Painting my Cosmos S

[dealmaster]

Hey guys,

I've got a Cosmos S sitting around that is begging me to put my gaming system back into it, so I'll be doing that pretty soon. In the meantime, I wanted to cut some holes for improved wire management and also was hoping to paint the interior.

I know powder coating will create a finish that'll be impossible for me to beat with a rattle can, so I contacted probably 5 or 6 shops in the area and they all want at least $120, up to $200 to powder coat my case. That is insane and I'm not spending that much, I was hoping for $50-75.

So with that option looking bleak, I thought I could paint it myself, get a good self-etching primer, some automotive-grade paint, wet/dry sandpaper and take my time and do it right. In order to do that, though, I'd want to disassemble the case, but the damn thing is riveted together. For sanity, I'd probably want to skip the rivets when reassembling (I don't have a rivet gun) and use some nuts and bolts.

So my questions are:
1) Are those powder coating quotes accurate/reasonable?
1.5) Does anyone know any good shops in Austin, Texas?
2) Is anodizing a good option? I contacted a couple of shops but haven't heard back yet.
3) Anyone have experience drilling out rivets and replacing them with nuts and bolts?
4) If I do it myself, is my plan a good one?

Thanks!

 

[cnealjr]

You can buy a cheap rivet gun and rivets at most home improvement stores. You have to think about having access to place a nut for each bolt hole - do you have that access? The other option would be to use a machine screw of sufficient diameter and tap the holes with a tap and die