New G4 Case Mod

[Gchames]

Hey all! This is my first Hackintosh and first real computer mod on this level. So its going to be interesting! Hopefully it goes as planned!

SO i stopped by my local Goodwill and found this old G4 sitting on the shelf, for $14.99! I figured it might be a fun project.

This is what it looked like in the beginning.

This was the first shot with the door down.

It has writing on the top from a school i would assume. SO it will be painted for sure!

Dis-assembly begins! I have no idea what i am doing just unscrewing everything haha. Its all junk to me anyway.

All done! (kinda)

That night i got home and drilled out the old risers for the mac motherboard, and i got rid of the aircard on the side of the door.

At this point i havn't ordered any of the internals yet, still figuring out exactly what i want to get and everything, so i decided to paint it today. here are some pics.

this is the top

Taped off the side apple logo, and the little pull lever

the side is finished! came out better then i expected.

The x on the front is a snowboard brand called "NationsFoundation" and that is there symbol. I put the sticker on the front, painted, and took it off. Came out perfect!!

I havn't touched the back, cause i am thinking about cutting it up a little bit to make any micro atx fit, instead of a certain one, so if i ever wanted to change the board it would swap in easily.

I also reversed the spring on top and removed the side plastic, so it locks automatically and stays locked until you push in the lever.


Hope everybody likes it so far! i am debating leaving the CD drive the way it is and just putting a slim drive in it, so i can cut away most of the buldge from the original size. Or removing it and making more room in the case. Opinions? I am building it for my brother, he is a video editor/photographer. So he rarely uses CD's anymore except to burn some dvd's rarely. mainly flash drives and his external HD.

 

[jaaaykx]

The white enamel looks sick!

Nice job

 

[Gchames]

Thank you! It came out better then expected.

 

[doctorevil30564]

looking good so far.

 

[colinzeal]

Has the paint stuck well?

What is the best paint for spraying these cases? I saw the tin but we don't get it here in UK. I got 4 cases to spray!

 

[Einsteiniac]

Yeah you did a great job painting that came out really smooth looking!

 

[Gchames]

looking good so far.

Thank you!

Yeah you did a great job painting that came out really smooth looking!

And thank you! I thought it would come out like junk, guess i was wrong! it took me a few hours of taping and painting to get it the way i wanted it.

Has the paint stuck well?

What is the best paint for spraying these cases? I saw the tin but we don't get it here in UK. I got 4 cases to spray!

Well i used that Rust-oleum enamel paint on mine, which ended up working amazing! Since the case is plastic i have also painted with the krylon paint for plastic on another case (not a G4 but it was a plastic PC case) and it came out great.
I havn't checked this morning but last night after i let all the parts sit for a couple hours i put it together, it seemed to of stuck great! i will check it this morning once i go to the garage.

 

[roto31]

As having done a similar build be sure to make a lot of careful measurements. Especially when it comes to finding a board, PSU, and CPU cooler. A lot of the structural integrity of the case comes from the shelf which is in the case that supports the CD-ROM drive. On the G4 Quicksilver like yours Apple used a standard sized power supply. If you can find one of a similar size and it shouldn't be that hard to find, I was able to find a PSU that fit my Sawtooth mod at Best Buy. The best way to lay things out is as close to the original configuration for maximum air flow. Keep a fan in the back in the original location and just put a new 120mm fan in it's place. If the exhaust fan for the new PSU faces the inside if the case drill some holes in the side of the case for ventilation. If you go without a CD-ROM utilize the unused shelf for another fan for air movement.

Not to tell you how to build your mod but was just a few tips to give you better results. Unless you go with liquid cooling in some fashion you will not be able to go for a high powered machine due to the thermal characteristics if the of the G4 cases. Most of the G4s especially the Quicksilvers sounded like a jet engine when the processor was at full load.

 

[rick26]

Looks good so far!

good luck building!

 

[joshfabean]

Good job on the painting. You answered some of my questions on what type of paint works for cases. Any tips or just the basic tape everything off and do multiple coats of very thin paint?