Modern Day Macintosh SE Conversion

[DaytonaUSA]

I'm making a modern macintosh that will look like an old Macintosh SE. I'm already half way done. Im not sure wether to post pics as I go, or post them once I'm done in two weeks, so let me know.

 

But this isn't some cheap mod where someone simply shoves a Mini in an SE and puts a cheap chinese monitor inside that needs to be turned on via switch or remote, with power cords and connection cords coming out of the holes in the casing. This is all being done the right way, and it's coming along great.

 

All ports will be mounted on the casing, including two USBs, one HDMI for a second monitor, and a headphone jack. Ive also made an external (on the outside of the SE casing) power button, so you never have to open the shell to turn the computer on. The monitor was a very expensive 8" 4:3 HD monitor that is powered via USB, so it turns on and off when the computer goes on/off or awake/sleep. I'm even making a new power light system on the front. There's tons of other stuff, but that's to come.

 

So do you want pics as I go, or in two weeks?

[jhd]

I would like to see the pictures as you go along -- please document the project as it develops.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

PICS AS YOU GO AND DETAILS!

[DaytonaUSA]

Okidoke then, the people have spoken!

 

I'll be doing multiple steps until I reach where I am now. Each step will be a separate post.

 

Step 1:

PLANNING! I can not stress this enough! Before I bought anything, I made sure I drew out not only what I wanted, but how it would work, and how much each part would cost me. There is no bigger project killer than a blown budget. My advice? If you can't afford to do it the right way, don't do it at all!

 

For me, I had to sit down and ask myself what I wanted. Here is a list of everything I needed/ended up buying:

 

Macintosh SE shell (I personally think that the SE shell is the best for this project, as after it's painted it's very 80s look will look perfect with today's 80s obsessed trends).

 

8" LCD HD screen with 4:3 ration, powered by USB: This was arguably the most difficult part to obtain. Most monitors are 16:9, which looks ridiculous in the screen hole of the original mac. Finding one that will perfectly is next to impossible, but I'll touch on that later. Getting one in a high definition resolution was a must. I've seen oh so many of these done with 800x600 resolution displays, and it looks terrible. If you want to actually be able to work on the machine, 1000+ pixel width is a must! USB powered is a must as well, and here is why. USB powered screens will turn completely on or off depending on the computer being asleep/awake or on/off. If it's AC powered, you will either have to open the casing to turn it off, which ruins the illusion, or buy one with an IR remote, which in my personal opinion also ruins the illusion.

 

Illusion? Yes, because the next thing you will need is a Mac Mini. I was going to buy PC hardware and make a hackintosh, but hackintosh computers don't have very high resale value, and worse yet have horrible driver support and update support. Mac Mini it is. I got a recent unibody model with great specs for $535. THAT IS CHEAP! They're worth about $899. Sad to say, but working barely followed eBay auctions are your friend, and it's how I got this for such an affordable price.

 

Acrylic plastic: You will need about 12" x 24" sheet of acrylic plastic. Make sure it's opaque, preferably in the color you wish to paint your Mac so you don't need to spray over it. The plastic will be used to make a border around the screen so that the screen not only has something to mount to, but fills in the small gap left over from the differences in screen size of the casing and your new monitor. I'll provide ideas on how to make your template later. You will need the other half of this sheet of plastic to make sure you can mount your ports to in the back.

 

Ports: No computer like this should EVER have to be opened up to use it. Thus all ports that aren't needed for power use (like the monitor) will need to be mounted on the outside of the SE shell so they can be used like a regular computer when something needs to be put in. This includes 3.5mm audio jack, usb ports, secondary display port, and power button.

 

Power Button: This is important. There is nothing more annoying than having to open the computer's shell to turn the computer inside's power on. There are power button expansions that you can buy on store.mp3car.com (it might be "cars"). Make sure you get the unibody model if that's the version of the mac mini you have. The computer will have to be COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLED and no, there are no good tutorials of this really out there. If you feel squeamish, get some help. But once done, it's well worth it. You can now mount your new power button on the outside of your Macintosh SE shell so it can be turned on from the outside.

 

Bluetooth keyboard and mouse: Welcome to 2013! Bluetooth is not only the most clutter-free option, but it's also going to free up your precious USB ports. I'd suggest if painting the computer anything other than silver or white, you buy a third party Mac keyboard that will match, like I did.

 

Powered USB Hub: Between the DVD drive, Monitor and EL Paper, I had only one USB. I wanted two, so a powered USB hub is perfect for providing more USB ports to be mounted externally on the SE shell.

