My first mod project Antec 900, comments?

I have been modding my Antec 900 by switching out various parts, cable management, and lighting, and now I am undertaking maybe the last piece of the puzzle. I am going to remove both of the clear acrylic windows and cut the metal between the two. I have already bought a piece of flourescent green cast acrylic from my local plastics company, and found a sign company that said they will laser cut to my specs for $30 to $40 (I'm hoping that will still be true even if the design has a lot of cuts).

What I am hoping to do, is instead of cutting a round hole for the fan, instead have a fan grill cut directly into the acrylic. Since my side fan is an AC Ryan Blackfire4, the fan itself gives off enough UV to light the grill and I was also planning on inserting two extra UV LED bulbs in the hidden edges on either side, or top & bottom. I am just a little curious, though, why I haven't seen any other people building windows like these. Is it a bad idea? I know that I can then mount the fan to the window using the holes which will also be via laser, and will probably use silicone fan mounts to prevent any rattle or vibration, and I have a fan filter attached on the inside already.

Anyway, I am including pix of the current setup, here's a list of the mods I have done so far, and finally, there's a mockup (very rough) of a couple possible designs for the window cutting. I would love to get some feedback on the mods I have done, and the idea of the window with built-in fan grill.

Thanks very much,

The Mods Thus Far:

• Cut a round bottom hole and flipped the PSU to exhaust underneath the case instead of inside it, which allows for better hiding of PSU cables.
  
  Cut holes in the Mobo tray for cable management
  
  Flipped my HDDs so that the cables go from the mobo, directly to the back of the panel and into the HDD cage from the side, completely hidden.
  
  Rewired the HDD Sata cable using inline connectors so that all 3 HDDs connect via a single cable with no excess (the ConnectX line -- pretty easy to do and looks great
  
  removed all of the nine stock grill covers, and replaced six of them with a custom grill/bezel I made from a sheet of mesh panel from CrazyPC for $6.95, painted with ACRyan UV Green from Performance PCs
  
  installed the Kaze Server for fan control
  
  and a Mountain Mods Acrylic UV Green 5.25 bay cover to make it "pop".
  
  Obviously I switched out the fans, too, opting instead for UV Green/Orange (and vice versa) ACRyan Blackfire4 fans -- the airflow is a bit better at high speed, and I like the look.
  
  Since the entire fan looks cool, not just the round part, I also removed the black plastic fan mounts
  
  instead I have mounted the fans directly on the mesh front bezel, using UV Green Silicone fan mounts, which work nicely -- the only drawback being that it is a bit awkward when removing the bezel mesh piece to clean the filters, but not terribly so, and for the look, I am willing to have a bit of hassle anyway.
  
  That move also allowed me to install fan filters behind the front fans. I am using the DEMCiflex Fan Filters, which are magnetic, and so they stick to the front of the HDD cages perfectly and trap everything. I'd say that these filters effect on airflow, if any, is minimal.

I haven't decided whether I like the green bay cover with or without some of the mesh behind it, here are pix both ways, any thoughts on that? Currently it is out, and I am leaning towards putting it back inside, as I think it makes the front look more "together".



I was working on making a mesh fan grill/guard for my side fan (also an ACRyan Blackfire4), since I have removed the stock metal mesh for more of an inside view (pic below).



I still have quite a bit of cable management to do . . . I have done some but wanted to wait til my UV Cathode lights came in, which they did last week so now I have no excuses!

And here are are contenders for the window with built-in fan grill:



I think I have actually decided on this design, which is a Mercator pattern, I think it will look cool and provide a good mix of protection plus good airflow. After working through Inkscape and SketchUp, I managed to come up with this design which I hope to give the laser-cutting guy on Tuesday, hopefully it will all work out, but if anyone has suggestions on this sort of thing, it'd be much appreciated.



Any feedback on any or all of what I've been working on would be greatly appreciated. This is my first project and I don't really know any modders locally, so I've been working in a bit of a vacuum. Cheers!

--Will

Looks pretty good for first Mod

Looking good, get some more pictures up though

Alot of fine work done there so far. The single piece acrylic window is gonna look great, like the Mercator design that you have proposed.

Modding Project, progress

So I did manage to get the Mercator window cut, and think they did a good job of it. The same shop can't do laser etching, though, so too bad for that... Since this is my first mod project, I am sort of trying lots of different things and realize it may come out a bit "overdone" or gaudy, but that's OK... by the time I've worked through a lot of these different techniques and modding ideas, I'll have built a repertoire of system/case designing/building ideas along with my own opinions and methods. Considering getting a dedicated folding machine, for example, at some point, etc. etc.. and so it goes.

Another big fun thing was I got a hold of a custom mount for the Xigmatek S1283 so that I could install it vertically on my AM2 board -- this was not a necessary install, but I wanted to, both to check out the temp change, if any, from exhausting out the top to the rear (AS5 still settling, but I predict 2-3 deg @ both idle & load from current perf).

Sort of have a deep-sea-underwater look to the machine now, and am considering how I might enhance that. I attached the side fan to the window using a combination of screws, acorn nuts and knurled nuts, all in brass, as you can see in the close up picture of the side window showing the built-in laser cut fan filter

Uploading pictures of the installed window, first 2 are lights on, then lights off, oooh, then finally, the laser-cut Mercator.




Hopefully today the final batch of necessary modding supplies should arrive and I can finish what I am thinking is the last phase... though honestly I also would like to try painting a case, but maybe I'll just try that on some old parts before attempting to take a working machine apart just to paint it... Anyway, here are my final plans:

• 4 UV Led's to swap out (with the default white ones, in my Ziggy CPU fan, which is the Dark Knight version anway -- better performing than the stock S1283 one)
  
• Reverse the new system drive so that it connects in front, as the 3 existing drives do, add another Connectx pass-thru and re-route the cable from the back of the mobo tray.
  
• Install window molding on the cut edge of the side window (maybe will be buying a cheap hand help tool to soften some of the more tangled edges, too, before I put on the molding)
  
• Cable management, cable management, cable management: sleeve and route cables inside the case more efficiently, and secure cables routed in the drive tower and behind the mobo tray so they don't come loose or short anything; also have to rewire some of the AC Ryan Blackfire4 fans, because man, I have already had shorting issues with 3 of 4 fans; install Y-cables on LED connectors so I can remove the 3-to-4 pin adapter on each fan.
  
• Found some super-cheap UV tempura paint at Michael's art store ($1/bottle) so started to paint the PSU, gotta at least finish it, though copper/brass plating would like spiffy if I could find something like that