Case Mod #2: Stealth CD-ROM drive

After [H] put a link to my review on their site (THANKS! :)) I was in the [H]Forums talking about case mods and CanadianBacon221 suggested I do a stealth mod. I still don't realize why I didn't think of it myself, but since he gave me the idea (and some links to look at) he gets credit :P Anyways, here's what I went thru to do it

PS Before we begin, I bought a new digital camera, so the pics will be better this time, sorry about the crap before....but due to the high amount of detail and care needed I have left the pictures in their original resolution. So FYI, most of the JPEG's are 150KB plus, but since I've made thumbs i don't think it'll hurt any modem users (are there still any of those...lol :P)...

CASE MOD #2: Stealth CD-ROM drive

In the first pic you see the drive bay cover (see original review), and of course my CD-ROM. After popping off the faceplate, and drive tray cap I placed the face plate in the drive bay cover (as you can see in the 2nd pic) and traced the outlines of the necessary holes onto it with pencil. Then I went and scavenged another drive tray cap from an old 2x Sound Blaster CD-ROM (sniff, sniff, that was in my 486 25sx packard hell........). The last two pics compare the front and back of the factory one and the "borrowed" 2X one.

Here you see my tools o' destruction, MUAHAHAHAHA....*ahem* excuse me. Then next you see the drive bay cover after I drilled a couple of holes in it (that will teach it to talk back to me). Then next my assorment of torture devices...umm I mean diamond precision files (Thanks Dan for loaning me these). Then the last three pics are more "in progress" images I grabbed when I decided to take a break and wash the metal filings from my hands.

Here you see a "dry fit" to make sure everything will work as planned. In the next two pics I used double sided tape and scotch tape to do a dry run. The fourth pic is the final pic of the drive bay cover's cut outs. And last but not least a pic of my tools used and of course "Super Windshield Adhesive" the best thing invented since sliced bread. Available at you local auto stores (this brand came from NAPA) it's a very sturdy glue, that NEVER hardens and remains flexable. Perfect if you don't want to permenantly adhere something, but want it to stand up to daily use still.

One note, I used a black sharpie marker on the drive tray cap, so it would look stupid thru the holes in the drive bay cover. After that all these pics are final one's. The third one in particular should be intersting as it shows how I mounted it, and trust me it ain't going no where :)

Hope this helps, it took me about two days to do it, but I think everyone will agree it pays to do things right the first time. One final word of warning.....aluminum scratches easily...had I been just a litte more careful I could have avoided a few scratches I now have. I think a dremel is just too powerful for this application. The hand files really made the difference. Plus by replacing the whole faceplace with the drivebay cover, that also means I didn't have to recess the drive back at all.