Anyone thought to make a tool for this?

[Apache Thunder]

Curious about this. Has anyone thought to make a 3D printed tool for making taking the front faceplate off a Macintosh Performa/LC 520/550/575 chassis a little easier? I noticed something about how the clip works that would make this viable I think:

View attachment 98636


I posted about this as well here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/1t8azui/anyone_thought_to_make_a_3d_printed_tool_for_this

For some reason this forum has rather strict post limits? It kept saying my post was too long and couldn't be processed. I have not heard of a forum with such limited post size restrictions... That thread post I made represents the thread I intended to create here.

Anyways to keep long story short, the ridges on the clip design on the faceplate suggest Apple may have had a dedicated tool for this and the current method of prying with a large flat head screw driver is not really the best way to go. A 3D printed jig sized precisly to fit the slot and make use of those ridges to make the plastic clip move the exact distance it needs to for it to disengage is what should be best here especially with how brittle the plastics have become. (though my particular unit is in remarkably good condition despite a few small cracks near the screen bazel corners which were already present in the listing photos when I got this off eBay)

 

[Byrd]

The generic car trim installer kits you see online tend to be my go to for prying open brittle plastic cases, using a couple of large flat spudgers along the seams.

Note the plastic was never strong even when new, I was once given a box of LC5xx faceplates which suggested Apple techs just replaced them over reusing.

Example of a trim removal kit or you could probably make your own

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/377099267514?_skw=car+trim+kit&itmmeta=01KR7HXRXC3DRRWP68EAWER3M3&hash=item57ccde2dba:g:PBoAAeSwBGRo1lQ1&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA8GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xAp5t6MvRcibpzBJ3sJkK9m%2FHq601m7nFASuqdNwedWuN676qp3SjEj3dwvQJUAiDohEWeycIe%2FvEr5Ub7E4X8IZNg5fxPPpbSs5hVG47JRRWPOnc%2Fou4MBWPPZMJ3mzDaTyUX9umqqDTM%2FoxopqUreszqoF9HmdgFNOKapeZXjlrFLBwssV%2FNMEjcPN3Cs01QJmC89aFO3p2JfC%2BdqHJEvk%2FLmc7i0D%2BX78LQYOC2o8l5N4kaYkDzM2mU0gSKHfm1S6%2BJqWCRYanCVWIxAmcFk6DfZFEFY9CBcWVMQF2qLgw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_SO9_HBZw

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's a nice kit.

 

[Apache Thunder]

Oh neat I might bookmark that one. I wouldn't want to use it on in this case though. It would still require I do prying action at it while I pull the faceplate down. A dedicated tool should be a set and forget type of deal where you don't have to put pressure on it while working on pulling down the faceplate which is what should be possible with how they designed the clip on the faceplate. I might keep an eye out for any odd bits of random stuff I have laying around to see if they happen to be the right width and thickness to do what I want as a test but I'm pretty sure it would work.



I can no longer edit my original post to fix the broken image. Not sure why the image link broke. But these are the extra ramps present on the faceplate half of the clip. Mine aren't as damaged as this photo as I just grabbed this screenshot off a random YouTube video. (mine will eventually end up looking like this if I keep jamming random flat head screw drivers into it though. I suppose that ebay listing you linked to could help prevent that at least)

The idea is the tool would be a pretty basic rectangle in that is precisely fit to go into it and it just being inserted would be enough to disengage the clip.