A500+ Restoration Goodness

So Ive decided to move forward with my next restoration job; this time it will be an A500+. A sweet machine in my opinion, and great as the centrepiece of any Amiga collection I reckon.

I consider this kind of work as restoration rather than just a bit of cleaning, with the aim to get the hardware as good as or better than its original manufactured condition.

I will post my first set of pics in the next day or so once I have her stripped down and laid out.

For anyone who followed my previous thread here :

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?t=29435

then you will know the kind of standard I like to work to, and this one will be no exception since it will be permanently mated to the A530 detailed in that thread.

Ive acquired several 500's and a couple of 500+ during my return to the Amiga scene; these were my first Amiga love back in the day :cool:

While I dont have an exact list of the work required yet, my to-do list is shaping up quite well; so far the plan of action is :

Disassemble, strip & clean
Retrobrite
Chip mem upgrade
New caps
Couple of new sockets
Keyboard
Floppy drive
Power supply
Battery
Rom switcher

Some of it will be replacement, some will simply be a damn good clean. I think these Amigas deserve a lot of t.l.c, and bringing back to their former glory!

So, this restoration is officially started, pics will be coming soon.

:thumbsup:

corrre naked amiga pics :thumbsup:

Ok, first steps and first pics then !

First step of course is to open up the machine in question and check it out. This is an A500+, sourced from the other bay a couple of months back; I bought it for reasons other than restoration, but, its turned into something of a little gem.

Let me explain why:

When I buy an Amiga, I look for certain tell-tale signs that are possible indicators of good/bad treatment and condition. When I opened the box this one came in I was pleasantly surprised.

First up, the machine itself; quite smart looking and in a relatively clean condition :

Attachment 33531

Things I was looking for here are the overall condition of the casing; the condition of the Commodore badge and the state of the keyboard. They all look good. Its a standard mitsumi keyboard which isnt the best quality but we can do something about that.

Next up, a view from below. The trapdoor cover and side port cover are both there; the silver sticker in the middle is fully intact and not damaged in any way, another good sign then :

Attachment 33532

A look across the sockets at the back; the thing to look out for here is the condition of the sockets as this gives a clue to how well its been kept and gives an indication of what it may be like inside. Looking here then, we can see all sockets in good shape, no rust or degredation, all nice and shiny. The phono sockets look a tad scruffy, but thats ok :

Attachment 33533

After removing the cover, a pleasant surprise inside. The shielding is fully intact and looks in absolutely great shape! No signs whatsoever of any rust or degredation; this is a really good sign. Likewise for the floppy drive unit which is a standard floppy unit, again in great shape :

Attachment 33534

Flipping that keyboard, we can see it is nice and clean too :

Attachment 33535

After removing the keyboard completely, the full shielding in great condition. All of the lugs are intact and in place, so it hasnt been opened too many times. The little copper keyboard spacer is intact too, another good sign. This shielding will eventually polish up really well :

Attachment 33536

This is a solid start for the project then; a clean looking machine in good shape. I really feel like I stumbled upon a little treasure here so far...

Now we can get to the real hardware prOn :)

After removing the shielding and flipping it over, we can again see no rust or any damage :

Attachment 33537

Now across to the motherboard. On first glance, she is very clean and shiny :

Attachment 33538

The battery I removed the day I received her and did a clean up job using lemon juice followed by IPA spray. Depsite there being a little leakage, there was no damage to the board. Got to that one just in time then :

Attachment 33539

The middle of the board, again nice and clean. We're continuing to look good then :

Attachment 33540

Another thing I look at is the condition of the sockets internally across the back; this is another good spot to check for tell-tale signs. Its looking clean and tidy here :

Attachment 33541

And further along :

Attachment 33542

To the back of the audio sockets :

Attachment 33543

And finally right to the end :

Attachment 33544

The sockets then are all very clean, no signs of any rust or damage.

However, we can still improve on these.

Next, a check of the side expansion port and CPU. No signs here of damage and not even tarnished in any way, and we have the original CPU nice and clean :

Attachment 33546

All the indicators so far are quite positive then; we have more things to check though....

Now time to check out the rest of the board and those capacitors. Here we are looking for any obvious signs of damage or tinkering, and also the state of those caps; looking for leakage, bulging and any sniffs of a fishy smell. No real signs so far, and we can also see here the original sticker inside with no signs of damage. It even has the original commodore ink on it :p

Attachment 33548

Checking further around where the battery was removed and the surrounding caps and resistors. Again, no damage and all nice and shiny, which tells me there has been no further leakage :

Attachment 33549

The identification area. Everyting intact here and we can see the board revision :

Attachment 33550

Finally a check on the other caps under the rear of the floppy drive, thankfully all in good shape :

Attachment 33551

This is about as good as we can hope for given the age of the machine then. The capacitors, although undamaged, are twenty or so years old. We will have to replace them with something much better and much newer....

