Ok So here it is, I recently purchased a QS 2001 733 and it came with a small 40 Gb HD and as I already had a 120 and an 80 Gb, I installed them instead.

I then realised that although the 250Mb Zip drive was on the ATA 33 bus it was still an IDE device, so I decided to use the original 40Gb and remove the unused zip drive.

after removing the zip carrier (2 screws) and unplugging the connectors I removed the zip from the carrier (4 screws).

I then slid the new HD in it place. Unfortunately due to the length of the zip drive and the slots cut for connector access on the rear of the carrier I could not just screw the new HD straight in.

See the length difference here. with the original ZIP on the bottom and the HD in the carrier on the top.

 I then had to drill new holes in the carrier to secure the new drive.  I lined up the drive on the outside of the carrier as if it was in it and flush with the back of the carrier. I marked up the side where the holes  lined up, i then  marked across from the original zip  mounting hole to get the correct height  and create a cross hair  for me to drill.  I repeated this on the other side.

 See the holes drilled and the drive in the carrier to check for correct positioning here. The new holes are marked in red.

It took a few trys but I eventually got them lined up with the drive holes by using a sharp 1/8th or 3mm drill bit and reaming the hole in the right direction so the holes lined up cleanly.

Then as I had created a hole in the front panel where the zip used to be I decided to cover it behind the front bezel with some thin black plastic I had lying around.  to get the Bezel out there is a locking tab on the inside of the case at the same level as the carrier, push it firmly towards the carrier to release, the bezel will then slide out the front.

Here is a pic with the bezel removed, as you can see there is a rectangular section cut out of the plastic so I just cut the black plastic to fit loosely inside the slot and put the bezel back on.  It is a firm fit with only the slightest of bulges around the middle of the bezel, but its better than getting little fingers stuck in it.

 Here is a pic of the plastic piece I cut sitting on the back of the bezel. The plastic is 0.5mm ABS (I think) and you should be able to pick up  a sheet from your local art supply store for a few bucks (my sheet is approx 200mm Wide x 400mm Long).

Here is the inside of the case after reassembly, The locking tab for the bezel is just above the screw to the left of my red marking.

So thats it, admittedly its not designed for a speedy ATA 100 drive but if you have an old drive thats gathering dust, you might as well use it.

UPDATE:

After further Testing I have found that this mod causes the drive to heatup quite a bit if used a fair bit (my IBM Deskstar cracked the 41 Deg C Mark!) so it was back to the toolbench for some extra cooling.

I found an old PC speaker lying around and thought that the grill would make a great replacement for the plastic I had previously installed, so I ripped off the grill and traced around the plastic piece I had in previously.  I cut the grill with tin snips.

here are the two pieces side by side

Then I renoved the carrier and the drive from it and scribed 4 lines about 2 cm apart on the inside of the  carrier.  I then marked 5 crosshairs on each line at 2cm intervals from the back of the carrier and pre-drilled them with a 1/8th (3mm) drill bit.

I then drilled those holes out to 10mm and as there was a bit of space left in the centre I added a few 6mm holes for good measure. I then femoved ALL the burrs with a file as the carrier is quite strong and brushed off all the shavings after.

here are the  small and larger drilled Carrier pics.

NOTE: the reason I did not drill all the way to the front is the holes would get covered by the bracket in the case anyway.

I reinstalled the drive into the carrier then into the case.  I transferred files on and off the drive for about an hour straight but could not get the temp to go any higher than 34 Deg C, a Whole 7 Degrees Cooler than before.

Note: Even though this drive is a 7200 RPM model the ATA 33 bus bottle neck makes it only suitable for storage of files not DVD images to be burnt or other high bandwidth applications.  I tried burning several 4.4Gb Disc images from this drive but could only get it to burn at between 2 and 4x.  After transferring the same files to my other HD on the ATA 66 bus they burnt at full speed (8x), so just be aware that this can be a cause for concern if things seem to be running a bit slower than usual.

BTW Here is the completed front panel with the grill in place.

Enjoy

Loophole 

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