CompuNurd
Well-known member
Saturday I went out to a local recycler thinking I could snatch up some more vintage Macs for less than $40 a piece (got an SE/30 and some IBM 5150s for $18 each). I talked to someone inside about purchasing some of the older Macs they had, and he proceeds to take me into the warehouse so I could pick what I wanted and he could price them out. I picked an SE and SE/30, so I could get an idea of how they priced them. I waited 45 minutes for him to wipe off the dirt and send pictures to his boss. I went inside and he was on the phone with his boss, and I could hear what he was saying on the phone: "$250 now or they are going on eBay tomorrow". When he put the phone down, he promptly said he wouldn't take anything under $250 for ONE SE with SEVERAL marks, scuffs, scratches, adhesive marks, and rust on the case. Did I also mention there was no hard drive? He also said that he would add the mouse and keyboard for $350. I told him I would be lucky to get $40 for the systems as they were, and he told me, "Thanks for looking." I asked him if he wanted to take my number, in case he didn't sell them for that price. He said he would rather take a hammer to them, and then I left. Obviously, I will not be returning. Since I have visited them three times, they might think they have some kind of value since I have always looked at the same systems the three times I went. The way they were talking on the phone, I think they said something along the lines of, "This guy comes in here trying to rip us off so he can go to eBay and make a fortune! Let's ask something ridiculous and he might not come back."
On a brighter note, I left there and saw a neighborhood having a community garage sale. I decided to take a look, even thought it was 1:00, someone might have something they just want to get rid of. As usual, I always ask people if they have any vintage computers they are willing to sell. Most people take my number or actually go inside to see what they might have. One lady comes out of her house and says she has an old iMac, and has me come inside to take a look. I go inside and am greeted by a G3 iMac! That is a big score, considering the garage sales around here are pretty stale, with VCRs, office furniture, and the occasional $35 10" color CRT with digital converter box. I have been to hundreds of garage sales, and only two have turned up G3 iMacs, both of which are in my stash.
On an even brighter note, I went on eBay and spent $60 + $30 to ship for a boxed SE with accessories, manuals, and disks.
Enough rambling, let's get to the restoration!
The iMac wiped down very nicely with rubbing alcohol. I get the 70% Kroger brand, it comes in spray bottles and I keep several of them in my work area. There were some adhesive remnants on the sides of the case, and Goo Gone works wonders on this stuff!
The outside is clean, but who knows whats on the hard drive! I decided to put it in my hard drive eraser (old PC tower with IDE cables sticking out the drive bays) in case it got mixed in the resale pile if I upgrade. Heres how to do this:
Take this screw out
Unlatch the clips on the side with a flathead screwdriver. Be careful not to ding up the plastic!
[
Get at these wires and disconnect them all
Take these screws out
Grab this assembly by the handle and pull straight up, careful not to pinch the wires.
Here's the guide I used to get the hard drive out:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+G3+Model+M4984+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1563
IMPORTANT! When you try to lift up the hard drive, you must lift the entire drive by the front AND back. There are four points holding the drive caddy in the motherboard/drive assembly. You must push the drive in, and lift up on all four corners! This will save you a lot of frustration!
While the hard drive is in the eraser, let's get all that dust and keyboard gunk out of the keyboard! First take reference of where the keys are. Just take a picture of the entire keyboard. Notice the dust in-between those keys! ICK! Before I did this, I got out the air compressor and blasted dust out of the logic board and fans. I also went in with a toothbrush dipped in alcohol to scrub the L/B and fan.
The keys just pop off with a small flathead screwdriver. Be sure to hold one hand over them so you can catch them before they shoot off and roll under the table! The larger keys have a metal bracket under them, so take extra caution not to bend or lose them.
You need something to soak the keys in, a regular party cup will work fine. Now put a few drops of dish soap in the bottom and fill it with hot water. You want to be very careful not to let the keys fall in the drain. Hold your hand over the top and shake vigorously, again being careful not to splash water everywhere or wash the keys down the drain. Make a small hole in-between your fingers and drain the water, then refill and keep shaking. Repeat until there are no more suds and the keys are clean and don't smell of cheap perfume or cigarette smoke.
Lay them on a towel and let them air dry, compressed air will just scatter them across the room. If you leave them in the cup they will not thoroughly dry.
Take the key-less keyboard, and spray with alcohol. Take your toothbrush and scrub out all the grime.
If you want to clean the casing, take a VERY small flathead screwdriver and try to pull the clips back, so you can clear the hooks. The hooks do NOT move, and you are most likely going to break a clip, but they can be easily fixed with a dab of superglue.
Here are the keyboard disassembly instructions: http://www.sterpin.net/uk/usbkeyboarduk.htm
Thanks HAL2001!
Now we will observe the Maxell battery, hoping it will not explode anytime soon.
Just follow these in reverse, re-key the keyboard, let everything thoroughly dry, and fire it up! You have a clean iMac G3, and the final step is to install OS X 10.3. 10.4 came on a DVD, and this only has a CD drive.
Here is my current setup, temporary as I am working on a few of the machines. $18 Macintosh SE/30 on the left, awaiting eject motor and already recapped (HORRAY on my first successful recap!). The middle is the machine we just restored, had at the cost of $20 with the lime keyboard. Ironic that the woman who sold it to me bought it at a garage sale for $20. The right is a boxed iMac DV Green with accessories, disks, and manuals for $10 at a moving sale.
