Tips for reassembly of T60 14" LCD assembly without breaking bezel?

[Glaurung-quena]

Every time. Every single time I try to replace a broken LCD in a 14" t60, I get to the point where I'm supposed to fit the screw loops on the underside of the bezel back where they came from, and the gaps that were there when I removed the bezel have moved or shrunk in the process of replacing the bad LCD, so fitting the plastic loops back in place becomes impossible.

Is there a trick I am missing to getting the lid assembly back together again with the necessary gaps in the right places so I can do it the way the maintenance manual thinks I should be able to with the plastic loops unbroken, or was the HMM written by someone using really good drugs and I should just resign myself to breaking off the loops and using double sided tape to secure the bezel instead?

[TPFanatic]

it's just the way plastic ages. i had no better luck with the one time i broke into a 14" T60 and i thought i was being careful. if you want it to be perfect, i'd recommend sourcing replacement parts. it's possible with very careful prying tools and knowing the directions of the clasps, you can force release without damage. but it's going to take more time and research than i have to give.

the 15" models have held up better i believe as there is more material to work with. 14" inherently pushed boundaries, corners were cut, and things break faster as a result. i personally don't play with 14" 4:3 but to each their own.

[Glaurung-quena]

it's just the way plastic ages. i had no better luck with the one time i broke into a 14" T60 and i thought i was being careful. if you want it to be perfect, i'd recommend sourcing replacement parts. it's possible with very careful prying tools and knowing the directions of the clasps, you can force release without damage. but it's going to take more time and research than i have to give.

the 15" models have held up better i believe as there is more material to work with. 14" inherently pushed boundaries, corners were cut, and things break faster as a result. i personally don't play with 14" 4:3 but to each their own.

This isn't about aging plastic, it's about a bezel design that is extremely fiddly and hostile to repair. The 15" don't have this issue - I've replaced numerous screens in those over the years, no problem, because there's no plastic loop.

The 14" bezels are held in place partly by the side screws, which go through little plastic loops extending from the underside of the bezel. Those loops fit into extremely narrow gaps between the metal LCD hinge and the side of the lid assembly. Getting one apart without breaking the loops is not a problem. Putting one back together again, definitely is, because the tiny gap has to be in exactly the right place or the loop just will not go in. My success rate with getting the loops into place without breaking them is zero out of three or four tries.

[axur-delmeria]

IMO your issue is compounded by the fact that the plastic has become brittle with age. The bezels, being thin and flat, are very susceptible to snapping at the slightest provocation.