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G4 iTower
1frozencanuck
Last year I decided that it was time to upgrade my Sawtooth G4. I got a bunch of internal upgrades to make it faster, but the outside still had that 99’ look. It was time for a makeover, the iMac way. That’s when I read Adam Whitlock’s excellent guide for creating a grey & white G3. I used that to help me take the Mac apart and experimented from there. I only recommend this if you are patient. It is very fun if you keep at it though
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Supplies:
- 1 Krylon White Flat
- 1 Krylon Chrome
- 1 Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish Gloss
- 1 Krylon Matte Finish
- 1 Pen-touch Silver Metallic Pen(Extra Fine Point)
- Hex Wrenches
- Screwdrivers
- Pliers
- Tweezers(for the lost screws inside your G4)
- Plastic bags
- Marker
- Superglue
- Sandpaper
- Painter’s Tape
Disassembly:
 Remember to keep all of your screws organized when you take them out. I labeled plastic bags and drew where the screws went on them with a marker. Also keep in mind that it is better to NOT RUSH the disassembly process. You might end up like me(I had to buy some parts that I broke when I disassembled the thing – expensive!!).
First I removed the optical drive from the front of the case. To do this you need to unplug the ribbon cable and power cable from the back of the drive. Then you can pull off the metal backing. There are two plastic tabs that you need to push to get the front CD bezel out. Afterwards, you can safely remove the optical drive. The large fan underneath the power supply will also need to be removed. This is fairly easy and only involves removing a few screws. You can leave the hard drive screwed in.
Next comes the motherboard. Unhook any cables you see connected to the motherboard. Disconnect your monitor and all other cables from the back of the computer. Then unscrew the graphics card and SCSI card(plus anything else you’ve crammed in the PCI slots!). These should come out just so it is easier to find the motherboard screws. After that you can unscrew all of the screws that attach the motherboard to the side of the case. This may take some trial and error. Make sure you don’t pull on the motherboard too early because it has to slide toward the front of the case before you can pull it out. You might also have to disconnect some screws from the processor before you can pull the board out.
After the mobo is gone you will need to unscrew anything else that attaches the metal side panel to the plastic side panel. This includes the two screws that fasten the handle to the case. Also, try not to break the plastic underneath the motherboard. I broke it when I took my motherboard out and had to buy a new one so that the handle would work again! It is VERY brittle plastic! Use you hex wrench to unscrew the four screws on the plastic side panels. The side panels both come off only after you pinch their center braces from the inside.
The four handles have two hex screws each that you have to remove(without stripping them, mind you). The face panel has pressure tabs on both sides on the inside of the case. The back panel has a ton of pressure tabs plus a few screws that need to go. As you can see from the picture, I couldn’t even remove half of the back panel! I know some modders have, however. The top panel and underneath panels should slide right off.
Adam suggests using a strong paper clip to remove the Apples from the side panels. This worked for me as well. Once you muscle them out a bit you can use a paint scraper to help you get under them and push them out all the way.
Painting:
 Remove the rubber from the handle and make sure to tape up the three buttons on the front panel before you paint it. The clear apple also pops out of the front panel. I ended up taping the button on the bezel and the spring on its back as well.
I used Krylon paint because it is available at a store near my house and it is cheap. I originally tried to strip the metallic paint from the inside of the side panels, but this warped the one I tried it on(don’t use mysterious paint thinners that have been sitting in your garage for decades). After that I decided it would be best to paint the outside of the panels anyway. I followed the instructions on the cans, but the paint is a little hard to get the hang of. I had a lot of trouble with the globs. If this happens you can always sand and try again.
I suggest taking it slow. Remember to sand everything before you paint. Paint several thin layers and let them dry in between. I used painter’s tape to section off parts of the case. The tape will mess up the metallic paint, but not the white. That’s why I suggest painting the white part of the case first(including the overcoat). I used the matte finish for the white parts and the gloss finish for the metallic parts. This way the chrome still looks somewhat metallic, but also has a layer of protection. Let it all dry overnight before you try to reassemble.
After the painting is done you can do the fancy outlining of the face buttons with your chrome marker. I also sanded the ends of the panels to make them clear and uniform. Reassembly is only difficult if you stripped the screws when you disassembled. I ran into this problem, and as a result I can never take the case apart again!
Here’s the finished product. I tried to make it resemble the iMacs as much as possible. It would be interesting to see how the case looks with chrome sides and white apples. Try it!
Specs for My G4 iTower:
- 1.8 GHz PowerLogix PowerForce G4
- Radeon 9800 PRO
- 1.06 GB RAM
- Pioneer DVD-RW DL Drive
- Aria Extreme Airport PCI
- ADS USB 2.0 PCI Card
- Maxtor 80 GB HD
- Bluetooth Dongle
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