701c New Body/Plastics

[Cooler22]

I modeled the lid and bezel using SketchUp. It came out relatively okay. However, I had to make some modifications, such as reinstalling the brass screw holders. I tried doing the lower housing but did not get too far. I spent over $2200 on my 701c and am exhausted in the restoration. I have made a few feats; I somewhat replicated the original 701c ThinkPad paint, upgraded the chipset and video chip, onboard RAM. The only problem is I don't have a case that is good enough. 3/5 ThinkPad I have picked up have shrinkage in the lid, which causes severe cracking across, it would be nice to have bare reproduction metal/plastic case parts. I almost resent my 701c at this point and don't know if I want to complete it.

Sorry for the rant, I just hope someone figures out a good way to replicate parts.

[w0qj]

Just a thought, is there any way for a 3D-Scanner to scan, then 3D-Print new body for your ThinkPad?

I do realize that it's probably less durable (and incorrect colour!), but at least you would then have working replacement ThinkPad body parts/panels to work with!

Perhaps even an open-source code of ThinkPad body parts/panels for everyone to download and 3D-Print?

[Thinkpad4by3]

Like I've said in the last few posts, 3D scanners are total sh*t. Thinkpads are the absolute worst case for a 3D scanner, a matte black surface makes it impossible for the scanner to find the geometry outside of the fact that none of it will be to scale. 3D scanners are for organic shapes not a computer.

Yes it will be less durable on 99% of printers, seems good in theory but 99% of TP parts are too big for the printer, like the lid and bottom case.

[cchisholm]

So I have a Thinkpad 701c, a particularly rare variant with the AMD X5 processor, and not the mod either, original manufactured board.

They made them OEM? Thought they were all modded

There were OEM ones, just not many, it was an expensive mail order/online order option that came out a few years later. Its the entire board you had to buy and install yourself if you could, or bring it to a computer repair shop to have it done. Not many people did that because by the time that was offered (because even at release the 701's were kinda outdated) most people had just gotten a newer laptop or were content with the performance they had. And later if people still wanted to do that, the mod to do it yourself was significantly cheaper and didn't require much work.
Even this board has sadly been modified as someone has changed some stuff to OC it slightly, but it is the original upgrade board from IBM.