 

EL Paper: I will be using EL Tape to illuminate the front vents on the SE shell. This will not only provide me with a new power light, but given the downward slant of the vents, will illuminate my keyboard at night. Genius!

 

Superdrive: Apple superdrives are best in my opinion for the application. I'd suggest you get one.

 

Materials: Sandpaper (high grit), dremel and dremel cut discs, electric tape, soldering gun, screws, wood, etc are all needed. Figure out what you need to BUY THEM. These are all deceptively expensive when they're all purchased, so if you have any of these things already laying around use them!

 

 

 

So I know how the monitor will mount and the ports will mount, but not the DVD drive and computer. I sat down and tried to force these pieces in the existing metal skeleton the SE came with. Not.. going... to... work. Unless you're really, really good with using metal and cutting it, it simply isn't worth it. Even if you are good at it, it will weaken the structure by cutting too much away. BUT DONT THROW IT AWAY! Keep it to measure the dimensions of the skeleton so you can design your internal skeleton out of MDF for a perfect fit.

 

So that's it for my planning. All of this took a LOT of thinking and research. It seems simpler than it is, so if it was confusing, you can imagine how I felt. Dont worry if you have to restart several times. The best way to come up with the best assembly plan is to go through several ideas, trying to out-do yourself each time.

[Osgeld]

dont most mac's turn on from the keyboard (I know the SE doesnt but every model afterwords do) and if your going for the ultimate SE look alike wouldnt it be on the back left?

 

just thinking

[DaytonaUSA]

Step 2:

 

DVD Drive expansion.

 

I cut the floppy drive on the bottom all the way to the right before hitting the raised section, and left a bit until it was the exact width of my superdrive's DVD slot. THIS TOOK FOREVER and is much harder than it looks. Simply scoring the plastic with a new bladed hobby knife didn't work very quickly. I found that not only pressing VERY hard while scoring, combined with also cutting from the reverse side did the trick. This is before I even sanded it, so you can see just completely stock your cut should look. The right side should not need to be cut vertically as it will snap off cleaning, but the same cant be done with the left side. Carefully cut a vertical slot on the left side by cutting it from the back side of the shell, NOT THE FRONT, or you will cut up the face of your shell.

 

 

 

[DaytonaUSA]

dont most mac's turn on from the keyboard (I know the SE doesnt but every model afterwords do) and if your going for the ultimate SE look alike wouldnt it be on the back left?

 

just thinking

 

No, Macs havent turned on from the keyboard since like the old colorful iMac G3 days. Wish they did. Hence why you need this externally mounted power button, so you don't have to open the SE shell to hit the Mini's power button.

 

As far as the power button goes, even if you want to have it on the back, you need this cable and power button. You cant just have the Mac Mini butt against the back of the SE shell as you have your ports to worry about. You need room between the Mini and the back of the shell for your cables so you can mount them on the back of the case.

 

As for my placement, I'm not going for the traditional setup, but for convenience. Mine will be where the contrast dial was under the front "lip". But feel free to honestly put it wherever you prefer. It's your mac after all .

Edited June 22, 2013 by DaytonaUSA

[DaytonaUSA]

Step three:

 

Getting rid off the junk

 

This isn't hard, but is very time consuming. After you figure out how you want everything mounted together, get rid of all the pegs and screw mounts so that you can mount things flush to the back of the front casing. Things like the Superdrive and EL panel will NOT mount flush with a stock shell. Also, these pegs will get in the way of your monitor mount.

 

 

 

 

 

As this is a short step on paper (though it takes a while to do), make sure you start figuring out where you want your ports and buttons as well. For me, I want these wires to go where the existing ports used to be, but mounted on a new piece of acrylic. As you can see, I roughly cut a hole where the wires could be pushed through. Use the existing two screw holes in the casing to screw on a cut piece of acrylic plastic later that you will mount your USB, HDMI, and earphone jack ports to. Also start figuring out where you want your power button, and figure out where you need to cut, if you need to cut at all. All cutting on the shell should be done at this point.

 

As a side note, be sure to wash the shell with Dawn soup, so it not only cleans it up, but gets all the oil off the casing that it's collected from people's hands for the last 20-30 years.

 

Power button shown being held where the old contrast dial used to be to see if it will fit. It will. I will need a piece of acrylic later to mount it here.

 

 

Where my area is cut for the wires to go through for the new ports mounted later:

 

 

[DaytonaUSA]

Step Four:

 

Mounting the new external power button.

 

I'm sorry for not having pics of this process. I was kinda annoyed/nervous while doing this, so I honestly didn't think to take pictures. I will say this, it's nearly impossible to find a good video disassembly of the newer unibody Mac Minis. Again, GET HELP if you need it. Luckily, I got this done on my first try.

