Swap T60 lid into T60 Compatibility

[brchan]

Hello all,

I would like to swap a T60 lid assembly into my T61 and have a few questions.

1. Can the inverter in the T61 be used in a T60 lid?
2. Are LCD cables (and that little black roller where the cable exits the lid) interchangeable?
3. What kind of 14.1 hinges should I get (make, model)?
4. Will I need any additional screws?
5. I am intending on buying a new lid + bezel + hinges + antennas (may not include screws). Will I need anything else?
5. Are there any other issues I should be aware of?

I have several reasons for this:
1. The right hinge for T61 lids is prone to cracking. I have already gone through 2 sets (genuine), each of which cracked at the upper section of the right hinge. After research, many also have issues with the right hinge cracking on the T61, but not in the T60.
2. The hinges in my mom's T60 are 8 years old, and other than having a small amount of play, are rock solid with no cracks.
3. T60 lid is lighter and feels much more premium.

I understand I will lose a little strength in the lid as well as only get 2 antennas, but I do not want to keep shelling out $$ for new hinges every 6 months.

Thanks,
Brian

[ajkula66]

The downfall of your idea is that you'll still need T61 hinges - the weakest link - for your project. T60 hinges will not do, at least not without major hacking.

Good luck.

[brchan]

Thanks for the response. Why would I still need T61 hinges? I have swapped the entire lid assembly from my mom's T60 into my T61 (includes T60 hinges), just to see if it worked, and it worked perfectly. I am just wondering if there are any specific parts that are interchangeable or I need (see above), since I will be buying parts separately.

Thanks,
Brian

[dr_st]

I too seem to recall some people swapping 14" T60 lids on 14" T61 4:3 bases completely, hinges and all...

[ajkula66]

Interesting.

You must have a very late T60 or a very early T61, since this is really not supposed to be a plug & play swap. From what I recall, that is...

Maybe it's my Mad Cow Disease finally kicking in and I'm losing my mind...

Now, to answer your questions:

1) Yes.

2) Yes.

3) No idea.

4) I don't believe so.

5) An open HMM and a lot of patience.

6) ThinkPads are addictive. But you already know that...

[dr_st]

I found the thread where it was discussed before:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=100877

[rumbero]

After having begun to appreciate the more pleasing to the eye symmetry of the T60 display units, while at the same time being fed up of the generally deficient T61 hinges, and also after convincing myself that the T61 display roll cage is just design overkill, i have equipped all our 4:3 14.1" T61's over time with a complete 4:3 14.1" T60 display unit each, including hinges and all. It is a perfect fit without any technical issues whatsoever.

While it makes sense to also replace the T61 keyboard bezel with a matching one from a T60, purely for aesthetic reasons in order to cover that extra gap to the right of the left hinge, there is no real technical necessity either.

I have grown to love the idea of a stealth T61 containing a SSD in disguise of a seemingly old T60. My colleagues all believe that i am still using one of those really ancient Thinkpad models, and some are wondering why it often appears to be much snappier than their HDD equipped X220's.

EDIT: The T60 display units usually have only two antennas for the Wifi card, unlike lots of the T61 display units. To cover this "loss", i have also replaced the Wifi card with an Atheros one not requiring three antennas for N capability. But then again, i probably wouldn't notice the speed difference, given the fact that most routers in the environments i use my stealth T61 don't provide N speeds anyway.

[brchan]

Thanks for all the replies. I have ordered a new lid + hinges, as well as a used T60 lcd assembly for using the wifi antennas, lcd cable, misc. stuff, and a scew kit.

I am using my T23 (suprisingly fast with crunchbang linux) right now as a backup until all the parts arrive .

Thanks,
Brian

[FryPpy]

When i was doing my frankenpad i have ordered T61 4:3 mainboard from ebay. And it arrives with full body (plastics, frame etc). So i have decided to make "shwabenpad" with this body parts and have ordered full screen assembly from ebay. Yes it was T60 assembly and it perfectly sited ontop of T61 body.
Later i have returned T61 soul (motherboard) to this body, after rebuilding frankenad with better one;)

While it makes sense to also replace the T61 keyboard bezel with a matching one from a T60, purely for aesthetic reasons in order to cover that extra gap to the right of the left hinge

Good notice - i didn't see this gap ever because didn't look precise at this location when i have assembled T60 screen ontop of T61 body.

EDIT: The T60 display units usually have only two antennas for the Wifi card, unlike lots of the T61 display units. To cover this "loss", i have also replaced the Wifi card with an Atheros one not requiring three antennas for N capability. But then again, i probably wouldn't notice the speed difference, given the fact that most routers in the environments i use my stealth T61 don't provide N speeds anyway.

You can user Intel Advanced-N 6200 | 6205 - all need 2 antennas and work well with T60 lid. I have installed WWAN antenna. But it is possible to install thin-film 3nd WLAN anntena (from ebay) just besides plastic spacer for WWAN antenna. I know that there is original 3nd antenna for T60, but i dont see i either...

PS
Some days after building shwabenpad i have changed palmrest with T60's one. It is possible if 1 pice of mettal will be cut from chassis.

PPS
When i have compared (side by side) original T61 and my shwabenpad i was overwhelmed with this nonsymmetrical and " fat" screen of T61. I like T60's one. And i think the rollkage is absolutely useless for 14" 4:3 because it's lid completely Mg allready.

PPPS
The only bad thing in this thinkpad is a LCD. I am used to IPS screen from 15" so the low contrast and low viewing angles make thing worse. But 14" is more compact (it can be held with 9 cell battery in my briefcase where 15" can sit only with 6 cell) and weight less. But for travelling on foot i prefer X61
I am searching for non thinkpad 14" SXGA LCDs with better characteristics but still no luck

[rumbero]

I am searching for non thinkpad 14" SXGA LCDs with better characteristics but still no luck

As much as i regret this myself, i fear this is a lost cause. Your best bet is probably trying to find the least mediocre display panel and call it a day.

[brchan]

Hello all,

I just finished swapping in a T60 lid assembley using parts from ebay and here is the link to the pics: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A ... 3D61%21105.

A few notes:

1. Use the front hinge screws from the T61 lid bezel for the 3 bottom holes in the T60 bezel. The upper 2 holes can use the same screws as those in the upper T61 lid bezel.

2. Inverter is hot-swappable.

3. Recommend using a T60 LCD cable. Using a T61 LCD cable is fine, but if you try to open the lid to 180 degrees, the T61 cable will actually get caught and put preassure against the keyboard bezel. This is because the T61 cable lacks the proper tabs at the bottom of the cable.

4. As previously said, there will be a small gap between to the right of the left hinge, since the T60 left hinges is narrower, but it is almost unnoticable.
5. Lid fits more snuggly than T61 lid and is as flat and even as a billiard table.

Also, I noticed an odd issue after the lid swap. When I was ordering the parts for the T60 lid swap, one of the packages came with a bluetooth adapter. When I power up the machine with the adapter enabled, the POST (thinkpad splash screen) takes ~3 times longer to dissapear, and pressing the enter key to enter bios will do nothing. After disabling bluetooth, everything was back to normal. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Brian