# HOW TO: Modify a cabinet[WIP]



## Nipun (Sep 22, 2011)

*NOTE:* This is my first tutorial and modification. I have tried my best to maintain grammar and spellings, but still if you find any mistake(or stupid things done by me), please tell me. I hope you like this. 

*Thanks to:*
Skud, for the links about airflow.
Tech&Me for help. 

Hi all!

I am currently modding an old cabinet, which my uncle purchased(with complete system, ofcourse) about more than 14 years ago!(Lol, I am modding a cabinet of my age )

I have done with some part of it, and I will constantly update the thread when I complete more steps.

Tools needed:

Measuring Tape
Screw drivers
Iron-cutting blade
Drill Machine(you can go to professional cutters too)
Hammer and a couple of nails

I am modifying this:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00220.JPG
_When I took this cabinet from my uncle, it was full of components. Due to this I was able to see the processor for first time _

Everything I got from this cabinet(Yes, that peanut shell too!):
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00225.JPG

These are the main steps to follow:
Measurements
Design
Cutting
Painting

Step 1: Measurements
You surely will be placing your PC components in your cabinet, right? So to ensure that your motherboard fits correctly or you dont have to use your PC without your GFX card, take measurements of all the components(motherboard, PSU, Graphic Card etc) and also the internal space in cabinet. Make sure there is enough space in your cabinet to house all your hardware. And if you need to make some extra space for some of your components, I will show you that in step 3. 

Step 2: Design
After you are done with measurements, its time to design your cabinet. This is not as easy as it sounds! With help of measurements you have taken, think about the placement of motherboard, PSU, HDD, fans and all that. You wont have to worry much if you have a spacious cabinet, but if you are in same situation as mine, ie with really short cabinet, then this is very tough.
With help of a pencil, mark the positions on side panel where you want to place fans or side window(no need for fan marking if there are already holes in side panel). Placing of fans should be done correctly, so before randomly making places for fans have a look at these links: *www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=usa&tid=wh_airflow and *www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.php?area=usa&tid=wh_positive . Also, try to place these fans as close to processor, GFX card or any other component that *heats the most in your cabby.*
In planning arrangements of components in cabinet, you may have to take weird decisions like I am going to place PSU in front of cabinet, with cable coming from side. This is because the cabinet is very short and motherboard is approximately of same size as cabinet's height.
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00253.JPG
Another thing to keep in mind, make sure there is enough room for every component's heat to escape. If you have a gfx card(I am not going to use GFX Card in this cabby), and according to measurements it will be almost at bottom of cabinet(with <=2inch space), then you will have to place the fan either at bottom or extremely bottom in side panel.

Step 3: Cutting
Ok, so you have taken measurements of your components and have an idea about where-to-place-what. Now this is the toughest part. To cut the iron(thats probably your cabby would be made of!), you need a iron cutting blade.
As I mentioned earlier, my motherboard is long and cabinet is really old, I have to modify even the back-panel of the cabinet. The back panel looks like:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00221.JPG
As you can see, its not like cabinets we see now. So, for the motherboard to fit correctly in it, I have started cutting this backpanel.

If you dont know how to cut iron like this, either read this or go to iron-cuters 


Spoiler



To cut iron, you need such an iron blade:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00247.JPG

Now, hold it as shown in image, with pointed side toward hand:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00250.JPG

Place it on the peice/part you want to cut at almost 45 degrees, as shown:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00249.JPG

Start moving the blade back and forth. It will be difficult to pull the blade than to push it in beginning, but once you make small "cut" on it, it will get easier.

*TIP*: Use a waste cloth to hold the blade so that you dont hurt yourself while doing this. This also improves grip.
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00248.JPG
_In this image, I have wrapped too much cloth. This much is not needed _



Before you start cutting, make sure you are cutting right part in right dimensions!  Also make sure you clean place up because very fine iron pieces will be there after doing this. See this: *dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00251.JPG

Cutting such a part which has space to allow iron blade to enter and cut it is easy, but in case of other places like side panels where you may want to cut middle part is not easy as there is no place for blade to move. For this, I will try to write tomorrow or day after tomorrow when I do it. 

If you need to also remove any part of cabinet which is fixed using rivet(see image below), then you need to take a nail, place it on top of rivet and hit it using hammer.
Rivet:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00244.JPG

Part of cabinet which I took out by breaking rivets:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00242.JPG
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00243.JPG

Currently, I have not done any work after this, since I am having exam tomorrow. I will soon get back to modding and when I complete more things, I will edit this post 

*EDIT[23/09/11]:* Successfully faced exam . Anyways, yesterday I went to my uncle asking for drill, but he said that I can easily break it so he did this work for me . Also, while doing this work he gave me some tips that I will share with you too .

First, mark the area you have to cut with pencil on side panel. I will cut the side window's area first. Take the drill machine and make holes in corner of this area. After the holes are drilled, try to cut the side panel using drill machine: Insert the drill in hole and slowly pull it in direction of pencil lines. The more slow you do this, the better cutting will take place. Make these cuts big enough so that blade can enter in them to cut rest of part. It will look something like this:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00256.JPG

*IMPORTANT:*

After drilling holes, the back side of side panel will have sharp edges and can cause your fingers to bleed. Try not to touch back side!
After drilling, small fine pieces of iron will be left. Don't touch them, they may cause harm or serious itching/irritation even after several baths.
The pieces will look like this:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00255.JPG
To avoid the above pieces to stick to your clothes and feet, place some newspapers on floor and legs so that all dust settles on them.

