Here is a picture of the case (in 2 parts):

I put the motherboard in the case to see where it came up to, well, the motherboard was about 1.5cm too big for the caddy.... 1st problem! the caddy wasn't just clipped or screwed on, it was stuck on with those round things with a hole in the middle (don't know what they are called) so I tried to force it off, I broke a pair of pliers and nearly my arm doing it!!! I got 1 out of 10 out (after a lot of struggling), I then tried using a screwdriver to force it off and that was easier. Anyway, I got that off and then fitted the motherboard. 2nd problem, the grille at the back (you can see it in the 1st pic) was caught on the mobo because the mobo was a bit too long. so I had to cut that away, the mesh part was easy but the thick parts were quite hard.

you can see where i had to cut in this pic:

Sorry about the lack of quality :-(

good news, the DVD/CD-RW fits nicely:

I will not be using a floppy drive so I will need to cover that up, but that can be done near the end. On this pic, the case is not closed properly, which is why there is a gap at the top.

Problem 3- I'm not sure that the screen will fit internally, (well, it wont!!) and even if it did, it will be hard to cut the hole because it is 2 layers (the plastic and the thick metal) and it would take ages....

The resolution: I will take sides off the screen and stick it on the outside most probably with hot glue and feed the wire through the case, that way I will only need a smallish hole which will be covered by the screen anyway.

Problem 4: The cables/extensions, there is only a very small space from the USB/power sockets on the laptop (the only 2 I will be using) to the top of the case so the leads don't actually fit, there are a few resolutions but some may not be possible:

    1) Get an extension for the 2.5" HD (if possible), flip the motherboard over and have the HD mounted somewhere else.

    2) Get a right-angled USB adaptor  (if possible) and sort the power out with a bit of soldering

    3) Get a different case (which I really, really don't want to do and I don't thing i would be allowed)

When I sort problem 4 out, the real work can begin!

 

Problem 4 update- because the USB hub uses a A-B cable, I cut the plastic off the end and bent the metal and it JUST about fits so that problem is sorted!! The power one will not be too much of a problem, it looks like it can be de-soldered quite easily, I am well on my way to finishing another mod lol!!

...I take that last comment back.

yesterday, I noticed that the drive didn't actually fit through the gap so i had to take it off and file it down, it all fits now.

The real problem is the screen (as always)... a wire came out from the cold cathode backlight so I took the metal off the bottom of the screen to see where is came from and saw a dusty smoke... I thought that doesn't look good, what I didn't know was the cold cathode was attached to the metal... It had snapped.

Going down the local PC shop (on Monday) to see if they have one or if they can order me one, its a 14" cold cathode.

when I have got that and attached it to the inverter and plugged it into the mobo and stuck the screen down, there SHOULD not be any other major problems.... hopefully!

I have stuck the transformer for the power supply to the case with glue from the hot glue gun so that I can just plug the power cable into that and then I don't have a wire trailing all the time and I don't need to touch the motherboard. The 2 pin plug plugs into the side facing outwards (on the left) it doesn't look very strong but it feels it, so fingers crossed :-)