Modding an Antec 200

[Nerdrage]

Hi everyone,

I know that many people do not like this new case from Antec because of the styling, but personally I prefer it over my "industrial" looking Antec 300. I recently used one in a "semi-budget" gaming build for my fiancee, and I liked it so much I decided to grab one for myself. Since there's no real rush to transplant my system, I have plenty of time to take it apart and mod it out a bit.

That being said, I am currently in the process of tearing it down for paint, and the only thing I am stuck on is how to remove the 3.5" door for the hot swap SATA bay. I am trying to be careful because I don't want to damage the springs. Once that is done, all that is left is to drill out all of the rivets holding it together. I may be able to start cleaning and laying down some paint this weekend.

I am also currently working on cutting out the honeycomb grills from the front fan mount, and sanding down the plastic to make it look clean. I'll try and get some pics of that up once I get my camera working.

If anyone has any ideas about that hot swap door I would be appreciative.

[Nerdrage]

Okay, time for some pics. Here is the case mostly taken apart.



For the 200, Antec moved away from the two metal fan cages in the front to a single plastic door for both fans.



I really disliked the thought of all that plastic disrupting my incoming air, so I decided to cut it out. Initial cuts were done quite crudely with a pair of side cutters.



Cleanup was done with a razor knife. I shaved off the "nubs" that were left, as well as made diagonal cuts across the corners. I still have to sand everything down to a smooth finish before painting.



So I was up until 2:30 last night drilling out rivets and then cleaning up the mess after. Maybe my "kitchen" table wasn't the best place to do it? Anyways, the case is dismantled and the panels are ready to be cleaned/degreased and painted.

In the second pic you can sneak a peak at the Corsair Hydro H50 that will be going into the new case when my system is transplanted, along with an AMD Phenom II x3 720 :)





What does my cat think of all this? Apparently she could care less... lol.

[ImmaPC]

You're right, most people don't like the styling of it, but to each his own, so I won't complain This seems like a fun little case mod. If you give me some pictures of the hot-swap bay, I'll help you out as best I can. Do you re-rivet the case back together after drilling them out? Why not just paint it as one piece? I'd like to see how the paint turns out, keep us posted!

[Nerdrage]

Hey thanks for the interest

I got the door to the hot swap bay figured out a long time ago. I was just being a wimp with it because I was afraid to break something :)

Yes, I will certainly rivet the case back together once I am done. I busted it down into it's component pieces mainly because I wanted to do it "right" and make sure that each piece was properly painted and had time to cure, and also because I will be using a couple of different colors.

Progress has been slow because I have been sick, and also because I have been participating in the Star Trek Online open beta. Here is what I have been up to though:

First, I decided I wanted to reverse mount my two WD Caviar Black drives. Not a lot of room in an Antec mid tower, but I think it can be done. I had to drill some additional mounting holes before painting, and here they are marked out:



Next, I finished working on that plastic bezel that holds the two front 120mm fans in place. I sanded down my handy work to a clean finish, and here is the finished piece. The paint is Krylon Fusion Textured Metallic Graphite.



The paint isn't that "glittery" in person. I just don't know how to turn off the flash on my fiancee's camera I am pretty proud of the job I did on that piece, it cleaned up real nice.

Here it is with a couple of Coolermaster R4 blue LED fans mounted in it:



Most of the other "interior" pieces including the bottom tray, motherboard tray, inner front tray etc, are being done in the same color. They are all at work on top of my filing cabinet curing and waiting for a backside coat that I hope to put on this week sometime.

Thanks for looking!

[ImmaPC]

Reverse the mount...is this going to be like a semi-hot swap bay thing going on, or is it for 1337 points?

The paint looks pretty slick, it's starting to make me second guess the paint I bought for my Cosmos. I'm painting it right now, its about to receive its first coat of flat black tmrw...I hope it turns out alright. After seeing the little plastic part, it might be too flat.

This is shaping up to be a pretty decent little mod, I can't wait to see it all black on the inside with those blue R4's

[Polygon]

yea... those blue LED's with the shiny paint will look nice i suppose. Keep the pics comin'!

[Kayen]

You should add an extra exhaust on the top .
As well as figure out some cable routing options. There's like 0 room behind the case to route most cables.

[Megaclocker]

Originally Posted by Kayen

You should add an extra exhaust on the top .
As well as figure out some cable routing options. There's like 0 room behind the case to route most cables.

That case is a pain to cable manage, puting hdd in 5.25 slots help.

A second exaust is only possible if you don't use anything in the top 5.25 slot.

[AmuseMe]

Originally Posted by Megaclocker

That case is a pain to cable manage, puting hdd in 5.25 slots help.

A second exaust is only possible if you don't use anything in the top 5.25 slot.

You could always use "bigger" mother board standoffs. I didnt fully understand how the TJ07 could look so clean untill I got mine and saw that the standoff are huge compared to what I am use too!

Im not sure what people think, or how good it would work, but you can always screw a standoff into the motherboard tray, another standoff on that one, and than the motherboard - you know, double stack them

[Megaclocker]

Originally Posted by AmuseMe

You could always use "bigger" mother board standoffs. I didnt fully understand how the TJ07 could look so clean untill I got mine and saw that the standoff are huge compared to what I am use too!

Im not sure what people think, or how good it would work, but you can always screw a standoff into the motherboard tray, another standoff on that one, and than the motherboard - you know, double stack them

Nice idea but wouldn't that screw the I/O plate alignement. (no I/O would work I guess)