Project: Hot Rod Sonata

F

flobadon

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 14, 2004
Messages
93
Here it is -- after lurking on these forums for several years and posting only occasionally, it is time to stop admiring all of your beautiful cases and start working on my own!

The Project: I've had my Antec Sonata for about a year or so now, and this summer I have made up my mind that it is time to upgrade the components inside. I wanted to do something with my case as well, and decided that I would use some of my downtime this summer to finally start modding my case, which has remained stock since I got it. Years ago I was thinking about doing a hot-rod inspired case with a flame paint job and never had the balls to hack my case up for fear of ending up with something ass-ugly, but since then I have conquered that fear -- let the deflowering begin!

Just in case you have all been hiding in cave dwellings or are still using the AT form factor, this is my canvas:
sonata.jpg


Since people probably have varying ideas of what a "Hot Rod Sonata" would look like, I'm sure I will get lots of suggestions -- and they are always more than welcome, so fire away. Do keep in mind that I am going for something clean, simple, and not overly-complicated. I also don't want to add any fans -- this thing is going in my bedroom and is on 24/7 so it can fold, so it's gotta be quiet!

Supplies:

I went to O'Reilly auto parts and made my way to the spray paint aisle looking for some paint and supplies, and here is what I ended up with (ignore the car care products on the back shelf):
05.jpg


For the case itself, I got Duplicolor black sandable primer, gloss black enamel, and enamel clear coat. For the front panels and the flames I picked up some Duplicolor "Mirage" Red/Blue paint (comes in kit form) which included basecoat, midcoat and clear coat. I also got an assortment of wet/dry a weight sandpaper, some hand glaze, and polishing compound, and of course painter's tape and a sanding block.

Teardown:

Obviously the first thing to do was remove all of the components from my case to their temporary (and unsafe) home on top of some magazines:
02.jpg


Since I can't leave them lying about, I just threw them in an empty case (why I ever thought I should own a full tower case is beyond me):
giant.jpg


Once the case was empty, it was time to take off the switches, case feet, and all the other junk I didn't want to get paint on:
03.jpg
 
damn im not the only one who bought a vantec stealth for my sonata.....bad idea it was, not only is it loud but wen u hoook it up to the fan only connectors, it barely moves any air =/ as opposed to the stock rear fan that moves PLENTY of air wen connected to the fan only connectors; anyways the mod sounds good, cant wait to see it :p good luck and keep us updated
 
Prepping for Paint:

The first step was to get rid of all that orange peel from the factory paint on the case. To do this, I used some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper (and iced tea) and wetsanded the surface until the cows came home (don't ask about the foliage in the bucket because it's not mine).
08.jpg


Once that was done, I used some of the black sandable primer and layed down a good coat down over the case to cover any exposed steel from the wet sanding, then I wet sanded again. No pics of the case in primer -- it's just not that interesting, but I do have an equally exciting picture of the case all masked off:
masking.jpg


Base coat:

Once the primer was dry and clean, I layed down a few coats of glossy black paint. This was easily the most frustrating part thus far because of two factors. First, a noisy sparrow in the yard would not shut up (until I threw my painter's tape at him). Second, apparently gnats are huff-heads or have an affinity for shiny black paint. I had to extract about three or four of the little bastards out of the paint. Speaking of the paint, here it is:
gloss.jpg


Since that shot doesn't entirely do it justice, here is a comparison of the paint before and after (remember that I am going to wet sand one more time before clear coat)...

Before:
06.jpg


After:
glosspeel.jpg


Notice less orange peel? The wet sonding should take care of the rest of it, but this is a good start. In the after picture, you can clearly see that there are two lights in the fixture above, where it just looks like one in the before shot.
 
@ N H O: Very true -- I have my Stealth hooked up to a 12 volt connector, and it's really not much louder than at 7 volts. I just have the one fan in the back and am pretty happy with my load temps. I do think the Stealth is noticably quieter than the stock fan in the Sonata, but maybe it's a psychological difference, or the fact that my CPU fan masks any sound made by the case fan. :D

Anyways, expect an update in a few days. I should have the front panels painted by then.
 
flobadon said:
@ N H O: Very true -- I have my Stealth hooked up to a 12 volt connector, and it's really not much louder than at 7 volts. I just have the one fan in the back and am pretty happy with my load temps. I do think the Stealth is noticably quieter than the stock fan in the Sonata, but maybe it's a psychological difference, or the fact that my CPU fan masks any sound made by the case fan. :D

Anyways, expect an update in a few days. I should have the front panels painted by then.
Click to expand...
yeea the stock fan is very loud, about 35dBA and the sonata isnt such a good case for loud fans cuz its like a sound tunnel and only makes loud fans LOUDER, but with the fan only connector, the stock fanonly 20dBA and moves a decent amount of air. anyways i admire the paint job, be sure to wax it when ur done :D
 
flobadon said:
.

Teardown:

Obviously the first thing to do was remove all of the components from my case to their temporary (and unsafe) home on top of some magazines:
02.jpg
Click to expand...

Whats that black thing on the top middle Mag?
 
Aku12 said:
That looks identical to my Sata controller card
Click to expand...

We have a winner!

Omega: no mixup -- notice the "after" pic has some overspray on the masking where the before (the door picture) does not. Also notice that the light fixture is slightly more defined in the reflection. Remember that is not the final product -- I'm going to put one more coat of gloss black over the case, then wet sand, then do several layers of clear.

Anybody who has painted their case: how long is long enough for letting enamel paint cure? The can says several days, but I'm curious if waiting longer yields a better quality finish?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top