case mods

cutting a computer case with angle grinder circa 2002I stepped away from modding around 2006- these projects offer a glimpse into modding typical of the early 2000's era. Going through my old bookmarks I could find only one example of a still-functional1 self-hosted site documenting modding work from that time. So I'm restoring my own old logs, just for the sake of archiving the work. Expect plenty of low-res photos. These projects are all currently inactive.


decorative panel from the mdportal elite casemdportal Elite
Started as a DOS/Win95 gaming machine powered by a 486 DX 80 from ST Micro. It went through a few component upgrades and case refreshes. Extensive metal fabrication and old-school cable customization and lighting.


dragon case front profile viewDragon
A portable/luggable scratch-built rig built around an ABit AB-NV7m motherboard fit into a gutted DVD player. Showcases a range of build techniques including light metal and wood working, electrical and cable customization. Conceived as a portable LAN gaming computer, it instead spent a lot of time recording DJ sets from bars and house parties. I may in the future attempt a re-work of this project- it's the only one left in a semi-complete state.


Rei&Asuka front profile viewRei&Asuka
Another "luggable" rig. It blended the lines between scratch-build and mod- it spliced two cases together to hold two complete motherboards/systems in one "unit". Way too large and heavy to be practical and more art piece than case, but a fun build, and the last one I made.


  1. Most project logs from that time period are incomplete or gone entirely. Many people tracked projects in forums, using services like Photobucket to store high-res images. A change to Photobucket's payment model in 2017 led to millions of images being inaccessible. That left a small number of self-hosted sites to document modding work from that time, and sadly those have largely expired. ↩︎