Removing TOP of case from original iMac

Need to remove the top (colored) part of a 400MHz Indigo.
Got all the screws out but still can't budge it.
What's the trick?

Web is full of advice for removing the bottom half,
but that was easy anyway.

--
Wes Groleau

People would have more leisure time if it weren't
for all the leisure-time activities that use it up.
-- Peg Bracken

Wes Groleau wrote:
> Need to remove the top (colored) part of a 400MHz Indigo.
> Got all the screws out but still can't budge it.
> What's the trick?
>
> Web is full of advice for removing the bottom half,
> but that was easy anyway.
>
This seems to have it. It's for a rec. c and as he says there may be
small differences, but it might help.
Andy
http://www.macopz.com/columns/imacre...sassembly.html

nospam wrote:
> Wes Groleau wrote:
>> Need to remove the top (colored) part of a 400MHz Indigo.
>> Got all the screws out but still can't budge it.
>> What's the trick?
>>
>> Web is full of advice for removing the bottom half,
>> but that was easy anyway.
>>
> This seems to have it. It's for a rec. c and as he says there may be
> small differences, but it might help.
> Andy
> http://www.macopz.com/columns/imacre...sassembly.html

I read that. It's not it. Actually, I read the original this guy
copied from (while forgetting to copy the pictures). This one
has two screws on the TOP, covered by plugs. Mine doesn't.


--
Wes Groleau

A bureaucrat is someone who cuts red tape lengthwise.

Jolly Roger wrote:
>> You have to grab the handle and yank hard straight back towards the
>> back of the CRT. I used to hate doing it, because I was always afraid
>> I would break the thing.
>
> It's coming back to me now... If yanking straight backwards doesn't get
> it, try yanking back, but slightly downward toward the bottom of the
> computer.

I'm yanking, but nothing's moving. Maybe I'm not strong enough.
Or maybe (since the bottom is off) I need some sort of clamp to hold
everything.

--
Wes Groleau

I've noticed lately that the paranoid fear of computers becoming
intelligent and taking over the world has almost entirely disappeared
from the common culture. Near as I can tell, this coincides with
the release of MS-DOS.
-- Larry DeLuca

Wes Groleau wrote:
> nospam wrote:
>> Wes Groleau wrote:
>>> Need to remove the top (colored) part of a 400MHz Indigo.
>>> Got all the screws out but still can't budge it.
>>> What's the trick?
>>>
>>> Web is full of advice for removing the bottom half,
>>> but that was easy anyway.
>>>
>> This seems to have it. It's for a rec. c and as he says there may be
>> small differences, but it might help.
>> Andy
>> http://www.macopz.com/columns/imacre...sassembly.html
>
> I read that. It's not it. Actually, I read the original this guy
> copied from (while forgetting to copy the pictures). This one
> has two screws on the TOP, covered by plugs. Mine doesn't.
>
>
Those plugs are only visible AFTER you have removed the front bezel.
Then you pop out the plugs and remove the screws. Then, after you
have taken out the four screws and loosened the fixed screw on the
bottom, you put it right side up and push down and pull out on the
rear housing tabs that connect to the inner bezel. Lift the top off
the computer, no yanking required. Need more info?
--
Grandpa

Grandpa wrote:

> Those plugs are only visible AFTER you have removed the front bezel.
> Then you pop out the plugs and remove the screws. Then, after you
> have taken out the four screws and loosened the fixed screw on the
> bottom, you put it right side up and push down and pull out on the
> rear housing tabs that connect to the inner bezel. Lift the top off
> the computer, no yanking required. Need more info?

Hmmm. I also failed to get the front bezel off. I tried that because
I was thinking that it would allow the top to move enough to get past
a blocking ledge on the inner plastic frame.

Anyway, I never did get the top off but I did remove the loose pieces of
plastic that were inside it, by holding the machine at just the right
angle, pulling the back end of the blue case outward and shaking till
the pieces slid between the blue and the inner plastic frame.

I'm guessing this "surplus" iMac is really a hybrid of parts from
two or more, one of which was severely busted up. The pieces are the
same color and thinkness as an inner part of the Mac. This part has a
few chipped corners but the quantity of loose plastic I got out is
ten times too much for those corners. They're nonconductive, of course,
but there were also two screws missing (which do not seem to be loose
inside the Mac).

I paid an extra twelve bucks for a two-year repair insurance policy,
so ....

--
Wes Groleau

A UNIX signature isn't a return address, it's the ASCII equivalent
of a black velvet clown painting. It's a rectangle of carets
surrounding a quote from a literary giant of weeniedom like
Heinlein or Dr. Who.
-- Chris Maeda

Ha, ha, Dr. ..... Who's Chris Maeda?
-- Wes Groleau

Jolly Roger wrote:
> On 2007-03-29 17:46:17 -0500, Wes Groleau <groleau+>
> said:
>
>> Jolly Roger wrote:
>>>> You have to grab the handle and yank hard straight back towards the
>>>> back of the CRT. I used to hate doing it, because I was always
>>>> afraid I would break the thing.
>>>
>>> It's coming back to me now... If yanking straight backwards doesn't
>>> get it, try yanking back, but slightly downward toward the bottom of
>>> the computer.
>>
>> I'm yanking, but nothing's moving. Maybe I'm not strong enough.
>> Or maybe (since the bottom is off) I need some sort of clamp to hold
>> everything.
>
> Are you sure about the precise model of this thing? Can you take a
> picture of the bottom and put it up for us to see? I remember the
> original iMac well, and you do have to yank quite hard on some of them
> to get the plastic bottom cover to pop off. But Apple changed things
> several times on different models as time went on.
>
Well, since he didn't take the front bezel off, there are two screws
that he didn't remove. So no amount of yanking is going to do
anything, but give him a sore arm and frustration.

Wes, several of the iMacs that I have been into have lots of
particles of broken plastic from the inner housing. In fact, the
inner housing is so brittle (probably from the heat) that I've
learned to be very careful in disassembling. There's only a few
screws, but lots of interlocking plastic that have to be persuaded
to separate. Removing the front bezel is like that. There's two
screws underneath a couple of covers just inside the speakers (after
you've removed the bottom housing. After removing the screws, you
need to gently pry the bezel from the bottom and up the sides until
you can snap the bezel off at the top. Then you'll find two more
screws under covers at the top of the display. Then you push down
and pull the sides of the top away from the machine and slide the
top away to the back. That's when you'll notice all the cracks and
broken bits off the inner housing.
--
Grandpa