[G SEVEN] Norman's Mac Pro G5 Log [Phase: In-Progress]

[Norman_the_Owl]

Hello Forum Members!

At long last, here is my long awaited (by nobody) build log!
 

For start, here is the case in it's original condition, straight off eBay for a total of 40 dollars w/ free shipping

This is after i took apart the insides, but before i took apart the casing. This is a few days after the fact. It's a little beat up, some deep scratches, but nothing too bad. You can see the sidepanel doesn't quite line up with the outer shell, i'll have to see what's causing that when i take it apart. Hopefully it's nothing

At around this time, these two goodies arrived!

So with those to goodies in hand (more like sitting on the ugly carpet), i prepared to cut the case!

 

One Pre-Op shot...

And one final Post-Op shot

 

So thus concludes update NR.1 for this build log, stay tuned if you wish for further updates! if i can score a cheap pump expect watercooling.

 

 

 

 

Get rekt @LukaP

[Norman_the_Owl]

Reserved for Table of contents

Edit: I'll probably get a bunch of work done this weekend, there'll probably be one within the week

[JoaoPRSousa]

First pic stolen from Luka's build log.

[perestrojka]

Subbed mate

We should create sub-forum for Powermac based projects  

 

[Norman_the_Owl]

First pic stolen from Luka's build log.

I'm determined to outdo him

Subbed mate

We should create sub-forum for Powermac based projects  

 

Thanks for the sub, it means a lot!

Also i just use http://www.tonymacx86.com/powermac-g5/ 

It's a bit slow, not nearly as many users as here...but it's great if you need something specific.

 

 

 

Also as a short update I'll possible be getting another of these cases...This morning i said to myself "I'll probably never do anything like this again" but here i am, sitting on one for 50 dollars in the next town over...Will keep you all updated

[LukaP]

I'm determined to outdo him

 

you already cant, since with that picture you admitted to me being better Good luck by the way

[flibberdipper]

Well, I think I will follow this.

[mosin40]

Subbed!

Want to see who does better

[Norman_the_Owl]

you already cant, since with that picture you admitted to me being better Good luck by the way

Thanks for the luck, i might need that

 

Well, I think I will follow this.

Thanks for the follow! Also, those likes you gave me bumped me from 999 to 1001 i'm officially "admired"

 

Subbed!

Want to see who does better

Oh, that shouldn't be a question...

 

 

As a quick sneak peak, epoxied the rear plate in today, will do an official update tomorrow...I might have to redo it, unfortunately, the alignment was a bit sketchy. And JB weld is thicker than i thought  :unsure:

[flibberdipper]

Thanks for the luck, i might need that

 

Thanks for the follow! Also, those likes you gave me bumped me from 999 to 1001 i'm officially "admired"

 

Oh, that shouldn't be a question...

 

 

As a quick sneak peak, epoxied the rear plate in today, will do an official update tomorrow...I might have to redo it, unfortunately, the alignment was a bit sketchy. And JB weld is thicker than i thought  :unsure:

Get rekt mate.

[ungreedy]

Incoming~[G Eight ]~

 

just kidding , that is my case tho

 

can't wait to see how both of your builds turn out.

 

[Norman_the_Owl]

Incoming~[G Eight ]~

 

just kidding , that is my case tho

 

can't wait to see how both of your builds turn out.

 

-snip-

Ooh, she looks nice and clean. Good luck with whatever you're going to do to it, be it modding or use.

Mine's a bit beat up, going to need some filling in a few gouges, and the entire exterior needs to be refinished...

[flibberdipper]

Incoming~[G Eight ]~

 

just kidding , that is my case tho

 

can't wait to see how both of your builds turn out.

 

Please do a build log and call it G8.

[Norman_the_Owl]

Please do a build log and call it G8.

Then if i get a second one of these i'll call it G-Nine

[mosin40]

Then if i get a second one of these i'll call it G-Nine

Maybe it'll be mine  

Now you and @LukaP made me want to mod a Power Mac G5.... 

[ungreedy]

Ooh, she looks nice and clean. Good luck with whatever you're going to do to it, be it modding or use.

Mine's a bit beat up, going to need some filling in a few gouges, and the entire exterior needs to be refinished...

 

 

Please do a build log and call it G8.

mine will continue to be a shelf under my desk for awhile ,I have two builds planed out before I can even think about doing this .

[Norman_the_Owl]

Hello Everybody! Short one this time, not too much happened in the past...uh...2 days, but it's pretty important!

 

Yesterday, i epoxied in the new piece for the back.

Feast your eyes upon her as she started,

And the next day i got this

Not perfect, some spots didn't fill perfectly...

(bad photo warning, it's hard to get it on camera)

It happened pretty bad in this corner, and in one more place, but it's not too bad in general. I'll do a little bit of filling in when i give the front a similar treatment, in a future update

 

I'm also working on filling in the dings in the motherboard tray, but that's boring so i don't have pics for this update. I'll have to wait a while for standoffs and some spacers to arrive from china, it could take a week or two unfortunately. Then i'll be able to mount the panel and standoffs.

