neilhart's Mac Pro Hack

[mightydood]

Hi Neil

Sorry to keep buggin you about questions!

But what did you do about the fan grill for the psu?

Its a tough one to remove... I wanted to remove the grill cut away the far side so as to let the cabling through...
I have a 2006 case (if it makes a difference to your answer)

Thanks

 

[neilhart]

Hi Neil

Sorry to keep buggin you about questions!

But what did you do about the fan grill for the psu?

Its a tough one to remove... I wanted to remove the grill cut away the far side so as to let the cabling through...
I have a 2006 case (if it makes a difference to your answer)

Thanks

As I recall the final form is original sheet metal with a 120mm Delta fan (at 5VDC) in place of the Apple fan. The ATX power supply guts in the Apple PSU sheet metal with the original AC input receptacle. As I recall I was back into that area too many times chasing the fan noise.

neil

 

[mightydood]

thanks again for the reply.

What i meant was the fan grill (which the fan was stuck onto) is attached to the case itself. I wanted to remove it and cut away a part of it to allow the cables from the psu through but its impossible to remove!

Have people just cut in situ in the past?

Thanks

 

[Stork]

Stork - this is what I found...

Got it! Thank you very much.

I am, like you, going to try to mod the case slowly with the minimum amount cutting. I have a non working Mac Pro motherboard and will cut off the rear panel part of the motherboard and wire up the GA-Z68MX-UD2H's back panel to it. (I think there's thread for that somewhere in my bookmarks.) I also have a non working Mac Pro PSU that I will swap out the innereds with a

Seasonic SS-460FL Active PFC F3, 460W Fanless ATX12V Fanless 80Plus PLATINUM Certified, Modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151099

Now, all I have to do is build the PSU power cable extensions. IIRC, there's another Mac Pro or G5 case mod thread here that went into details on how to do that. Oh...wait...that was yours!

Thanks for your help. Wish me luck. I think I'm actually going to beat eelhead in building my Mac Pro case mod.

 

[mightydood]

Hey Neil

Think I'm going to just dremel in place! too much pain trying to remove that grill!

 

[Stork]

Op. Drive, eject switch, ...I made up a push button switch assembly with a long plunger to provide the convenient eject access. This switch assembly is mounted to the roof of the enclosure using JB Weld...

Neil, I hate to be a pain with my questions, but I have no idea where to begin to look for some of your excellent mod solutions. So, at the risk of being a PITA, is your optical drive push button switch homemade from parts on hand or did you buy a switch with the long push rod? If you did buy it in that configuration, where did you get it? TIA.

 

[neilhart]

Stork - I had seen what others had done and mine is a kudge of bits and pieces held together with epoxy. My local hardware, Orchard Supply, has a section where they sell small sheets of different metals and small tubes. Switches from my "salvage parts bin" and or from Micro Center or Frys.

Inovation? Well maybe, more just using what you have.

neil

 

[Stork]

Thank you for the info. I'm afraid I'm going to be a pest at my h/w store. I'm on a large island in upper Lake Michigan. So, the term "from the boonies" takes on new meaning for me when it comes to parts at your local Frys, Micro Center, etc. The good news is there's a h/w store. Dunno about the rest of the parts. I need to get with eelhead as he shops on-line extensively.

 

[neilhart]

Stork, Try on line to the Micro Center and they have a massive listing of parts. Look under "Computer Parts" > "Case Accessories". They do ship as they closed the store in my area and I have had use their web site for my purchases.

For cables and adapters check MonoPrice.com.

For SATA cables with short lengths and right and left facing right angle connectors try: http://estore.circuitassembly.com

Amazon and NewEgg are great but for the best deals you really have to google and push into the speciality suppliers (IMHO).

For electronic parts search on Mouser.com and Digikey.com.

For hardware bits such as a given screw in a black oxide try McMaster Carr (mcmaster.com).

If you need an aluminum panel cut with precision, take a look at Front Panel Express as they do great work that I can not do with my hand tools. I use them to get the USB port slots into front panels and they did the rear panel for "The Black" prodigy.

And the "real" modder needs to know about Performace-PCs.com and mountainmods.com.

And for really update PC hacks, I check the http://www.bit-tech.net web site and review the project logs and latest reviews.

There you have most of my current sources.

neil

 

[Stork]

Neil,

Thank you very much. Those links will be a big help since a selfish ex-member took his post away. I've bookmarked the post and will be reviewing and ordering from most of the sites.