Inside the machine then, we have a very good clean and undamaged example of a 500+, and a great basis to use for a restoration job.

:thumbsup:

Keep up the good work, I love seeing Amigas brought back to original condition. Makes a change from all the ones I see :butcher on the other bay!

I will do a thread on my A1200 when I'm not too busy :roll:. It is my original one from back in the day so well looked after. Plans are to change the top shielding (it was cut up when I had a 3.5inch drive installed), retrobright the keyboard and do the pcmcia fix (for starters anyway). Got some nice goodies lined up to go in it that I couldn't afford back then :thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joe384

Keep up the good work, I love seeing Amigas brought back to original condition. Makes a change from all the ones I see :butcher on the other bay!

I will do a thread on my A1200 when I'm not too busy :roll:. It is my original one from back in the day so well looked after. Plans are to change the top shielding (it was cut up when I had a 3.5inch drive installed), retrobright the keyboard and do the pcmcia fix (for starters anyway). Got some nice goodies lined up to go in it that I couldn't afford back then :thumbsup:

---

Yep, Ive fallen well lucky with this baby! There is lots of work to be done on her though ;)

I do have a couple of 1200's here for the future as well, but they are projects for another day.

And that retrobright procedure, well its messy but does a good job. I have that planned here in due course :)

Carrying on with the physical inspection and on to the last bits of the unit itself.

Removing the motherboard and lower shielding and flipping it over, we can see it is spotless. There has been no leakage inside here at any time then, nor has there been anything leaked into it from outside; something Ive noticed on a lot of neglected amigas :

Attachment 33552

The inside bottom section of the case, also confirms this :

Attachment 33553

Now time to remove the motherboard from its lower shielding. This reveals more cleanness and the original plastic shield inside :

Attachment 33554

With the plastic shield out we can see the final part of the metal shielding, all nice and clean and shiny :

Attachment 33555

The motherboard in all its naked glory :

Attachment 33556

And finally the flip side of the motherboard :

Attachment 33557

All good clean Amiga goodness then !

Despite the great overall condition, there are a number of things to be done here to bring her back to glory :)

That completes the initial check of the main unit. Now we can move on....

The next bit to look at then is the power supply. I've found it very easy in the past to just assume that if an item works that the power supply is all ok.

To a degree this is true, in so much as it physically powers up the unit. But why spend to much time and love on restoring something and ignore the power supply ?

Im afraid that just wont do here. We will be including the power supply in the restoration. I have a number of options and several pieces of kit in relation to the power supply, but lets start with the PSU that came with it.

As with most Amiga PSU's Ive seen, its discoloured and looking a bit sorry for itself :

Attachment 33558

Standard cabling attached here; the pins inside the square power plug are in a sorry state and quite badly tarnished too. I have an idea for this though.

Flipping it over we can see this is the higher power 60 watt version :

Attachment 33559

Its been plugged in already and checked. It does power up the system, so we know that it works on a basic level. I've not checked the output levels though.

After wrestling with the screws on this, its time to take a peek inside now :

Attachment 33560

Its quite grubby and dusty, due to the ventilation slots on the casing; this is to be expected.

The transformer side is also quite dirty, but its all there in one piece and works :

Attachment 33561

Inside the casing needs a good clean :

Attachment 33562

Removing it from the casing, we can see the basic construction of it up close. The PCB is actually quite basic, and fairly clean compared to the rest. You can also see all the wiring going to the transformer block; the wiring looks in good shape :

Attachment 33563

The other side under the cover where the minimal components are housed :

Attachment 33564

And the all important bit; the capacitors. Remember when we restore a system like this its not just capacitors on the motherboard that need to be checked out, its also the ones in the PSU. These are big chunky ones; the large ones are 40v 2200uf, the smaller ones look like 16v ones but I'll need to take a closer look :

Attachment 33565

Despite this PSU being in a working state, the overall condition is not the best and will need some work done on it. Some of the wiring will need replacing; the square plug will need something done with it; the caps will be replaced due to their age (Although there is no signs of damage/leaking/bulging on the caps) and it all needs a through clean up. Even the casing will get a dose of retrobright too.

Its good we have the high power version though; once it is all sorted out it means there will be enough juice to power the Amiga and any extra hardware goodies we add inside.

Some Amigas fall over if we use a standard power supply then start adding in extra expansions and the like; this can be often the case with accelerator boards.

There are some extras planned for this Amiga; they will be revealed later on though!

As an option, I also have a couple of goliath power supplies here. They are my backup plan.

:)

Well thats the strip down and check complete.

Completely disassembled we have the PSU :

Attachment 33566

And the main system itself :

Attachment 33567

Now its time to start thinking about the actual restoration process itself.

