Wash All pieces that will be painted in warm water
Makesure you have 800, 1500 & 2000 grade sandpaper (to privide the mirror finish)
Makesure any bit of sanding you do is wetsanding, Fill a bucket up with warm water and put a little bit of dish washing detergent in (acts as a lubricant and helps the sandpaper along).
Use a sanding block if you have one. After each sand on each piece of the case wash it thoroughly then let it to dry naturally. Don't towel dry it.

Ok now sand the case with 800grade sandpaper (wetsanding) once the whole case is done, check it out. Should be SUPER smoothe.

Apply a first ghost coat of sandable primer, let dry for 10minutes then do a normal coat of sandable primer, attack it with 800wet sanding once again. (Doesnt matter if original bits of the case end up showing through).

Once the primer is in A1 condition, Give it a guide coat of the first layer of paint you will be using, allow 30mins to dry. Then give it a Normal coat. Let that dry. Once that has dried give it a second coat, then once that second coat of normal layer paint has dried Whip out yout 1500grade sandpaper, (by this stage the case should be super smoothe, your just working on your painting quality) wetsand ththe whole case, in a ONE WAY DIRECTION. DONT!!! Go in circles or left & right then forwards & back because you will create cross texture in the paint and really start making a mess of things.

ONCE that is done with the 1500grade sandpaper. Wash it, Let to dry naturally.

OK! Now give it another Coat of paint....

Let that harden for a few hours...

Now CLEARCOATING!!

Apply a first guide layer of clear. Not too light & Not too dark. Then let it harden about 30/40mins for this.
Ok now apply a decent layer of clear, not too thick or anything and it must be even, spray in sweeping motions and dont start/stop spraying while on the object itself otherwise you will cause pilling of the paint.

Now once that has Dried about 1/2hours Brake out the 2000grade wetsand paper. Do the same sanding method but do it VERY EVENLY and not as HARD on the pieces you are sanding. Once done. Wash & let it dry naturally.

Apply its last layer of clear evenly. LET it harden overnight before you touch it.

!!GETTING THAT MIRROR FINISH THAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED!!


After letting it cure for 3/4days without handling it, Get some decent Cutter & Liquid Wax Polish. Apply a VERY VERY small ammount of cutter on a hand pad and get to work on the item dont do it too hard or too long otherwise you'll eat down into the color and stuff up. Once you have done this use a cheasecloth to buff it up. Ok about 15minutes after you have buffed the cutter off the item, Time to brake out the LIQUID WAX POLISH!!!

Apply a generous ammount to the item you are waxing and have a fresh handhelf buffing pad, get to work, Once it is all done, get another piece of cheesecloth and put some elbow grease into it and really buff it up, Once the Liquid Wax is applied leave it to sit for 15mins before handling..

Congrats, depending on the quality paint you used.

!!MIRROR FINISH!!


Hope you all have fun... and produce some awesome Paintjobs.

WINDOW MODDING TIPS. TOOLS. TOOL TECHNIQUES. ETC.



First, i suggest if you havent already, to follow the tutorials on how to separate the 360's plastic outer case and such. I found that for the back clips... if you use nice sturdy ROUND toothpicks... you can just slide em in each slot to allow the back to come apart.

ALWAYS PRE-DRAW YOUR WINDOW/CASE MOD IF YOU PLAN ON CUTTING IT... TAKE YOUR TIME AND YOU'LL END UP WITH A NICER END RESULT.


As for the cutting:

I used alot of tools...
A dremel or "rotary" tool... You can purchase them at any major retailer of power tools for about 60$ US. Im not too sure if you have stores like Home Depot or Lowes... but if you do... theyre definitely there... Or Sears. They can be helpful... and tricky at the same time... the sander tip is probably the most idea for the case.

Theres a hand tool out there used to score lines in plexiglass... It looks like the one in This Link Essentially, you take the lower sharp point and make multiple passes to slowly remove plastic... the first few lines should be with little pressure, but as you go about it... you can add a little more pressure... just be careful not to crack the plastic, and also... they can be tricky to control... so i suggest working on the inside of the cover... just in case you slip and "scar" or scratch the case. THESE MAKE GREAT SMOOTH CUTS.

