Stop painting the inside of these cases, you are killing the vibe
I keep seeing people take a perfectly good beige or gray 90s case and spray the whole interior black or white before building. That is the OPPOSITE of a sleeper, it looks fake when you open the side panel. Last month I got a 1998 Gateway tower from a yard sale in Columbus and left the rusty metal inside exactly as it was. It hides a Ryzen 5 and an RTX 3060, and when someone opens it they see dust and scuffs, which is the whole point. Why spend 3 hours masking and painting when the ugly interior is what sells the illusion? Has anyone else left theirs raw or am I the only one who thinks prep work ruins the deception?
Oh man, the masking tape army is gonna come for you lol. But honestly you're right, nothing screams "fake sleeper" louder than a spotless painted interior with zero dust in a 25 year old case. Half the fun of opening up an old rig is seeing that grimy bare metal and knowing somebody actually left it alone. My buddy painted his and now it looks like a prop from a YouTube build video instead of a real machine. Raw metal and mystery stains all day.