 

Edit: And before someone mentions it, i know it would be easier to cut the back panel first, but i don't really have many options. I want to get this thing as finished as possible while i have time, and i don't feel like waiting what could end up being up to a month for standoffs to get any work done

[Norman_the_Owl]

Alright guys, a little bit of a frustrating update.

I started work on the front panel, removing the old power button, and started putting aluminum and epoxying it in the places that needed filling.

 

But it didn't come out well at all. I'm not sure if i'm going to completely redo the patches (for lack of a better word) or try and make them look better. It's not the end of the world, in either case...Because of the next problem!

I'm currently waiting for several packages. Two of them from China, and one from California (presumably)

 

The two from china are some standoffs and screws i need to continue (couldn't source any locally, gonna take ~20 more days tops)

and the third is a package from EVGA...I won a contest... I'll update you when it arrives, which shouldn't be more than a week.

 

So because i'm waiting for the standoffs and screws, i can't move on to the step of mounting the PCI shield to the backplate. Until then i'll do some menial work, like drilling holes *shudders*

 

Other than that rubbish above, i need some advice. I'll probably need to refinish the case, as it has a lot of dings in it, and the big patches i'm replacing. How should i do that? I was thinking just sand it down relatively smooth, and then put a few layers of primer and paint. What do you guys think i could do that would be relatively easy (probably not anodizing this huge ass case, lol)and still cool?

 

 

Also don't expect a major update next week, i'm getting all four of my heavily impacted wisdom teeth removed next friday. On the first day of my spring break. Kill me now.

[Norman_the_Owl]

Got my teeth pulled, i feel much better already.

Received an update from shipping, the standoffs i need most left my nearby shipping  facility yesterday at around 4 o clock. They should be here either today or Monday, hopefully.

 

Still no word on my secret package from EVGA (It's not a sponsorship by the way, i want to get more work done before i risk asking for those).

[Norman_the_Owl]

Went out to home depot today and got a bunch of useful stuff;

The 6-32 screws i'll need for the PCI cage (both sunk for the exterior and non-sunk for the slot covers)

I also got some right angle bits to assist in mounting fans, and i ordered 2 3mm titanium drill bits from amazon, because it turns out no one stocks metric drill bits locally.

[Norman_the_Owl]

Oh and I'm also probably gonna take a trip to microcenter in the next few days just for the sake of taking a trip. I'll pick up the PCI slot covers i need, as well as some M3 screws (which they should have)

 

All depends on how well i feel, all the medicine i'm on is really messing with me

[Tearass]

"Long awaited by nobody" by me! You've gotta love a G5 mod!

 

--

Just going to leave this here, I'm sure you wouldn't mind some "cleaner" banners?   
Portfolio: http://imgur.com/a/yApKw

 

Information:
http://linustechtips.com/main/user/68881-rumikarimu/

[Norman_the_Owl]

Time for a long overdue update.

I've gotten all the screws/standoffs etc i need to continue work, and have continued slowly (I'm a student, what can i say)

I'm getting close to epoxying the standoffs in place, i just need to sand smooth the metal backplate (it's a bit of a mess from filling holes with JB weld, I actually just did ~half of it and will do the rest when i finish the post.) and fix some clearance issues with the backplane in the rear, will update with pictures when i actually get some work done there.

 

Some thing i did get done in this time, was i drilled out the front, and i think it came out pretty good, although there is some bad news...

The JB weld temporarily holding the plates in place broke on one of them. Not too bad, but bad enough that i'm gonna want to redo it.

 

The smaller piece that came out fine;

 

And the top piece, which i nearly finished. It broke* because after the two hours it took me to get there, i was using the drill at full speed without realizing it  :wacko:

*Edit: It didn't completely fall out, it just sore of broke free at one end, and the JB on one half (the side where the drilling isnt totally finished) broke free.

This is post-repair attempt, which is why some of the holes look like they're filled. It's because they are filled

I'm just gonna end up pulling this piece out, i think, and just redoing the JB weld for the sake of stability. This is roughly where the power button will be mounted, so i'd like it to be strong.

 

I don't know if it's obvious in the photos, but a lot of the whole aren't perfect. It's close enough though, they're only there if you really look for them. I'm overall pretty happy.

 

And uh, in other news, the big piece of aluminum that i mounted in the back? My dad knocked it out by accident. Oh well, just a minor setback. It won't kill hurt too much, i needed to reinforce it a bit anyway. It allowed me to drill mounting holes for the backplane though (again, pictures coming when i get some real work done on it)

 

That's it for now, don't know if i forgot anything.

[Norman_the_Owl]

I also went outside and finished smoothing off the plate, it went pretty well.

It looks ugly right now, but it's quite smooth in general.

 

 

edit: all hail potato cam!

[perestrojka]

Great job man !!! Can't wait to see future updates