NOTE: IF YOU USE ANY KIND OF SAW OR DREMEL/ROTARY TOOL, BE AWARE THAT IT MAY BEGIN TO MELT THE PLASTIC (near the site of the cuts) ... but the little edges generated by the plastic can easily be scraped off with a fingernail. ANY SOURCE OF FRICTION WILL DO THIS... SAWS, DREMELS, ETC.

As for sandpaper... I suggest for the 1st sanding (rough sanding) use 160 grit... its medium strength... just slowly sand the plastic until smooth... then move on to 400 grit (which is extremely finer... Its usually black in color... and on the back it may say wet/dry 400 grit) Use this to sand gently... then dampen the sandpaper (if it says wet/dry) with a little bit of water and sand the edges again.... it helps lubricate the sandpaper... and it helps smooth it out. Finally move up to a 414 grit or somewhere around that and do the dry/then wet technique... the sanding of the cuts should be nice and smooth for paint.

NOTE: Do Not Go Nuts with the sandpaper.... slowly sand... because if you try and sand it really fast...
1. The friction will build up and you can start to burn the crap out of your hands.
2. You have significantly Less Control of how much plastic your removing by sanding.

Another Great Sanding tool is Files... Metal files (finer texture) will remove alot of rough material fast if you need to flatten a cut... There are smaller metal files that are called "Finger Files" because they can be as small as a quarter of an inch. 1/4"
or .25"... in diameter

X-ACTO, HOBBY, and POCKET KNIVES: X-acto and Hobby Knives are razor-blade knives... they are EXTREMELY sharp... and EXTREMELY versatile for shaving small pieces of plastic off... just be careful 'cause like i said... they're sharp. Pocket Knives can also be used to shave off plastic... granted they're gonna need to be sharp. I took an X-acto/Hobby Knife and (the blade was standing on the edge of my cut... vertically) SLID IT horizontally along the cut i had made at an extremely slight angle... it made a lot of noise... BUT it helped even the cut out.

Rather expensive if you dont own one BUT IF YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE ONE>>>****Another tool you can use is a Scroll Saw... if you have one... Drill a hole in the piece of plastic you plan on REMOVING... then disconnect one side of the blade from the saw... slide it through the hole and reconnect it... then cut from the hole to and edge and start to follow your lines of the window you plan on cutting out... NOTE: Scroll saws have a habit of making the aforementioned melted shavings.

There are three different wiring methods. These methods are single (for one LED), series (for multiple LEDs) and parallel (for multiple LEDs). I am only going to talk about series and parallel circuits.

SERIES

When wiring in series the voltage of the source is dispersed equally throughout all of the LEDs. In order to find out how much power will be going to each LED you divide the voltage of the source by the number of LEDs. In a hypothetical situation, we have a 12V source and 6 LEDs (each requiring 2V to run off of). Divide the voltage source by the number of LEDs and you will get 2V, which means that 2V will be going to each LED. Great, each LED works perfectly and has the required voltage needed to run.

What happens when you have 3 LEDs (requiring 3.7V to run) and a 12V source? You will have too much power going to each LED. Divide 12V by 3 (LEDs) and you will get 4V going to each LED. Because there will be to much power going to each LED you will most likely smell something burning and will have to go out to buy a new LED. To fix this problem a little thing called a resistor was invented. A resistor is a circuit component which offers resistance to the flow of electric current. A resistor also has a powerhandling rating measured in watts, which indicates the amount of power which can safely be dissipated as heat by the resistor. In order to figure out what kind of resistor you will need you will need to know several things about the LED and the voltage source:

A) What is the voltage of the power source?
B) How many LEDs will you be wiring?
C) What wiring method will you be using?
D) What is the voltage drop of the LED (How much power does it take to run it)?
E) What is the recommended milliamps (mA)?

Once you know these things you will be able to use a resistor calculator to calculate the resistor that you need (I will go into more detail about this later).

When wiring LEDs together in series you wire from the - leg on one LED to + leg on another (the longer leg on the LED is the + leg). Here is a diagram courtesy of LsDiodes that will clarify what I am trying to say.
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If you place an LED backwards nothing bad will happen. The LEDs just wont turn on. If you need resistor wire this into the circuit before the LEDs. Wire to your power source and a ground to finish up your circuit. Now your circuit is complete and your LEDs will work just fine. I would recommend using electrical tape or shrink tubing to put around your soldering joints to prevent a short.