Might want to upgrade the RAM sometime soon...
And the keyboard is clean and has no more dust on it
I took these pictures at night, so they aren't great. I tried to do the best I could.
Overall, it looks good, however there are some splotches/scuffs on this side. It is very hard to see on camera, and they are unnoticeable in low light. This being a blurry picture doesn't help.
The splotches and this mark on the top are the only things that didn't clean up. Overall, it is a very nice system in great condition.
And there we have it! A beautiful G3 iMac with lime keyboard, had at the cost of $20! I've seen these go on eBay for $20-50 depending on what they are, but shipping is the deal killer. Those things are heavy!
On a brighter note, I left there and saw a neighborhood having a community garage sale. I decided to take a look, even thought it was 1:00, someone might have something they just want to get rid of. As usual, I always ask people if they have any vintage computers they are willing to sell. Most people take my number or actually go inside to see what they might have. One lady comes out of her house and says she has an old iMac, and has me come inside to take a look. I go inside and am greeted by a G3 iMac! That is a big score, considering the garage sales around here are pretty stale, with VCRs, office furniture, and the occasional $35 10" color CRT with digital converter box. I have been to hundreds of garage sales, and only two have turned up G3 iMacs, both of which are in my stash.
On an even brighter note, I went on eBay and spent $60 + $30 to ship for a boxed SE with accessories, manuals, and disks.
Enough rambling, let's get to the restoration!
The iMac wiped down very nicely with rubbing alcohol. I get the 70% Kroger brand, it comes in spray bottles and I keep several of them in my work area. There were some adhesive remnants on the sides of the case, and Goo Gone works wonders on this stuff!
The outside is clean, but who knows whats on the hard drive! I decided to put it in my hard drive eraser (old PC tower with IDE cables sticking out the drive bays) in case it got mixed in the resale pile if I upgrade. Heres how to do this:
Take this screw out
Unlatch the clips on the side with a flathead screwdriver. Be careful not to ding up the plastic!
[
Get at these wires and disconnect them all
Take these screws out
Grab this assembly by the handle and pull straight up, careful not to pinch the wires.
Here's the guide I used to get the hard drive out:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+G3+Model+M4984+Hard+Drive+Replacement/1563
IMPORTANT! When you try to lift up the hard drive, you must lift the entire drive by the front AND back. There are four points holding the drive caddy in the motherboard/drive assembly. You must push the drive in, and lift up on all four corners! This will save you a lot of frustration!
While the hard drive is in the eraser, let's get all that dust and keyboard gunk out of the keyboard! First take reference of where the keys are. Just take a picture of the entire keyboard. Notice the dust in-between those keys! ICK! Before I did this, I got out the air compressor and blasted dust out of the logic board and fans. I also went in with a toothbrush dipped in alcohol to scrub the L/B and fan.
The keys just pop off with a small flathead screwdriver. Be sure to hold one hand over them so you can catch them before they shoot off and roll under the table! The larger keys have a metal bracket under them, so take extra caution not to bend or lose them.
You need something to soak the keys in, a regular party cup will work fine. Now put a few drops of dish soap in the bottom and fill it with hot water. You want to be very careful not to let the keys fall in the drain. Hold your hand over the top and shake vigorously, again being careful not to splash water everywhere or wash the keys down the drain. Make a small hole in-between your fingers and drain the water, then refill and keep shaking. Repeat until there are no more suds and the keys are clean and don't smell of cheap perfume or cigarette smoke.
Lay them on a towel and let them air dry, compressed air will just scatter them across the room. If you leave them in the cup they will not thoroughly dry.
Take the key-less keyboard, and spray with alcohol. Take your toothbrush and scrub out all the grime.
If you want to clean the casing, take a VERY small flathead screwdriver and try to pull the clips back, so you can clear the hooks. The hooks do NOT move, and you are most likely going to break a clip, but they can be easily fixed with a dab of superglue.
Here are the keyboard disassembly instructions: http://www.sterpin.net/uk/usbkeyboarduk.htm
Thanks HAL2001!
Now we will observe the Maxell battery, hoping it will not explode anytime soon.
Just follow these in reverse, re-key the keyboard, let everything thoroughly dry, and fire it up! You have a clean iMac G3, and the final step is to install OS X 10.3. 10.4 came on a DVD, and this only has a CD drive.
Here is my current setup, temporary as I am working on a few of the machines. $18 Macintosh SE/30 on the left, awaiting eject motor and already recapped (HORRAY on my first successful recap!). The middle is the machine we just restored, had at the cost of $20 with the lime keyboard. Ironic that the woman who sold it to me bought it at a garage sale for $20. The right is a boxed iMac DV Green with accessories, disks, and manuals for $10 at a moving sale.
Might want to upgrade the RAM sometime soon...
And the keyboard is clean and has no more dust on it
I took these pictures at night, so they aren't great. I tried to do the best I could.
Overall, it looks good, however there are some splotches/scuffs on this side. It is very hard to see on camera, and they are unnoticeable in low light. This being a blurry picture doesn't help.
The splotches and this mark on the top are the only things that didn't clean up. Overall, it is a very nice system in great condition.
And there we have it! A beautiful G3 iMac with lime keyboard, had at the cost of $20! I've seen these go on eBay for $20-50 depending on what they are, but shipping is the deal killer. Those things are heavy!
