Power Mac G4 Stormtrooper Case Mod

[galher12]

Hello everybody!

My parents are working with Macs for a long time now and I have 3 old Power Macs G4. For this summer, i wanted a project to work on so I decided to mod one of the G4s just for fun.

In this thread, I will update my experience and progress for this awesome mod.

I decided to go with a black and white color theme with touches of red. Also, this mod would have some Star Wars/Stormtrooper/Galactic Empire vibes.

- sorry for bad English cause its not my native language.
- Specs:
i5 3550
GTX 55ti
1TB HDD
12GB RAM

*This is not going to be my main system. I'm doing this for the case mod and ill put my old pc parts in there, so the case would be completely standard and upgradable.

This is what I started with - 1st gen power mac g4:

In the end I want it to look something like this but with some personal touches:

So.. I completely tore down the case.
The first thing I had to do is to mod the rear panel to fit a standard I/O shield. I cut out rectangle-ish piece:

In the last photo, you can see that the IO shield sits really nicely and flat with the back panel, to do so, I cut a tiny slot in the gap between the lower and higher parts:

The next step was to mount the motherboard standoffs. To do so, I put the mobo in its place with a GPU and I screwed in the gpu to the chassis so it would be fitted perfectly. Then I used a drill and Dremel to make oval slots in the plastic plate for the standoffs (so the door will be able to open).

I decided to keep the PSU in its original place, with the fan to the outside of the case so I drilled big holes in back for airflow,
it's not the best solution but it won't be visible so I don't really care. I also removed the shelf for the PSU and optical drive.

For the front panel I wanted to do something that would look cool so cut out the middle section with a Dremel. I designed a front panel using Solidworks and then I laser cut it from 3mm acrylic.

I gave up on the two buttons under the power button, and instead, I used the space for the front I/O (2XUSB 3.0, headphones and microphone jacks). For power button, I'm using the original one.
I also designed a back panel for the front panel to mount the fan on it, a PSU cover with the empire logo, and a mount for the front I/O:

This is where I am now, more updates will be posted as soon as possible!
Feel free to ask questions and suggest things!

 

[galher12]

UPDATE #1
I went to the shop today to laser cut the parts and they turned out beautifully. Also, I glued the I/O holder with a special only-for-acrylic glue which is super strong and durable.

 

[Greatwoolf]

wish there were more updates on this build...

 

[galher12]

UPDATE #2
Sorry for not updating for such a long time, I didn't have the time to continue working on it.
I needed to cut some holes in the case for the PSU cables. Now they are going outside the case and then getting in from the bottom so they'll be as less visible as possible. Also, I had to modify the rear case's plastic covers. I cut a bigger hole for the PSU cable and on/off, and made a small cut in the plastic and aluminum for the rear I/O.

I've finished painting everything and basically, the outside is completely done. All there's left to do is to get sleeved cables, connect the front I/O panel (both physically and electrically), attach the PSU cover I laser cut, manage everything and maybe get some LEDs for underglow.

 

[ShatteredAvenger]

that flat gray is pretty slick!

 

[Greatwoolf]

Wow... I love it, great color choice, congratulations!.

 

[FranktheDinosaur]

Slick build! Are you able to share the dimensions/and or your CAD model for that laser cut front panel? I am looking into doing something similar.

 

[galher12]

Slick build! Are you able to share the dimensions/and or your CAD model for that laser cut front panel? I am looking into doing something similar.

Thanks!! sure, you can download everything from my drive
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19gynfPTN75Z7rj3I9TG1MOvoLQMg-oCs?usp=sharing

 

[Elijh4]

Hey Thanks for your build log (and the others I have been trawling over the last week). I have got my hands on a Quicksliver G4 and I'm stripping it down to the chassis to get ready for mounting. Everything is off bar one thing the back upper plastic panel, its unclipped and essentially free but doesn't come away due to the locking mechanism. No build or video seems to cover how to get this off - can you (or any one) advise me please?

I notice some builds show the back with the plastic still on the 'loop' but the panel removed which implies you can just yank it off .. but to me it sees too tight and I don't want to crack the plastic. The other option is then to remove the plastic cover over the loop which is a metal plate, but from inside it looks like it was pushed over a metal nodule and its kind of a one way trip, at last I have tried using a flat screw driver to flex this plastic and 'de-sleeve' it from over the metal piece but either I'm missing something (like a third hand) or I can get the right force on it as its not budging a bit.

 

[galher12]

Hey Thanks for your build log (and the others I have been trawling over the last week). I have got my hands on a Quicksliver G4 and I'm stripping it down to the chassis to get ready for mounting. Everything is off bar one thing the back upper plastic panel, its unclipped and essentially free but doesn't come away due to the locking mechanism. No build or video seems to cover how to get this off - can you (or any one) advise me please?

I notice some builds show the back with the plastic still on the 'loop' but the panel removed which implies you can just yank it off .. but to me it sees too tight and I don't want to crack the plastic. The other option is then to remove the plastic cover over the loop which is a metal plate, but from inside it looks like it was pushed over a metal nodule and its kind of a one way trip, at last I have tried using a flat screw driver to flex this plastic and 'de-sleeve' it from over the metal piece but either I'm missing something (like a third hand) or I can get the right force on it as its not budging a bit.

sorry, I honestly can't remember having any problems with the upper plastic. By taking a look at it, it seems it should just slide out once you took everything out include the handles, anywho, I'm absolutely sure you don't need to remove the door locking mechanism.