PARALLEL

Now on to a parallel circuit! A parallel circuit allows you freedom when choosing how many LEDs you would like to wire. Many people wire in parallel because of this freedom. This kind of circuit works great if you have a small voltage source and need multiple LEDs. If you had a 5V source and wanted to wire 3 LEDs (requiring 2V to run off of) there wouldnt be enough power to power your LEDs. Thats true with a series circuit, not so with parallel. A parallel circuit works like so: while every LED receives the same amount of voltage, the current of the source is dispersed between the LEDs. What this is saying is that you will draw more power from you source. When wiring to a point on the XBOX 360 this wont be an issue, only if you were getting your power from batteries or a similar power source that couldnt replenish itself would you possibly need to consider this.

Because parallel doesnt have any tricks for finding out how many volts is going through each LED I am going to skip to how to wire it. When wiring in parallel you always need a resistor. When wiring in parallel you wire the + legs together and the legs together. Here is another diagram courtesy of LsDiodes.
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RESISTOR CALCULATOR

Now that you know about the various wiring methods I am going to talk about resistor calculators. In order to use a resistor calculator you need to know several things (I mentioned these above but here they are again):

A) What is the voltage of the power source?
B) How many LEDs will you be wiring?
C) What wiring method will you be using?
D) What is the voltage drop of the LED (How much power does it take to run it)?
E) What are the recommended milliamps (the desired current)?

Do you know this information? If so lets move on. I am going to be explaining everything from here on, based on this particular resistor calculator. Find on the page the wiring method that you will be using (series is in the middle and parallel is towards the bottom). Enter in the information that it asks (that would be my A,B,D,E). Double check the information that you have entered and hit Click to Calculate.

The information that you are looking for is this, the Nearest higher rated 10% resistor and also Calculated Resistor Wattage and Safe pick is a resistor with power rating of. When purchasing a resistor I look for a resistor that has an ohmage of the Nearest higher rated resistor and a wattage between the Calculated Resistor Wattage and the Safe pick.

Q: What is the difference between Lexan/Acrylic/Plexiglass etc.

A:
Lexan is a trademark of GE plastics.
Plexiglas is a trademark of the Atoglas division of Atofina Chemicals.
Lucite is a trademark of E.I.DuPont DeNemours & Co.
Acrylite is a trademark of American Cynamid Co.
Perspex is a trademark of ICI Group.

Lexan is polycarbonate.
Plexiglas, Lucite, Acrylite, Perspex and acrylic are polyacrylate.

Polycarbonate is harder than polyacrylate, and if someone wants to go dig up the physical properties listings, theres probably a wealth of other differences. I dont think it matters much in a case modding context.

Lexan is much more shatter resistant than Acrylic. Acrylic is more scratch resistant than Lexan.

Acrylic is available in different grades:
Extruded material is manufactured by pushing pellets through a highly polished die. There can be slight imperfections in the surface. Extruded material is usually less expensive and more difficult to work with.

Acrylic can also be cast There are different casting methods, with the more expensive material being more uniform in thickness. Cell cast is the highest grade, and continuous cast is in the middle.



Q: How do I glue acrylic pieces together?

A: IPS Weld-on #3 or #4 are suitable adhesives available from your plastics supplier. You can use other products, but these are specially formulated. Use #3 if youre working with Lexan. Use #4 if youre working with Acrylic. #3 may make your seams appear cloudy if applied in humid conditions. The adhesive is the consistency of water. Use a needle applicator available from your supplier to apply the adhesive. Edges to be glued should not be polished. Use corner clamps to hold the joint together under mild pressure. Apply the cement to the inside of the joint, keeping the joint horizontal. The adhesive will flow into the joint by capillary action. The bond will set in about an hour, but allow eight hours or more for the adhesive to fully cure before removing the clamps.



Q: Can I form/bend Acrylic sheet?

A: Use a heat gun to get the material warm enough to soften. Use a form to control the shape of your pieces. Lining your form with felt can help prevent the plastic sticking to the form (thanks, mashie). Acrylic is flammable, so using a torch to heat it for forming is a bad idea. Thicker material will need to be heated on both sides. Plastic supply houses also carry strip heaters for bending.



Q: How do I drill holes in Acrylic?

