Was looking on eBay the other day, Gideon [when you posted your request recently, I immediately started looking there] ..there's a ton of them available.

Yeah, there were a good amount out there, but I was looking for <$50 since I'm only gonna use the case. I may test the system and sell the components if they're still good. I found this one for a $25 "Buy it Now" price, and $15.00 for shipping.

...by the way ...good luck trying to shoehorn everything you need into that li'l sucker. Interested to see what you're gonna do about cooling.

It'll be a trick, that's for sure. I think if I put the DVD/CD drive outside the computer itself (masking them by modding the older 5 1/4" drives), and use a desktop form factor, I should be able to make everything fit. One of the tricks is going to be mounting a modern keyboard to the case, but once I have it, I'll get some friends to help me with figuring that one out. As for cooling, that's one of the biggest drawbacks. I may go with a liquid cooling system, but again, will explore the options once I have the computer on hand to check dimensions, etc.

It's going to be a challenging project, but this should be pretty cool if I can pull it off. I may go with a slower PC just because of the cooling challenges; after all, this one is being built for show, not for performance (although performance will certainly be a bonus!)

Will be following this to get ideas for my Lego(TM) case and accessories

VERY awesome concept...will be looking forward to the report on this one.

Good idea with the monitor...I had thought about using a TRS-80 with integrated monitor that way, but the shipping on most of those is cost prohibitive...

Ideally, I'd like the keyboard to be where the original was. I think it's workable, going to work with some car stereo guys on that one, since they deal with similar problems installing stereos in dashboards all the time. I have not ruled out putting the CD facing out to the side (similar to a laptop setup), but I'm thinking the drive setup using the externals would work and still keep the retro look intact.

The keyboard can be purchased at thinkgeek.com among other places, but to be honest, I think I need the resistance of a "real" keyboard. I might give the projection keyboards a try though.

I like the idea of the external power supply as well. That's another component that could potentially be "masked" in an external drive.

Maybe we could get the admins to set up a "mods" section on the forums...after all, mods are basically the hardware equivalent of skinning.

I'll try to document this project thoroughly, though...I think it should be a blast.

a "mods" section on the forums

I'll be a regular visitor!

My first PC was an Apple 2e, so my ideas are kind of based on that config. Had two external drive bays and the monitor was separate, sitting on the case. Had to turn the monitor on and off every boot with switches on the CRT itself. From the photo, it appears you've got the start of a superb project.