Drive stealthing is a simple, quick, and inexpensive mod. It can be used as a solution to common modding obstacles like beige CD drives, and color scheme inconsistancy. Although there are many alternatives to drive stealthing, it is usually the most cost effective method. And in most cases, it looks just as good as painting the drive or fabricating your own.
What is Drive Stealthing
Drive stealthing is a simple concept but an ingenious one. The idea of drive stealthing is to take a drive bezel and hide the cd drive behind it. The result is a hidden optical drive that matches in color and keeps the cases styling without sacrificing any functionality.
Supplies:
- Dremel or similar cutting tool
- Spare�bay cover
- Double sided foam tape or Velcro
- Some thing to eject the drive, such as a pin
Before doing the actual mod, read through the whole article so you understand what you have to do. Never rush a mod, always take your time so you get the best results.
First off lets prepare the drive cover that we will be using to stealth our drives. Below we have one 5.25" bay cover. Before we can stealth our CD drive with it, we have�to make some minor modifications.
At each end of the cover there will one or two small clips which are used to hold the cover in place. Using the dremel, cut off these clips. Different cases will have different mounting systems, so the number of clips and other objects may vary from case to case. The objective of this stage is to remove everything from the mounting system so that all that remains is the flat piece of plastic or metal.
It is possible that your bay cover may have ridges on the back of it. Use the sanding drum attachement for the dremel and remove enough so the cover sits flat on the drive.
Since we need a way to open the drive, we will create a raised area to push the button located inside the drive. Take some double sided tape and cut them into small squares. Stack them on top of each other until it is tall enough to put pressure on the button but not press it. When the drive is powered, a light touch will push the button down opening the drive.
On the bezel of the CD drive you can see a small hole. Using a pin or paperclip, push it into the hole, as this will manually eject the drive. Another method of ejecting the drive is to power up the system to�eject the drive, then power down the system.
To stealth our drive we need to remove the stock drive faceplate. With the cd tray open, remove the tray cover. Removing the tray cover is a different on each drive. On this LG dvd writer three tabs held the cover in place. By pulling forward and lifting up the tabs were unhooked and the plate removed.
The drive faceplate will be held in place in a similar fashion. The face plate will also have tabs that lock into slots in the drives shell. Push down these tabs and the faceplate will pop off.
Take the double sided foam tape and put it onto the tray in thin strips.
Once you've got the strips on, remove the protective layer and place the drive cover on the drive.
That's all there is too it. You've successfully stealthed a drive. As with all mods, its important to take your time and never rush the job. Make precise cuts and sand down rough edges. Be creative, this mod can be improved or adapted to create more complicated stealthed drives.
