Apple IIe Casemod for Sandy Bridge CustoMac

[tonymacx86]

Apple IIe Casemod for Sandy Bridge CustoMac

Hi everyone- my first casemod project. I'll be gutting the Apple IIe and sticking the following system in there:

Gigabyte GA-H67MA-UD2H-B3
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004PGAMFS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8

Intel Core i5-2500K
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EBUXHQ?ie=UTF8

250w ITX PSU- From the Apex mini CustoMac Mini case:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001H0BA24/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8

MicroCenter 60GB SSD
http://www.microcenter.com/single_produ ... id=0351760

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Completed Steps:
1. Removed the motherboard from case
2. Cleaned it all out
3. Hung motherboard and expansion cards on wall
4. Removed power supply
5. Laid Apple psu to rest on shelf

More to come- planned steps:
6. Mount Gigabyte board + RAM + CPU + PSU
7. Make keyboard RESET switch work
8. Joy!

Other stuff I may or may not get to:
9. Getting any other functionality out of the keyboard- ASCII, not PS/2, so needs converters and a controller to work. See here: http://pjrc.com/store/teensy.html
10. Reworking so the back plate fits all nice.
11. Taking pics and posting them here Here are some that look like mine:

Lots of interior shots- by damianward. Not my case: http://www.flickr.com/photos/damianward ... /lightbox/

 

[Samchavles]

very cool!
I was going to try the same for a COMMADORE 64 case, they sell the cases now for mini itx.

 

[HarryCJ]

Will be looking forward to your progress, must be a fun project. Just don't forget to put a display that matches, you know, retro style

 

[tviolation]

Awesome project, Tony... can't wait to see how it turns out! The keyboard will be a pain but soooo worth it to the finished project!

Something else you should consider, if you haven't already, is putting a slot-load optical drive into a Disk ][ drive casing to go with it. The 5.25 floppy slot should be almost a perfect fit and it'd be a sick companion piece for this machine.

Really looking forward to this one!

 

[tonymacx86]

Awesome project, Tony... can't wait to see how it turns out! The keyboard will be a pain but soooo worth it to the finished project!

Something else you should consider, if you haven't already, is putting a slot-load optical drive into a Disk ][ drive casing to go with it. The 5.25 floppy slot should be almost a perfect fit and it'd be a sick companion piece for this machine.

Really looking forward to this one!

Ya- that sounds awesome- I don't have a Disk ][ drive to mod however...

Sticking this link in here for that http://technabob.com/blog/2009/02/21/ap ... i-casemod/

I'm thinking get it going- then add detail work to it later. It's a big empty box- i figure how hard could it be to throw some components into?

 

[thefsb]

I haven't looked inside a II in decades. Thanks for the picture. Takes me back.

 

[HarryCJ]

After having a close look at the keyboard, I'd suggest you should try to replace the keyboard with something more "usable"
But if you go with my suggestion, what's the point of a mod, then?

 

[tonymacx86]

After having a close look at the keyboard, I'd suggest you should try to replace the keyboard with something more "usable"
But what's the point of a mod, then?

That keyboard is the main issue- I'm only going to be using the built in keyboard to turn on/off- and maybe not even that if I can't get it to work. If you're interested at all in the ASCII > PS/2 or USB thing, check these links out:

http://www.willegal.net/appleii/appleii-kb-int.htm

http://afiler.com/apple-ii-plus-as-a-usb-keyboard/

I have a nice wired apple 2011 keyboard to use with it! Lame I know- but it'll look alot better than the CoolerMaster case on my desk.

 

[HarryCJ]

And what's your plan for the display?

 

[tonymacx86]

And what's your plan for the display?

Well- I've got the color apple monitor that fits great on top- but I think a CRT with uber-low resolution is kind of dated. Think I'll use a standard monitor instead.