 

The directions from the site I got this power button were... lacking to say the least. In fact, they were downright non-existant. I guessed, and I guess right. I'll let you know what to do.

 

If you get the kit I did, it will come with the following:

 

Y cable

circuit board

two single male to male motherboard cables.

 

The Y cable has a male port on one end that is white. It plugs into the white port on the circuit board. Easily enough. The "V" looking split wires are exposed on the other end. Each will need to be soldered to the prongs on the power button. It does not matter which they are soldered to as the power button does not have a definitive on or off position, but just like the stock power button, simply clicks. You will then plug in one of the single male to male cables into port J2 on the circuit board, with the other end where the existing power button cable used to plug intos the Mini's mother board. This is rather confusing, as when you first look at the motherboard (once literally every other part is taken out of the Mini's casing to get to this part) you dont see ANY cable. The cable is on the UNDERSIDE of the motherboard! You will see it, it's a little black wire plugged into a little black port. Pull it off, and put the new one in.

 

The car audio website I got this from claimed I'd have to modify the Mini's casing to get this wire on the outside of the Mini, but I did not find that to be true. Have the wire and circuit board AND power button feed out where the black port section is on the back of the Mac Mini and close it up. The wire is small enough to fit between the aluminum casing and the black plastic back panel.

 

Test it. Hit the power button while your new monitor is plugged in via a DVI to HDMI cable and a USB cable plugged in to the Mac Mini to provide power.

 

Magic!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a good time to test your bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Make sure they work. The Mini should automatically change the resolution to fit your screen, providing you bought a screen with a supported resolution. If you got a cheap monitor with a lower resolution, hold down the Shift button after you here the startup sound after power up, and let go once you see a loading bar on the launch grey screen with the Apple logo. This will automatically set the resolution to what your monitor's is, or at least get it close enough to mess with later in system preferences.

 

I didn't have to do this at all, mine was perfect at boot. But I know others have complained about this.

 

At this point everything worked out of the box. Plug in all your ports that you will mount later on to test that all parts of the system work. The last thing we want is to mount this to the SE shell just so one of your parts doens't work properly.

Edited June 22, 2013 by DaytonaUSA

[DaytonaUSA]

Step Five:

 

Prep for Paint

 

With the internals of the new Macintosh SE all functional, it's time to prep the SE shell for paint. This is currently where I am at now. Why do this now? Because getting this painted will take a long time if you do it like I am, and I need to get this done ASAP so I can assemble the computer next weekend.

 

Remember, in order to build the internal skeleton (next weekend), mount the screen onto the acrylic backing, and mounting the ports to the acrylic plastic that will be screwed onto the back of the case, you really don't need to have the casing in your possession. That is, as long as you measured everything prior.

 

Sand the ENITRE case with three sheets (how many it took me) of 600 grit sandpaper. It's enough tooth to give the SE case a nice rough feel that will be best for adhering paint to, but at the same time not enough tooth to get rid of the "orange peel" texture of the Macintosh SE case. Make sure to get in all the crevices and corners, and be SURE to get inside the carrying handle, as it will be hard enough to paint in there as it is. Dont forget to sand the bottom!

 

I'm actually getting mine painted with black car paint. Pricing, I know, but it'll look great. Make sure you take off that Apple logo on the front before sanding!!!! You can poke it off from the back with a hobby knife. There's a hole in the casing already there to do just this, oddly enough.

 

I'll be turning in the casing tomorrow to get painted. Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2013 by DaytonaUSA

[DaytonaUSA]

Step 5.5?

 

Template making before you send it to paint!

 

I made this template really fast so I knew where exactly the monitor was and where the monitor screw mounts where. This way I can cut on the "screen" and the template, and place it on the black acrylic. First, I will cut out a hole the exact size of the 8" 4:3 screen I have, then position this template over it, center the screen hole with the SE's screen hole, then use a drill to cut holes exactly where they are on the template.

 

The black acrylic screen "border" will be JB Plastic welded to the monitor's casing. This will hold it in place, while hiding the ugly monitor casing completely for a seemless look.

 

Black Acrylic can be found on eBay for about 17 bucks for a sheet that's 12" x 24". Don't bother going to local hardware stores, unless you have more than a Benjamin you want to part with.

