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Written by Max Lewis
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Friday, 01 September 2006 |
Idea
I wanted to do something fun, creative, and different to my 9500. Something I hadn’t seen done before. Not the ordinary paint job. I decided to use simple hardware store ‘chalkboard’ spray paint to turn the whole computer case into a chalkboard.
List of Supplies
• Power Mac 9500
• Power Mac 8500 Case
• 3 Cans Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Spray Paint
• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (a wet sponge should work also)
• Flathead Screwdriver
• Small knife of some sort
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Take Apart
The 9500 housing is easily removed by unscrewing the 6 ‘thumb screws’ found on the back panel. You don’t need to take the screws out completely, just enough that you can pull the top housing off.
Painting
Before you start, make sure you have a well-ventilated space to spray in, and that you have room in a garage or some place to set the pieces to dry. I got 3 cans of the chalkboard spray paint just to be safe. I also decided to do a test paint job on an 8500 case I had.
Once that turned out good, I could head on to the 9500. The first thing I did was clean the whole case with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, to get rid of any dirt. Next, I removed the top housing from the case, and took out the Apple logo and label on the front with an Xacto knife. Put the logo in a safe place so you don’t lose it. I wrapped mine in some paper and tape. After that I removed the bezels (optical drive, floppy drive, etc) on the front of the housing. These are easily removed by pushing on the tabs from the inside. The bezels will pop out enough that you can then pull them off.
I was finally ready to paint the top housing. I started with one side, then painted the front, then the top, and lastly the second side. Make sure you get all the nooks and crannies as well as the edges. After I finished each part of the housing, I moved it into the garage to dry so less junk in the air would stick to it. I gave everything at least two coats to ensure a decent finish.
Now to paint the back panel and power button.. To remove the back panel, follow the directions below. Once you have that removed, go to the front of the computer and remove the power button by pressing on its two small tabs and pulling it out.
I had to cover the whole machine in newspaper so I could paint the bottom bezel, which was visible when the top housing was on (hence why I painted it).
More parts sitting and drying in the garage.
Assembling the painted case after letting it dry for a FULL 24 hours.
Chalkboard Mac Specs
• G3 450MHz PDS CPU
• 352Mb RAM
• 2GB SCSI HD
• Apple CD-ROM Drive
• Dual ATI Rage 128 16MB Graphics Cards
• 10/100 Ethernet PCI Card
• PCI USB Card
• PCI Firewire Card
• Mac OS 9.1
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Conclusion
I had a bunch of fun with this mod, and think it turned out pretty damn good. It is now set up as a testing computer running OS 9 for all my old peripherals and ‘stuff’. If you have any questions or comments you are welcome to email me at mxlews ‘‘at’’ gmail ‘’dot’’ com. Here are the final case photos.
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