aluminium I decided to make the holes even bigger and use alternative standoffs. I now have M4 screws that I install with washers und nuts..that way I can correct for the perfect position better and also use different heights for the mobo as the G4 has different ones on the side.

 

[jamba]

I cut the middle metal shelf (where the old PSU sits on) to fit the RAM. Then I realized that under no circumstances the nice G4 aluminium DVD slider can be used, as it collides in any way with the ram. I know there are some mods out there with cutting the DVD or relocating caps or similar..I ´ll try to install an notebook DVD instead as its shorter..the 3-4 cm will make the difference IMHO..

At the moment I´m messing with the right positioning of the PSU. One possibility would be on the side of the mobo on the door itself ( MacBane mod) but I find this VERY unstable/ unbalanced as almost the COMPLETE Pc weight then is on the door.

Another idea is behind the front..better balance overall, the 140 fan of the PSU is sucking air from the front and is blowing out to the bottom( with hole)..I try to make kinda air duct for the PSU fan to the front..

both concepts offer better cable management than stock..

 

[Olli73]

I put a slim-line DVD in my build, so did Minihack. Gives you space for other things. What made remove the PSU-shelf, want to put in a high-performance cooler?

Olli

 

[jamba]

I removed the shelf for PSU fitting..as it was easy just drilling out some rivets..as its easy to install it again with screws.
Yeah I´ll try a slim, too..

btw, why is your old graphite site down? I´d like to see yours..

 

[Olli73]

Thanks for the hint. I corrected the link and it seems to be working again.

Olli

 

[jamba]

Ok, just finished the main mods.. After shortening the DVD holder I installed the notebook DELL DL DVD burner, I wanted to use the original front plate for the DVD because the original is so nice and simple. I tried to make up one, but making a hatch is too difficult and a stealth didnt look good

so I bored a new hole to match the eject button, removed the old button and filled the hole. Then I made a new one made of small aluminium rings.

Then made a new lower plate where the Zip was. I used the nice flathead G5 screws for front mounting.

 

[jamba]

I went for an silver/black finish. The doors are a bit scratched but it blends nice with the new flat black.
The back panel is black and cut to fit standard ATX PSU. For installing the PSU I used extra long ATX screws as I couldn´t use the original hex ones through the pack panel.

For the IO shield I used this ones :
http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g4/49828-template-early-g4-poss-g3-motherboards.html
..great work guys..