 

In order to make the template. use screws to "find" the screw holes through a piece of folder, and push them through the mounting holes on the back of the front casing shell. Twist them in a little so it keeps the folder steady, then trace around the SE's existing monitor hole with a sharpie. Now cut this "hole" out, and use it to center around your new LCD so you know where to drill the screw holes on your acrylic board:

 

EDIT: For those wondering, I'm using a Japanese Century brand 8" 4:3 LCD panel, USB powered, model number 8000DA. Don't bother getting the other, older versions like 8000V or 8000D. They .. well, suck. And they're not much cheaper. They are only VGA out, instead of both DCI and VGA out, and worst of all their resolution is pitifully low. DA models are hard to find, but when you do you won't be sorry. They're honestly gorgeous, "Apple quality" in picture.

 

 

Edited June 22, 2013 by DaytonaUSA

[DaytonaUSA]

The SE shell has been sent to get painted with automotive paint. It'll be ready by Monday . Can't wait!

[Mirage]

SEM auto interior dye would have been another good alternative, and prepping with an extra fine (I think it's red) ScotchBrite pad would have worked for that (or for paint for that matter). I'm more into cars than into computers, so that's just how I think Cool project, looking forward to seeing the outcome here.

[DaytonaUSA]

SEM auto interior dye would have been another good alternative, and prepping with an extra fine (I think it's red) ScotchBrite pad would have worked for that (or for paint for that matter). I'm more into cars than into computers, so that's just how I think Cool project, looking forward to seeing the outcome here.

 

Yeah, scotchbrite pads are great as well. I wanted the fine (600) grit sandpaper though as some of these old macs literally feel oily, if that makes any sense. It's like oils from hands soak deep into the plastic, and I wanted that whole top layer gone.

 

Thanks for the compliment, it should work just fine. I've had the same guys paint an old car I restored for me, so I trust them. Plus, they're putting a layer of some kinda spray that promotes better adhesion of the paint to the plastic (they use this for plastic bumpers), so I think between that and the good sanding and cleaning I'm good to go . Fingers crossed!

[Osgeld]

all my old mac's have that feel

 

wipe them down with some 99% iso and rub your finger on them, its still "slick", something about that plastic recipie, my //c is similar in that regard as well

[DaytonaUSA]

Got it back today. Can't use the computer right now. So I'm doing this from my phone

[The Usotsuki]

Ooh, nice.

[DaytonaUSA]

Ironically, they taped off the back SE label, despite the fact I said it would be ok to paint over. I'm kinda glad they left it, as it's a nice touch.

 

Thanks, Usotsuki!

 

Another small update, and now I can use my computer becaaaaause.... I got this in the mail today!

 

 

 

 

 

Works flawlessly, and I'm really pleased with this bluetooth keyboard. Feels just like an Apple product, but in black (and no aluminum, thank goodness, as I hate metal on keyboards. I'm always getting static shocked by mine at work)

[DaytonaUSA]

Step Whatever-we-are-on:

 

Sorry doing this from the phone as I can't use the computer till its completed this Saturday, now. Why? Because the screen can't be used. Why? Read below:

 

Well, it was hard. It took over four hours to get my idea from a concept I've been thinking about for weeks to something that's done, but it was worth it. I got the screen mounted to the macintosh SE's faceplate. One HUGE chunk done of the build! The rest will be tackled and finished on Saturday.

 

I used 1.5" long self tapping screws to mount the screen into the front bezel of the SE. I used PVC strapping to connect the screen to the bezel. Ina genius move I figured out how to do this by getting slightly longer versions of the four screws that hold the LCD's casing together. This allowed me to use those screws to mount the strapping on so that I could connect the screen to the computer shell.

 

The 3m tape on there is just a security measure. It's rock solid but I figured god forbid, I'd have the industrial strength tape there to hold the screws tight in the even the pressure was to strip one or something. I used nylon screws as spacers.

 

I didn't need to vinyl the screen at all. Waste of money that was lol. Nor did I need to fabricate a plastic "frame" around the screen. This was taken care of the weather stripping I used to fill the gap between the LCD and the casing, as the casing is not flat.

 

I'll finess it later during assembly but its perfect and very secure as it sits right now. Can't wait to get this up and running.

[DaytonaUSA]

Here are the pics

[DaytonaUSA]

Oh I also painted and reattached the apple logo on front in case no one noticed.

[Osgeld]

looking good

[Cap5750]

Is it really strange that I just read this topic last night and then today a co-worker asks me a question about a Mac SE conversion that his son is working on?

[DaytonaUSA]

Yeah it's me, chad. You talked to my dad, art, today. Small world!

Edited June 28, 2013 by DaytonaUSA

[Daft_Horse]

It looks strange, to see the LCD bezel inside a CRT bezel.

 

Should have cut down the CRT tube to cover it all.