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| Apple IIg4 |
| Written by Patrick Garber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, 10 September 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Supplies: 1 Dead Apple IIe or other vintage computer you are willing to mutilate 1 Apple laptop with a broken screen 1 Apple Pro mouse 1 dead 1984 Mac mouse 1 USB keyboard. 1 or 2 dead Apple II disk drives (optional) 1 or 2 USB/Firewire external disk/hdd (optional) 1 or two USB extension cables 1 RCA video adapter for your laptop 1 RCA extension cable. 1 wall outlet socket. May also require tools such as a file, a screw driver, a drill, and elbow grease. Mod Process: I started by gutting the Apple IIe, removing the logic board and the power supply.  then removing the insides of the power supply;  leaving just the input for power and the switch.  Using these, I then connected an outlet on the inside to conceal the power adapter. I would suggest only doing this if you are a good electrician. Remember kids, safety first.    I also used an outlet cover marked and cut it to fit the power supply, further protecting the outlet from anything that may short it. I then cut one of the back port covers and fitted the female end of the USB extension cable to it. You can use hot glue or electrical tape to aid bonding.   If you get the hole small enough, you should not need much, if any. Now we have the power supply and the USB hidden. Let’s move on to the video! I cut the back ports of the dead logic board off at the screw holes, then attached it to the Apple IIe case, making it looking stock from the back.  I then hollowed out the video out port and fitted the RCA video extension cable in its place. Now that we have all the easy stuff out of the way, we can move on to the harder parts of this case mod. The next piece I will explain is the mouse. My Apple Pro mouse was suffering from some Problems so I used a 1984 mouse that was broken to house it. I first opened the Mac Pro mouse then took the parts out.  I did the same with the 1984 mouse . I also used some electrical tape to make sure the botton stayed secured to the mouse case.    I then cut a bigger hole in the bottom of the 1984 mouse so the optics could work.  I had to cut some of the plastic out of the mouse as well as some of the board of the Mac Pro mouse but then the fit was great.  I soldered on the old 1984 button to the Pro mouse and it seemed to click more smoothly. I also kept the original 1984 mouse cable.  splicing the wires inside to the USB connector on the inside of the mouse and the USB on the other side sealing it up with some super glue on the USB end as well as some electrical tape for a snug fit.  Some of this vintage stuff was rough on the outside but I kept it dirty instead of cleaning it up to keep a nice rustic look. It also appears to still mostly stock. I then used an external CD drive to make a disk ][ CD burner.      I cut holes in the back for the connector and used the real disk lock from the disk ][ drives to secure the CD on the top, to keep that old computer feeling. This may take a lot of adjusting to get the disk lock from the disk ][ to clamp the CD just right. I would suggest using a slot load instead to prevent having to do this much adjustment, but I am stubborn and this is what I envisioned. I used part of the disk drive’s base on the inside to get the right height to line up to the slot. I also used a Unidisk drive to install an external HDD.   If you plan on using the external drives, I would suggest a USB hub and more extension port covers to plug more USB's into. I saved the wires for use on the keyboard, This was the hardest part and I would not wish it on my worst enemy.  I wired all the Apple IIe keys to a USB keyboard to hide on the inside. Some keys were not included and the right apple key was used as the Alt key and the reset was used as a f12 key. I also switched out the caps lock key for a regular key so it would work properly.  With this done, I then installed it all into the case. using a RCA video out adapter for the monitor port connecting it to the RCA extension cable, You could use a VGA or DVI out as well but I was trying to keep a vintage look to this. You could also use Velcro straps to secure the laptop into place. The Laptop I am using was a 12" DVI Powerbook g4.  If you try for the retro feel, I would suggest trying to swap out a nice CRT with a old Apple green screen of the same size. In my case, I am going to use the green screen just because I can and I think it looks neat.    I would also suggest eating an orange for some extra energy and perhaps to spite the Apple you are working on a bit.  I have been working on this Project for a good three weeks. I used an iSight for all of these pictures. If you attempt this I would also suggest adding the apple II screensaver from Xscreensaver http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/ as a great final touch! Mod Specs for the Apple IIg4: • External retro disk and hard drives • Conceals most of the newer devices and cords • Wifi • A non-HD green monitor • A nice retro optical mouse • Some nice comments from friends ☺
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