Wardriver Wednesday

12 inch Dual USB iBook Mod: Part 1

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Some of the coolest things in popular culture attained their coolness by being modified and customized. Think about the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, any gadget from any James Bond flick or Ash's hand/chainsaw from Evil Dead 2. Modification rocks. I'm not going to teach you how to get your TiBook to make the jump to light speed or outfit your PowerBook with machine guns but I will attempt to detail the steps involved in preparing a 12" Dual USB iBook lid for a custom paint job.

Be warned that the first step in this process (removing the lid from the back of the screen) is one that Apple has forbidden its technicians from performing. It has the potential to damage the delicate wiring of the LCD, backlight, microphone and Airport antenna. I do not recommend doing this, but I offer these instructions for your academic pleasure. Also, if you are determined to attempt this project, I recommend reading through this entire tutorial before proceeding to dismantle and paint your iBook lid (translation: wait until I finish writing the second part before you start on the first. Okay?).

As a final warning, let me advise those with little or no artistic skill or those lacking in patience to seriously reconsider starting a project such as this. Perhaps it would be better advised for these people to contact DrBott about purchasing an iSuit. They come in many designs, both cool and hideous,and only require that you follow the first three steps of this outline.

Assuming you have some artistic abilities and patience, you might still be safer buying a used iBook lid off of eBay and leaving your trusty iBook untouched until you creation is complete. Just an idea. Just throwing it out there....

Enough of the warnings! Here's your parts list:

Step 1: Remove the lid from the back of your iBook screen

Before taking your iBook apart, make sure it is off and that the battery is removed (just in case). The 12" Dual USB iBook screen lid is held on by four small hex screws that can easily be removed using a 1.5mm hex wrench (save your screws, they are easily lost and not so easily replaced). Then with your iBook sitting open and with the screen facing away from you, place your right and left thumbs on the lid near the top corners and use your index and middle fingers to peal the lid clips out of position (be careful not to break them). Slide your hands midway down the side and use your fingers to pry the lid clips on the side out of position. Finally, a small amount of effort is all it should require to unseat the lid clips at the bottom and remove the lid from the screen back.

Set your iBook aside in a safe place where its exposed innards will not get damaged.

Step 2: Removing the lid clip gasket from the lid

I found this to be the most difficult part of the process. Have a look at the inside of the lid and inspect you lid clips. Notice that they are actually a thin rectangular frame that is held in place by some pretty heavy duty double-sided tape. You are going to have to fight very hard to remove this gasket or you will be unable to dissolve that white paint that lies between it and the lid. If you can live with having a strange white frame around your lid design, by all means, skip this step.

Assuming that you are going to remove the clip gasket, you must choose your tools carefully. The trick is to find something that is strong enough to be wedged forcefully under the gasket, pliable enough to follow the inner curve of the lid and thin enough to slide under the gasket without breaking itóthe goal is to remove the gasket in one piece without breaking it and also keep the scratching on the inside of the lid to a minimum. Some have had success using a toothpick for this job, I've found that the lid from a can of soda (the part that folds inside the can when you pop the top) did the trick quite nicely. Try to stay away from screwdrivers or knives as they are very likely to destroy the gasket and the surface of the iBook.

While your are concentrating on removing the clip gasket while not breaking it or scratching the inside of your lid, try to be mindful of the outside of the lid alsoódon't scratch it either. It is unquestionably a tricky job and not for those without the patience to take their time.

Once the clip gasket is removed, gently rub off the adhesive from both the lid and the gasket. This gummy tape is a bit like rubber cement and you can easily use a clump of removed adhesive to convince the rest to vamoose buy rolling the removed clump around the more stubborn bits.

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Step 3: Remove the Apple

This is just like removing the clip gasket. Use the tool you improvised for Step 2 to separate the Apple logo from the lid by sliding said tool in and around where the Apple logo is held down by that same gummy tape stuff.

Clean off the Apple logo and the area on the lid from whence it came just as you cleaned the lid and gasket in Step 2.

Step 4: Alcoholóyou're soaking in it

Now it's time to take your plastic container and place a few folded paper towels in the bottom of it. Now place your iBook lid with the inside facing up on top of the paper towelsóthis will protect the outer surface from getting scratched while you scrub the inside. Grab your bottle of rubbing alcohol and pour enough of it into the container to fill and cover the iBook lid. Leave it to soak for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes of soaking lift the lid partially out of the alcohol bath and gently scrub off the white paint with that old toothbrush of yours. It comes of remarkably easy, so no need to scratch the plastic. Soak your lid for another 15 minutes if there is any more than just a slight haze remaining and continue to gently scrub the dissolved paint. This may take some time. Just be patient. Once nothing but a slight haze remains proceed to Step 5.

Step 5: You'll wonder where the haze went when you brush your lid with Pepsodent

...actually any toothpaste should work, I would maybe stay away from tartar control varieties though. This tip comes from my friend George from Dive & Sea Sports and it is actually a well known technique for breaking in new snorkel masks. Just squeeze a small dab of toothpaste on any hazy areas and use a wet paper towel to buff away the cloudiness. Again, take your time.

Once you're done the haze should be gone, but in its place will be some very fine scratching left by the toothpaste.

Step 6: Now that you've used your toothpaste it's time for Ice Creme

Ice Creme is a two part iBook refinishing solution from RadTech. Follow the directions provided with the product to buff away the scratches that the toothpaste left behind. Beautiful. Now just wipe the lid down with a paper towel dampened with rubbing alcohol.

Conclusion of Part 1: Consider the following

You should now have a crystal clear iBook lid. Some might be content to stop at this point to re-adhere the clip gasket to the lid, reattach the lid to the iBook and proudly display their transparent topped iBookóno shame in that. But if you are tempted to paint your iBook lid, here are a few points to ponder as you try to settle on your design:

• Since you will be painting the inside of the lid, your first coat will be the outer most or foreground application of paint when the lid is reattached. This is the reverse of the way most PC mod's are painted and is why, if you're planning a design with many colors, this mod should be painted with your darkest color first and working your way back to the lightest color. You should take some time to strategize how you plan to approach this backasswards style of painting.
• You have more than just common spray paints to consider. You could use lamp color to add transparent hues to your lid. You could use a spray matte varnish to create an almost sandblasted translucent effect. Have a stroll around your local hardware or paint store to see what options are open to you. If you find any really cool ones, email them to me.
• Do not overlook the Apple logo. Any design you conceive will have a large glowing Apple logo in the middle of it unless you are prepared to opaque it out somehow. Make sure your take the logo's placement into account when designing your paint job.
• Masking. If your design require you to mask off certain areas, do not underestimate the pain and toil that will come with the process of creating that mask. Try to keep things simple. The design I have settled upon comes under the "complex" heading and rather than cover the inside of my iBook with masking tape and the scratch it all up with an Xacto knife in an effort to cut my mask, I have created my artwork in Adobe Illustrator and emailed it to a sign shop to have it cut out of adhesive vinyl. I anticipate that this may be a nightmare to apply, given the lid's concave structure, but I would sooner deal with that than have a lousy mask and a scratched up lid.

That's it for this week...