A: The best choice is a drill bit designed for plastics. It will have a different cut angle than a bit for metals. Plastic bits are available from your plastics supplier. You can successfully use an ordinary drill bit. Use a low speed, and use a bit of soap to lubricate the bit. Dont advance the bit too far at onceback it out occasionally. Using a drill press is preferable to a hand drill.


Q: How do I cut Acrylic?

A: Leave the protective paper or plastic in place during cutting.
For straight cuts, in order of preference:
Use a router.
Use a tablesaw with a triple-cut blade (blade > $100)
Use other circular saw, with a blade with > 5 teeth per inch, 0 degrees rake.
Use a jigsaw with a finetooth blade. (plastics stores carry one, or use a metal blade)
Score and break the piece (best for 1/8 material)
Use a rotary tool at s l o w speed
Use a hacksaw
Use kung fu

When sawing material thicker than 1/8, use water to cool the blade during the cut. A little soap or wax on the blade can help with lubrication.



Q: Can I polish up the edges of my piece?

A: Do not polish edges that are to be glued. But other edges can be polished by successively sanding with finer grit sandpaper, or using a buffer and compound, or flame polishing.

To get a sharp edge with sandpaper, use a sanding block to keep the edge flat. If you want a rounded edge, use hand sanding. Using wet/dry sandpaper will give the best results.

Using a buffer can polish your edge very quickly. Either sand until smooth and then buff with blue compound, or buff first with red compound, then blue on a separate buffing wheel. Dont allow the buffer to catch the edge of the material, it may get thrown.

Using a torch to polish the edges works well too on thicknesses above 1/8. Be careful with this techniqueacrylic is flammable. Using a micro torch gives good control. The flame polished edges can thicken slightly, so you may not want to use the technique if that affects your design.


Q: My drill bits chip up the plexi/acrylic when I drill holes. Isnt there a better way?

A: Though pricey, I highly recommend the plastic drill bits they leave a nice clean hole. Using a regular drill bit is not too bad if you are drilling with a 1/8 drill bit or less but going larger and it starts to become chip city. If you must use regular drill bits, start small and work your way up one size at a time. Though I havent tried it, one recommendation Ive heard of is to flatten the cutting edge on a regular drill bit and supposedly it wont chip the plexi. Might extend the life of those old, worn out drill bits

The Craftics Plas-Drill bits are quite nice. They have a 90 face angle and do quite nicely in a drill press. Pros use custom ground bits with diamond dust impregnated on their surface. The Craftics are quite adequate for DIY use.

step one get your dvd rom drive out of your xbox360.

step 2 remove the holding platter from the top of the drive casing this my be differnt depending on your drive manufacter date.

next remove the four screws holding the case together located on the bottom.

now they are hard to see but there are 4 little black nubs that you must break or shave off to make the frame flush on top.

now mark on your acrylic/plexi/plastic sheet the width and length of the drive.
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now whip out that dremel with a cutting wheel and cut out the center of the dvd drive locking platter holder thinga majiger, i did it this way the 2nd time around for a little better view at the disc.
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now mark your spot on where your going to epoxy the metal holder in place so that the locking platter doesnt fall out and jam your drive up.
just use a marker that will wash off.

just glue the 3 tabs down the acrylic/plexi/plastic but make sure the locking platter is in under the holder first or else you have to rip it up and re glue it.
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after that is all done drying you can plop it on and test it out.
ok so it works but i had to hold it down? whats the deal.
well i cut the drive case apart and made these little holding tabs.
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and they attach were the screws go in, simple as that.
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here is the disc ejected and you can see the internal workings.

good luck and be safe

I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS AT ALL
I am just making a topic on how to do it
the first picture is from xboxhacker.org
the second picture is my own

Items needed:
1) soldering iron
2) solder
3) small gage wire
4) soldering experience
5) xbox 360 ROL


OK so assuming that you have all of the above mentioned lets begin:
Step 1) look on the back side of the ROL chip (opposite of where LEDs are actually located)

Step 2) Look for the following numbers >R3< >R4< >R21< >R22<

Step 3) remove those resistors and be very careful when doing so

Step 4) refer to the picture to know where to solder what to
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Step 5) plug the ROL back into your 360 and it should have swaped the colors and it should be red LEDs upon power up