So I had an extra Xbox and VCR lying around: What better to do than try my first mod on them. I was a little overambitious and didn't plan it on paper at all. This was my first (un)professional mod, from years ago. I've learned quite a bit since then, but I still think f it was a good attempt at something different. Everything went well until I ran into a small snag, I'll let the pictures do the talking from here on out. Enjoy and any comments would be appreciated! First step (besides taking it apart) was to gut it. After that I ground down the pegs that stuck up through the guts that held them in place since they didn't fit well with the Xbox motherboard. The picture shows a good example of one peg ground all the way down and the other mostly down. This shows how badly I could handle a Dremel when I first got it, but I did get the hole for the ethernet port the right size eventually. What the ethernet port hole looked like from the outside. With the Xbox motherboard in place, here's what it looked like from the outside. Not as close of a shot as the last picture though. The Xbox motherboard is in place, but see if you notice what is wrong. If not, maybe this angle will help you puzzle it out better. The motherboard had to actually be moved towards the back of the case so that the ethernet port stuck slightly out from the case. This happend because there is an indent in the plastic where the video ports used to come out for the VCR. This was easy fixed and so onto the next step: Making a spot for the power port. The plastic was actually thicker so it was harder to get through compared to the thin plastic on the ethernet port side. The power supply is finally put into place, here's a picture from the inside. The power supply in place, view from the outside. The board and power supply are in place, but there's still no hole for the video port. I end up making it, but there is no pictures of it. I ended up fastening the power supply and motherboard down with screws into the plastic. The original idea of having the screws be where they used to be in the VCR before the guts were taken out. Here's the back with the motherboard and power supply in place. Next was to deal with the controller ports. The excess cord is wrapped around (what I would call a magnet) a steel ring. Around the ring is a plastic covering, which I had to break both to get it to the length I needed. I broke the ring and unraveled the small amount of cable that was gained. In the process of breaking the ring I severed a couple cables on the controller port. I ended up replacing it with a spare I had. Here's a picture that shows the distance of cable gained by breaking the ring. Where the arrows point I had to make an incision to fit the controller ports. Everything is almost good to go, but if you look close enough you'll notice a problem. The problem is this: The placement of the cd drive doesn't match up to the tape door. The point of the project was when the eject button is pushed, the tray would slide out and the door would open. If the tape door is held open it works like I planned...so I failed there. Here's the "finished" project with the cover on.
Yeah it's shhh...ockingly good for a first mod attempt! So where does the tape go? Come to think of it where does the disc go? ;-) *EDIT* Oh yeah I can see how that could be a problem here, eeeeenyway....
Here is the back with the cover on. I made slots where the fan is for airflow and it worked pretty well. I finished the project with only half done, but I realize the flaws and could fix it now. There might be a few other pictures (I'll look), otherwise that's it. I hope you all enjoyed this short mod, or at least found it somewhat interesting. Thanks for looking!
Thanks, just for the record it did work, just how I planned (since I worded it a it odd). I ended up angling the cd drive so that when the tape door is held open the drive's tray can come in and out.
Yeah I think the space was the real issue here. If the drive lined up with the tape slot you could simply cut the holding posts off the door flap and glue it onto the front of the DVD drive, so that it slides out with the tray instead.
Ghetto. So what was the point of that? From the thread title I thought it was both at once in a working unit. That is just... Sticking a chunky ugly console into a chunky ugly VCR case. It's especially painfull to see how you made them, "holes". When I think back on how I accidentially broke the door flap on my nifty old quallity VCR and felt really bad for it, this looks like you stuck a soldering iron in there or something. Kinda like sticking a soldering iron into a human body! :nod:
10 out of 10 for ambition but only 1 out of ten for planning, i personally would have put the controller ports on one of the sides and put the hd on its side or at a angle at the opposite side...maybe even make the lcd display show the cpu/gpu temps.....but thats just me :110:
The only tool I had at the time was a dremel and only so many bits at that. I remember I had to use a blunt ended bit since I didn't have a sharp one. I'd get it through and start wiggling it around to widen the hole. Yeah, it was an impulse idea I had when I got my new DVD/VCR combo. It's like most dreams when you're young, good and great in the beginning, but doesn't turn out so good in the end. Thanks for the comments and I surprisingly didn't use a soldering iron since I didn't have one back then. :lol:
Use a 2.5" drive instead of the 3.5", center the dvd tray and mount the 2.5" drive flat against the back wall of the enclosure or to the roof.
Those all would have been things I'd do now, but a couple years ago I was a little more eager to jump into it without thinking. Thanks for the suggestions though, if I ever have a spare Xbox and a VCR lying around I vow to retry this mod (with better results and more planning). :nod:
Why not use a DVD player instead of a VCR. An older model will be big enough to fit the xbox bits inside and there's already a slot for the disc tray.
I would try a dvd player, but the only one I have is one I use frequently and most of the dvd players I see today (that I'd buy for the mod) are slimmer ones, that might make it a little more difficult to mod. I guess one day I could go to a garage sale and get a cheap one... I only say another VCR because I want to try to make this work, kind of succeeding where I failed last time type of thing.
