Pictorial guide/worklog of modifications to 'HTPC', GAM's Home Theatre PC; Making a cheap, simple case better - Page 6

By Greig Mackenzie

Hot glue, cold glue

I figured hot glue was a good choice for affixing the pieces--it holds well and can be removed fairly easily if necessary with a little chipping and lifting.

First mistake though, I forgot how quickly this stuff sets. Placing the glue first (typical glue application) is not the way to do this job. By the time I had gone around all the edges and started to place the grill the glue had hardened.

Plan B: Glue over the top of the edges. Schweet.

Although the first glue attempt had hardened, it hadn't actually set enough to easily remove--still a little gooey.

Nevermind, let's check out the good side. Schweeeet. :D

Back to fixing the first side. Patience is a virtue I lacked this day... hot glue? Mmmm, cold set! Into the freezer she goes.

Ten minutes later and we have crispy beads. Most of this stuff lifted quite easily now except where I had started to hack at it when it hadn't set.

All clear. Those marks are from my trusty old chisel aka handy scraper.

Back to the first side again. Note the finger pressure. I held this for about 5mins while it set. If it was flat it may not have been necessary but as the MeshX pieces slightly overlapped the beginning of the curved bottom they needed pressure to ensure they sat neat to the surfaces.

Voila!

Little LCD panel and side mounted ports reinstalled and temporary cable management.

The bigger picture, behind the scenes. Now, see that little strip of missing plastic at the very bottom of the front panel. Originally that was only source of fresh air in the front--minimal capacity that has now been significantly increased.

Front view-Off.

Next I need to focus on managing the wiring better and creating some form of ducting to marry the 120mm fan behind, with the two grills in front... and maybe some more paint. ;-)

The duct isn't vital but one way or another I want to enclose or clean up the area behind the basic little LCD which, by the way, displays disk activity and temperatures via the attached wire sensors (simple).