"Project: Christine" - Modding an IBM Personal Computer XT into a modern ATX PC case.

I did this case mod back in 2003 but I figured I'd post it up here as I just put in a very sizable parts order on Amazon to replace the internals with something more modern.

Christine has been featured the PC modding book "PC Chop Shop", Atomic PC Magazine 'Rig of the month', Gruntville's Feature Case of the month (two months running), Pimp Rig's Pimper's Choice of The Month Rig, a 2006 Case Mod Calender (May's Pinup case) and on Yoshi's Mods segment of "The Screen Savers"

Since about 2010, Christine has sat unused on a shelf in my den but it's been bothering me lately that she sits unused...so I have placed a large parts order for all new, updated internals and a liquid cooling system that I'll be able to fit inside the case.

The old internals are: AMD Athlon 3200XP, Watercooled; 2GB 3700 DDR; ATI X700TruBlue 580Watt PSU; DVD-RW; 200GB SATA HDD; 450W PSU

NEW Internals are: Asrock B450 Pro4, Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200MHz - Black; AMD Ryzen 5 5600X; SAPPHIRE Pulse AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT; CORSAIR Hydro Series H60; 256GB SSD; Thermaltake Smart 500W PSU

Working LED Headlights....

and working LED Taillights....

I found an original dual 5.25" floppy, no hard drive, IBM Personal Computer XT system collecting dust among faded, crumpled 1980's style mountain dew cans, 1990's playboy magazines and a dead mouse in the back of a friend's garage . He was happy to be rid of it.

Mockup of the front in cardboard and flashlights

some metal working and welding

First mounting of the grill. The grill was taken from a 1960's Studebaker Hawk

Cutting out the hood - You can see the reference material in the background

all welded up and all paint/rust removed

bondo applied to fill in the gaps

In the paint booth. This was given 4 coats of automotive paint and 3 coats of clear coat.

applying the chrome trim

Initial assembly....

The ignition is from a 1958 Plymouth Fury and acts as the power button.

A lot of people have said I should mount an LCD/LED monitor in place of the windscreen, and in theory it would work as the fake windshield is 17.4 "across and 7.5" tall...so a 19" monitor or TV would work (17.3" across, 10.6" tall).

The problem is the weight and mounting it. 4lbs doesn't sound like a lot but that painted top actually unscrews from the back and slides forward so I'd need to figure a way to unscrew/unmount the screen before I could remove the 'body'...also I'd have to figure a way to mount that monitor to the chassis without the stress of that weight damaging/warping the case