What I have planned so far is the following :

PSU :

Replace some wiring
New capacitors
Replace the square plug
Retrobright the casing
Test and check the output levels
Thorough internal clean

500+ :

Retrobright the casing
Replace the keyboard (I have something special for this!)
New capacitors right across the motherboard
Replace some of the rear sockets
Replace the CPU (Think WHDload here)
Clean and polish the metal shielding
Replace the floppy drive
Add in a dual rom switcher
Add in a side mounted reset button
Add in some more hardware goodies :shhh:
Add new battery unit

Lots of Amiga love will be going into this project for sure !

Stay tuned folks :thumbsup:

looking good mate, never seen this till now :thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by johnim

looking good mate, never seen this till now :thumbsup:

---

I suspect a few people may not have either!

I think attention to every last detail is important though, as is the planning and the work itself.

Luckily I have no time limit for this so I can take my time and hopefully ensure a really good job of it.

The next thing Im going to do is start looking at capacitors.

yes mate its getting busy on here now but nice work on this :thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by johnim

yes mate its getting busy on here now but nice work on this :thumbsup:

---

Well Im not going to reveal any details just yet, but this restoration work im on with right now (The A530, this A500+ and a couple of other bits im planning on) are a precursor to a crazy but totally cool and fairly unique project Im going to work on.

Its still at the planning stage but Ive already started gathering bits for it.

Thats going to be a lot of fun when I get to it :p

Right then, getting down to the nitty gritty of the work now.

The first thing I will do is sort out the parts that will be fitted to the motherboard; then I can get that sent away for all the soldering work required and I can work on other bits while thats being completed. While Ive done a little basic soldering many moons ago, I'll be sending it off to be done by resident solder expert Adam (Bad_Ad84). He has done some work for me before and has always done a good job !

For that to happen I need to gather those bits first.

So, first up the sockets on the back. I've been collecting some bits for a while now.

We can replace some sockets with brand new parts; note these are brand new and not NOS (New Old Stock). Not all of them are available as they are not manufactured anymore; the following ones are what I have gotten hold of :

9 pin mouse/joystick ports (male) x 2 :

Attachment 33568

25 pin serial port (male) x 1 :

Attachment 33569

25 pin parallel port (female) x 1 :

Attachment 33570

RCA/phono sockets (2 x audio, 1 x composite) x 3 :

Attachment 33571

In the case of the RCA/phono sockets, they dont need to be colour coded as they are marked left/right on the casing of the Amiga itself. I spent some time looking for these, but you need to check they are a proper match for the existing ones; there are lots of shapes and fittings available but not all are suitable for use on our Amiga. Make sure they look like the ones above!

These particular ones I found on the other bay and are gold plated; this will really help to ensure a good quality of signal to the attached speakers/sound system. I'll also replace the composite output too even though Im not planning to use this. I actually bought these some time ago and forgot I still had them.

These replacements are all quite cheap and are readily available. The gold plated phono's cost around £2 each.

Sadly the other sockets can not be replaced new as they are no longer produced. They include the power connector socket, the rgb output socket which is 23 pin DB, as is the floppy connector socket.

If anybody knows where to get some of these then please let me know, I'll be eternally grateful !

:thumbsup:

Now for the capacitor replacement.

I have included a table in message no 19 below.

Notice I have bumped the voltage in each case. This is safe to do but do not change the uf rating or reduce the voltages.

I've read many internet threads and had several discussions about the virtues of doing this; the general opnion is that bumping the voltage by 1 or 2 notches is a good thing. Its not a debate I want to carry on in this thread however ! :thumbsup:

My favourites are the Panasonic FM and FC series. Again I have researched this over some time, and these come up top along with one or two others, but these Panasonics are the most readily available here in UK. They have high ripple and low resistance which are perfect for what we need.

More recently, Panasonic have introduced a newer range which is the FR series. These have similar values to the FM and FC series but with even longer lifespans. Any of these will be ideal for our use though!

When I was researching these caps, what I have done is pulled the technical datasheets for the majority of all the Panasonic ranges and added them all to a spreadsheet; so now its simply a case of filtering on the necessary values and seeing which one best suits our needs.

My chosen supplier for the capacitors is a company called RS Components.

Their website is here :

http://www.uk.rs-online.com/web/

Prices are quite reasonable, although as with most small components, it works out cheaper to buy in packs; in this case they sell individual or in packs of 5 and above.

And no, I have no affiliation with this company in any way.

Looking good. I do have a question though. Why replace excellent condition parts? Clearly your A500+ is pristine. I can see doing this to a used and old and dirty machine. I am sure the ports are in fine shape and even the caps. I thought the A500/2000 didn't have the cap issues the newer Amigas had. But either way replacing caps is a preventative measure for sure. But not sure about the ports.

Well the caps do degrade over time, regardless of the model of machine. Cap techology at the time was nowhere near as adavanced as it is today.