As my big blade cannot enter the holes/cuts created by drill machine, I am going to use this thin blade:
*dl.dropbox.com/u/31104340/Pics/DSC00258.JPG
Using this thin blade I will make the holes big enough to let the bigger blade enter it. You may ask that why dont I use the small blade all the time. The reason is that the thin blade is very weak as compared to the other and brakes very easily. Dont use thin blade to cut everything as it may brake and you will have to purchase a new one. 

The cutting is complete.. 

Step 4:Painting
This is the last step required to complete this modification. To start painting, you just need to purchase paint spray cans or paint with brush, which are easily available at every paint shop. Since I already had the paint with me, I didn't had to purchase so can't say how much they cost.
Before starting to paint, make sure the cabinet is *clean* and no dust is there. To make sure there is nothing, clean the cabinet with a dry cloth. This is important because otherwise the paint will not stick correctly with the cabinet and will come off soon. Once you have cleaned the cabinet, you should cover the parts of cabinet which you dont want to paint or want to paint with a different color. You can use newspapers to do this. You must cover the buttons on the cabinet, otherwise the paint may stick to them and make them unusable. Also make sure to remove any screws on the cabinet otherwise they won't unscrew after paint has dried. Painting using the spray cans should be difficult as you just need to point and shoot  I guess this is same for painting with brush, but I haven't used them so can't say..

I am unable to post pics of this step as I had no camera while performing this step.


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## GhorMaanas (Sep 22, 2011)

great going buddy ! nice start..good to educate noobs like me  resume the 'overhaul' soon, while we wait for you here


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## Tenida (Sep 22, 2011)

Nice going Nipun


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## asingh (Sep 22, 2011)

Mmm...interesting. Will keep a watch on this for sure.


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## Skud (Sep 22, 2011)

Waiting to see how would you turn this antique piece into a modern powerhouse.


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## avichandana20000 (Sep 23, 2011)

awesome effort. but concenrate now on your exams.
aah! those pieces make me remember of my old rig. Yes now we buy this and that every now & then but i will never forget the ecstasy of the moment when i first bought the PENTIUM I system in my life. Thanks for screwing up my boyhood memory.


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## Tech&ME (Sep 23, 2011)

Nice going......... Nipun.


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## mithun_mrg (Sep 23, 2011)

gr8 nipun waiting for updates


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## Nipun (Sep 23, 2011)

Thanks everyone! 

I have edited first post and will re-edit it again soon.


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## Blue Ripazah (Sep 25, 2011)

good going dude....ill try it on my waste cabinet as soon as as u r finished


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## Skyh3ck (Sep 27, 2011)

Hmmm.... I remember selling all such junk to Kabadi on Kilo...  


Let's see what you end up with... 

Best of Luck...


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## dashing.sujay (Sep 29, 2011)

*14 yrs old boy* Vs *14 yr old cabinet*  

Great going Nipun! 




avichandana20000 said:


> awesome effort. but concenrate now on your exams.
> aah! those pieces make me remember of my old rig. Yes now we buy this and that every now & then but *i will never forget the ecstasy of the moment when i first bought the PENTIUM I system in my life. Thanks for screwing up my boyhood memory*.


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## Niilesh (Oct 2, 2011)

Nipun said:


> Thanks everyone!
> 
> I have edited first post and will re-edit it again soon.


keep up the good work 

hey just saw that google link in your signature,it was awesome
i also tried searching on it and results started falling!


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## gameranand (Oct 10, 2011)

Great going buddy. Waiting for updates.


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## Nipun (Nov 26, 2011)

Sorry I forgot to post updates earlier.. It took so long due to studies(CCE pattern sucks). 

*Good news:* The cabinet is complete and looked very good.
*Bad News:* I didn't had camera while performing last step so was unable to click its pics. Also, a few days ago my cousin came to my house and took the cabinet with him because it was "too good looking" ... So no pics of this too  
Will post pics of the finished product when I will visit him..


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## MyGeekTips (Nov 26, 2011)

Excellent Nipun. I'm Impressed & Suprised.  Good Job. Keep it up.


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## saswat23 (Nov 27, 2011)

Great.
Would like to see the pics soon.


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## Nipun (Nov 27, 2011)

MyGeekTips said:


> Excellent Nipun. I'm Impressed & Suprised.  Good Job. Keep it up.


Thanks a lot!!
And thanks for the rep too 



saswat23 said:


> Great.
> Would like to see the pics soon.


Thanks!


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## Skud (Nov 27, 2011)

*Good news:* we are waiting for pics.
*Bad news:* we are impatient.

Make it quick.


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## Nipun (Nov 27, 2011)

Skud said:


> *Good news:* we are waiting for pics.
> *Bad news:* we are impatient.
> 
> Make it quick.


haha... I will try to get pics ASAP, but it will take atleast 2 weeks..


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## Tenida (Nov 27, 2011)

Pics pics pics i want pixs


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## Mango (Dec 8, 2011)

eagar to see finished product pics !!


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## avichandana20000 (Dec 9, 2011)

Nipun said:


> haha... I will try to get pics ASAP, but it will take atleast 2 weeks..



that means u will take another 2 weeks to finish the modding. and confirm us for sure that u r not using any CANON AGFA CAMERA with B/W reels which needs to be washed in darkroom and will take 2 weeks to finally post here.


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## avichandana20000 (Jul 27, 2013)

what is the last status?


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## Allu Azad (Jul 27, 2013)

Wow . One and half year old thread . Where are the pics Nipun


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## Gollum (Jul 27, 2013)

Allu Azad said:


> Wow . One and half year old thread . Where are the pics Nipun



looks like he gave up


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## nikhilsharma007nikx (Apr 14, 2014)

Sorry for bumping old thread but ... I really want to see some pics !!!!


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