Painting a CD-ROM Drive Face

[Hansaman]

Hello, <BR><BR>I have a Toshiba SD-1612 DVD-ROM Drive that has a white face plate. My case (and all other drives, etc.) are black. How do I paint the faceplate of the DVD drive? How do I seal up the interior so that nothing sensitive is damaged when painting. I would be using spray paint correct? I could just buy a new drive, but this one works fine and I would rather use the money toward something else. <BR><BR>Thanks!<BR><BR>H.

[GNXtreme]

when painting CD/CD-RW/DVD drives I suggest that you REMOVE the face before painting...spraying it while attatched to the drive has way too much of a chance of getting paint on the internals which could render the drive useless.&nbsp; Then if by chance something doesn't work I say go buy a black drive. <BR><BR>Of course you could always just stealth the front of it and not worry about painting it....to me that looks better anyway.

[Ginsu543]

I agree with GNX. It's really easy to stealth the DVD drive behind a spare face plate. All you have to do is use a dremel (or some equivalent tool) and cut off the tabs (where u screw it into the case). Then use sand paper or the dremel drum sander and smooth out the burrs. Then get some 3M double-sided tape and stick the face plate onto the sliding tray of the DVD drive. Voila! Your drive is now stealthed behind the original black face plate, so it should match your case perfectly!!!

[GNXtreme]

Hansaman, what kind of case do you have....

[Hansaman]

GNXtreme, <BR><BR>My case is a Chieftec/Antec case. Not certain who made it, but it is identical to the Chieftec Dragon series and the Antec Soho server series. It is carbon black in color. <BR><BR>Appreciate the tips. <BR><BR>Thanks!

[TranceJunkieXL]

Yeah, I have a pair of those cases and they should work well with that faceplate mod. If you have a dremel you can do it in no time at all.

[Joe]

take the drive out of the computer, push the emergency eject lever with a pin or something that can fit in that hole on the fron of the drive ... this will realease the door without the need of it being powered up. once you have that off the drive tray bezel will pop off. then you can take off the main bezel of the drive buy releasing the latches on the sides of the drive. you will see what i am talking about. <BR><BR>then now you have that stuff off .. you can pull the buttons and what not if you want to .. or you can just paint it with the buttons on. make sure you mask off the led areas if you want to see the lights come on and off when its in use.

[TranceJunkieXL]

Krylon has an excellent new paint that will coat plastic without sanding or a primer too.

[Joe]

heres a drive i just did ... its still a bit rough .. i need to let the paint cure for about 20-30days before i can buff it out to get a good shine on it. i also painted the whole cdrom casing .. but thats because its for a mod project i am working on. i tore the whole drive apart to paint it. probaly a little more then what you are looking to do .. but its an example. <BR><BR><img src="http://mainframeguru.net/images/joes/cdrom2.jpg">

[Hansaman]

Most excellent paint job! Appreciate the information and tips. I will give that a try. And if I hose it up, I can buy a Lite On 16X DVD with a black face plate for less than $50 USD. I am hoping to pick up a Sony DRU (something) DVD burner (the model thataccomodates all current formats and CD-R/RW). It is available with a black face plate. Of course this will be good while off yet. <BR><BR>Thanks again!<BR><BR>H.

[GNXtreme]

I think I still preferr the stealthed look to color drives....although PJ did an awesome job on that drive!

[Joe]

well the drive actually isnt done yet ... that was just the first stage of the paint job .. i have applied a second coat of clear coat to let it seal any edges of paint ... and now i am just letting it cure then i will buff it out to get a mirror finish.

[Avid6eek]

Next time I need something painted, I'm mailing it to Joe <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif" border="0">

[Viper409]

Would you be so kind as to post a pic of the finished product?

[Joe]

yeah i will post final pics ... my camera sucks but i will try to get the best possible pics i can of it. <BR><BR>i have like a surplus of blue paint from previous projects ... so my trash can is getting a make over now <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0"> lol

[Joe]

bottom pic<BR><img src="http://www.mainframeguru.net/images/joes/cdrom5.jpg"><BR><BR>another bottom pic<BR><img src="http://www.mainframeguru.net/images/joes/cdrom6.jpg"><BR><BR>and a all around pic<BR><img src="http://www.mainframeguru.net/images/joes/cdrom7.jpg"><BR><BR><BR>to those with dial up ... sorry <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0"> lol <BR><BR>its still not done .. i am going to let it cure for a week and then buff it out with some rubbing compound.

[GNXtreme]

now let's see the trash can....BTW the drive looks pretty good!

[Joe]

Lol .. i will get some pics of the trash can up tonight.

[Viper409]

<br><br><< <i>BTW the drive looks pretty good!</i> >><br><br><BR><BR>By the sound of it, it will be a lot better. Better see some pics of that too!

[Joe]

el trashcan <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif" border="0"> <BR><BR><img src="http://www.mainframeguru.net/images/joes/trashcan.jpg">

[GNXtreme]

Very Nice!!!