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I did this over the course of two days taking a total of about 14-16 hours on it. It wasn't very difficult to do as the Performa fits surprisingly well in the Apple, but it would help to have some skill with a hacksaw and a Dremel (which I don't). The hardest part was actually cutting into a classic computer icon. The Apple //e is one of the greatest computers ever made. The only reason I modded such an icon is because it no longer worked.
The tools I used for this were as follows:
-Hacksaw (with fine toothed "Metal" cutting blade)
-Dremel "Mini Mite" (I would suggest using a normal Dremel as this one is underpowered)
-Heavy Duty Cut-Off wheels (for the Dremel)
-File and rasp
-Various screwdrivers and pliers
-Tin snips
-Side cutters
-Hot glue gun
-A good pocket knife
-Hammer
-Drill with various size bits
Another important thing to have is a large work area so you can spread parts out and easily find what you need. The best I could do was the floor of my bedroom. You will also need various screws, as well as some nuts and bolts.
--WARNING--
If you attempt to do this mod yourself, don't blame me if you mess up and ruin your computer. I take no responsibility for any damage you may cause by following this guide. I am in no way a professional at this sort of thing. This is actually my first case mod that uses more tools than a can of spray-paint and some sand paper. If you screw-up, it's your fault. Always use a static band while working on electronics.
Destruction
The first thing I did was to take the Performa completely apart. This is accomplished by first removing the front panel of the case by prying up on the two tabs on the bottom of the panel with a flat screwdriver, all while pulling the bottom of the panel away from the case. You can then remove all of the drives (CD, floppy, hard drive).
Next, remove all of the screws from the back of the case and pull out the motherboard using the handle under the PCI slot. Also remove all of the other panels on the back of the case; then slide the top cover of the case forward, then lift off. Do the same with the two plastic side panels. Remove the screws holding the top metal panel and remove it as well.
Now the fun part. Take out every screw you can see, you don't need any of them. After that's done, unplug all of the cables and wires, then remove the drive shelves as well as the fan. BE CAREFUL WORKING WITH THE POWER SUPPLY! It will still hold a very large charge even after being unplugged for a few days. Having said that, remove the power supply, as well as everything else. Congratulations! You now should have a large pile of parts as well as an empty case.
The next thing to do is empty out the Apple //e case. This is a very simple thing to do as you just need to remove every screw you can see.
Now it's time to relieve some stress and aggression. With the hammer bend the back panel of the Apple //e flat, then cut it off using the hacksaw and tin snips. If you have a regular dremel you could also use that. The one I used wasn't powerful enough to cut metal.
I also managed to break the tin snips while cutting the case. Oops.
After this I did some test fitting and found that some plastic need to be cut out from the upper portion or the case, as shown in these photos:
Construction
Next comes attaching the floppy drive and the hard drive. All I did was drill holes in the bottom of the case and attached the drive directly to the case using the same screws that attached them to the sleds in the Performa case.
Once the floppy drive is in place you can cut out a hole for it in the side of the case. I also chose to place the volume control and headphone jack next to the floppy drive by attaching it with velcro.
The Performa 6360 has only one PCI slot, but if you're lucky enough to have a spare PowerMac 6400/6500, you can use the PCI adapter card from that in the Performa. However, in order to do so you must do a little metal cutting first. (Also, if you opt to use the larger PCI adapter card, you will have to do without the top brace across the rear of the Performa.)
(Since this PCI adapter card wasn't meant to be placed in the Performa, the PCI cards have nothing supporting them. I rectified this problem by simply tying a piece of thin wire around them and attached it to the fan casing. Not the prettiest hack in the world, but it works for now.)
The Performa was one of many Macintosh computers to utilize what I call a "sliding motherboard", in that you could slide the motherboard in and out of the case along runners, for easy upgrading. I decided to keep these runners on this mod so I had to find someplace to mount the second runner. One of them is on the side of the power supply, the other was attached to the side of the Performa case. I also needed a place for the internal speaker, so I decided to put the two together. I also used velcro to attach the speaker to the new case. It worked in the performa case, why not the Apple //e? To attach the runner to the speaker just drill a couple holes in it and snap on the runner.
Next came the fan. Since used a larger PCI adapter card, I could no longer use the top brace from the Performa. This meant that I needed to find some other way of mounting the fan. Enter the hot glue gun! (NOTE: If you use the PCI adapter from the Performa you can skip this step as well as the following one.) Also, to fit the PCI cards, a portion of the fan casing must be removed.
Another side effect of not having the top brace is the video port needs a new home. I found the best place for it was beside the motherboard, in front of the speaker. Just cut a hole a little larger than the video port so you will have room for the monitor plug. (NOTE: In the later photos what you see sticking off the back of the case is a Mac-VGA to VGA adapter, needed if you want to plug in a non-Apple monitor. The last Macintosh to use the Mac-VGA plug was the beige PowerMac G3. Most computers that did use it also shipped with the Mac-VGA to VGA adapter.)
Now it's time to put the whole thing together. To start, drill a hole in the base of the case that you can put a bolt though to attache the power supply to the case. Then slide in the motherboard and place the speaker in it's place. Attach the "wiring harness" to the end of the motherboard and reattach all the cables to their proper places. Finally, close up the case and admire your work.
Future Plans
Right now the Apple //e keyboard does nothing but fill space. I would like to get it working with the Performa somehow. I don't have the knowledge to do it myself. Or I would like to find a replacement keyboard that would fit in that space.
Something else I'd like to do is put a CD drive in the Duo Floppy Disk Drive that came with the Apple //e. It would work great with a slot loading drive, but i don't have one or the money to buy one, so I may be placing a regular SCSI CD drive in instead.
There are also some cosmetic touches I'd like to add, such as nicer edges around the floppy drive, as well as some bracing and support on to the back of the case. Having removed the back plate from the Apple //e, the bottom plate became extremely bendable and so now it sags and looks like crap. I also want to add a brace across the top to more firmly attache the motherboard to the power-supply. Right now the only thing connecting them is the runner for the motherboard. Ideally I would like to make a whole new bottom plate for the case and include a custom back plate. It wouldn't be too difficult as it's just a flat piece of sheet metal with a few bends, but I don't have the proper equipment for metal fabrication like that. If anyone would want to do it for me i can send you the measurements. You wouldn't get any money for it though.
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