How to remove floppy drive from LC575?

[djorud]

After having this LC575 sitting on a shelf for the past fifteen years, I have to make up my mind on whether or not to let it go, or give it to my grandson. It is a working LC575, but when testing the floppy drive, which does work, I found it would not eject the diskette again. Using a paper clip, I was able to remove the diskette, but it is apparently in need of cleaning. But, how do I remove the floppy drive? The front panel surrounding the CD and floppy drive slots appears to be removable, but how? Knowing the plastic on this old computer is very brittle, I don’t want to force anything and end up breaking it. I see a small slot on the bottom edge of this front panel, which I suspect may have something to do with removal, but that’s just my guess. Anyone here willing to give me a few pointers? Thanks much for any help!

 

[bibilit]

Probably two plastic clips underside the front bezel, pressing slightly will allow the removal, then floppy is slide in.

https://computers.popcorn.cx/apple/macintosh/lc575/lc575-06.jpg

 

[djorud]

Thanks for the suggestion. There is a small slot on the underside of the front piece. It appears to be the size of a medium sized screwdriver blade. Not much room to do anything else but push the screwdriver straight in to it. I found a photo online showing the underside of the piece, and it shows two plastic tabs on it, leading me to wonder if there is a metal clip that snaps between those two plastic tabs to hold the bezel piece in place?

 

[jon_pi]

https://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/legacy/lc_520.550.575.pdf
Here’s a link to the full manual with disassembly instructions.

 

[djorud]

Thanks jon_pi, that is exactly what I needed. I was able to pull it apart easily, and only one piece broke. Once off I could see someone else had been in there before and broken some of the other fragile parts. But, regardless of the earlier damage, the drive bezel was still firmly in place anyway. Without instructions to disassemble, I can easily see why they broke them. If one pushes the screwdriver up, and then tries to pull off the bezel directly frontward, the little loops on the main front bezel break off due to two tabs that fit in them being pulled out instead of down. The drive bezel can’t be pulled forward without breaking the fastening bits. The drive bezel must ONLY be pulled straight down after pushing the screwdriver into the slot far enough to release a catch on the tab which the screwdriver is flexing. This is the part that broke when I pushed the screwdriver up into the slot. Fortunately, I was able to super glue it back together and it holds just fine. As I feared, the plastic on these old Macs is now brittle as Dead Sea scroll parchment. You may not be able to avoid breaking it. Same as for the cover at the rear, the one you must remove to access the motherboard. There are two tabs that must be bent down, then pulled rearward. Well, on mine I very carefully bent the two tabs downward and one broke off in my fingers. Fortunately, there are two screws which also hold the cover in place that hold it just fine. The tabs were probably fine 25 years ago, but now the plastic has darn near fossilized. Plan on those tabs eventually breaking.

 

[Byrd]

I had a new old stock LC575 bezel and it literally crumbled apart in my fingers when I received it! I'd recommend heating up plastics with a warmish hairdryer, in future before attempting to unclip.