Thinkpads Forum

I recently bought a 4:3 14.1 t60 and wanted to mod it.

What addition steps would be needed to swap a 14.1 4:3 t61 mobo into a 14.1 4:3 t60 chassis?

I saw this was done by user: oeuvre
https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=124597

From other forums I've read, I know i would need a different CPU, PCMCIA-cage, possibly the heatsink from a w500,

This is my first time modding and could use the assistance.

I'm not certain a T500/W500 heatsink will be a proper fit, as the Northbridge may be a different height. This is the situation between R61 15.4" and R500. Granted, ATI T500 and W500 heatsink uses a thermal pad for the Northbridge so perhaps any gap is effectively bridged by this.

Having put my leftover Frankenpad parts into a T60 board in T61 4:3 case, I am 95% confident the boards are direct swaps. I think the Modem will not be able to plug in without modifying the structure frame.

Please consider if the next generation chipset is actually worth the cost and effort. 8GB of DDR2 is expensive; the CPUs, while faster, are still slow; even limited to SATA1 speed an SSD is still very fast. And with a whitelist-removed BIOS T60 can get a faster WLAN card. But T61 is still stuck with the proprietary UltraBay so adding in a second drive will suck with either laptop. I would suggest it is best to enjoy the T60 as it is.

It might be easier to just get a whole T61.

Welcome to the forum.
The 14.1" T60 mobo, when extended with a interposer card which extends the ultrabay connectors, is exactly the same mobo which is used in the 15.0" T60.
Therefore you can refer to the frankenpad guides in this forum where the 14.1" 4:3 T61 planar is shoehorned into a 15.0" T60, the only differences between the 14.1" and 15.0" T60 body for this purpose is around the bosses where the interposer card is attached.
I also suggest getting a 14.1" T61 if possible, because the same electronics will run noticeably cooler in the T61. The RHS hinge is prone to failure, so you can either reinforce it (even after it breaks) or replace the entire lid (and palmrest) with that of a T60,

TPFanatic wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 4:46 pm

I'm not certain a T500/W500 heatsink will be a proper fit, as the Northbridge may be a different height. This is the situation between R61 15.4" and R500. Granted, ATI T500 and W500 heatsink uses a thermal pad for the Northbridge so perhaps any gap is effectively bridged by this.

Yes the W500/T500 heatsinks fit and eliminate the usage of thermal pillows. The big catch is that you have to file down the weird silver protruding heat block as it gets in the way of the keyboard a bit.

unixed wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:44 pm

I also suggest getting a 14.1" T61 if possible, because the same electronics will run noticeably cooler in the T61.

I forgot why, is it because there are some extra ventilation holes in the T61 base?

unixed wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:44 pm

he RHS hinge is prone to failure, so you can either reinforce it (even after it breaks) or replace the entire lid (and palmrest) with that of a T60,

That will have the additional advantage of a symmetric lid and equal-width hinges.

dr_st wrote: ↑

Fri May 26, 2023 1:54 am

That will have the additional advantage of a symmetric lid and equal-width hinges.

Yes, the most important feature

dr_st wrote: ↑

Fri May 26, 2023 1:54 am

unixed wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 23, 2023 6:44 pm

I also suggest getting a 14.1" T61 if possible, because the same electronics will run noticeably cooler in the T61.

I forgot why, is it because there are some extra ventilation holes in the T61 base?

The air flow is dramatically improved but the holes are the only aspect that is easily visilble. The effect on the heatsink is like cooling a bottled drink in a river. The Yamato Labs engineers deserve a lot of credit.