As to the sockets; you make a fair point, they are in good shape. I kinda think 'why not' though. Again, these parts are 20 or so years old; the plastic and the metal does go brittle after time, and in general, sockets are only good for so many insertions.

So if I can have brand new ones fitted, I think it makes sense to do so, even if not 100% necessary.

After a double check on the capacitors, it seems Ive come across another Commodore inconsistency. I've taken to the old school method of measuring each capacitor with a calliper and magnifying glass and then compared every one with the table in the Service Manual. What is currently fitted to the board is not consistent with the manual (surprise, surprise) !

Ive amended the replacement table and attached it below in pdf format.

Attachment 33591

Note this is for the 8A1 revision board.

Well after a rummage through the many bags of capacitors I have bought recently and sorting them all out, and having gone through the supposed list from the service manual and those actually present on the board, I now have the complete set of replacements ready to go.

Luckily the ones I ordered previously contained everything I need for this job, and all the sizes are near enough identical to the existing ones :

Attachment 33589

Im including one extra for each type just in case of any mishaps.

Together with the replacement sockets and connectors, they are all bagged up, labelled and ready to be sent off :

Attachment 33590

I cant send them off just yet though; I had a thought this morning; I need to add to my to-do list a new battery fitting to replace the old one that was snipped off.

I'll add this to my earlier list and get one ordered.

:)

While I wait for the motherboard work to be done, Ive made a start on some of the other bits; in this case the PSU casing.

First of all, the before pics, inside :

Attachment 33623

And the outside :

Attachment 33624

First of all I gave it a good soaking in hot water and washing up liquid to clean any grease/surface dirt away.

A little bit cleaner :

Attachment 33626

Attachment 33625

Next onto the retrobright procedure. I used what has been described here as the 'goof-proof' mix; peroxide gel (12%) and bleach powder added, nothing else in there :

Attachment 33627

After 18 hours or so, a quick rinse and dry and hey presto!, shes looking good. Its definitely looking cleaner and brighter than before; even the little sticker has survived the procedure :

Attachment 33628

Now onto the main casing....

very nice and clean job on psu case :thumbsup:

Thanks!

As some of you will know if you have done retrobright before, you cant always see as much difference in pics, but up close it looks a lot better. Im well pleased with it :)

Just a quick post for anyone who is interested in what I used;

The bleach powder is Igora, Vario Blond, Extra Power, 450g drum of powder :

Attachment 33630

The peroxide is Igora Royal, 12% mix :

Attachment 33629

Both of these were sourced from ebay.

:)

Edit : No other ingredients needed and no uv either. Just coat it nice and thick then leave it 18-24 hours.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

Just a quick post for anyone who is interested in what I used;

Just coat it nice and thick then leave it 18-24 hours.

---

Indoors or out?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by djos

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

Just a quick post for anyone who is interested in what I used;

Just coat it nice and thick then leave it 18-24 hours.

---

Indoors or out?

---

Indoors for this one guys.

No uv is required for it to work.

uv exposure may make it work better, but I havent tried that.

:)

Edit :

ebay links for peroxide and bleach powder :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schwarzkop...item2c6674c6f5

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SCHWARZKOP...item4d04892be1

Both are available at fixed price. Hope this doesnt contravene any rules!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

Just a quick post for anyone who is interested in what I used;

The bleach powder is Igora, Vario Blond, Extra Power, 450g drum of powder :

Attachment 33630

The peroxide is Igora Royal, 12% mix :

Attachment 33629

Both of these were sourced from ebay.

:)

Edit : No other ingredients needed and no uv either. Just coat it nice and thick then leave it 18-24 hours.

---

In what proportions do you mix them?

Its a 2:1 mix (peroxide:bleach powder)

For the top (or bottom) of an Amiga case, I used 100ml peroxide and one full scoop of the bleach powder (The scoop comes supplied with the bleach powder).

The scoop is 45 or 50 grams when full and levelled off.

So,

100ml peroxide, 50 grams bleach

70ml peroxide, 35 grams bleach

And so on.

Edit : I'll be doing the case top later today so will post pics of it all to help out a bit :)

Edit 2 : The links i supplied above price these at £16.39 for the bleach powder and £7.99 for the peroxide (Make sure you use the drop down list for the peroxide and choose the 12% option).

Thats just under £25 in total. You will be able to do a lot of kit with this though. Ive done four full mixes so far and theres still loads of both left.

Edit 3 : All further information relating to the retrobrighting work will be posted in this thread :

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php...562#post361562

That PSU is looking much better!

I hope it's sunny next weekend - I don't think I've got time to get hold of the ingredients for retr0brighting this weekend (I'm going to try either the original mix or bblonde, which require UV)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joe384

That PSU is looking much better!

I hope it's sunny next weekend - I don't think I've got time to get hold of the ingredients for retr0brighting this weekend (I'm going to try either the original mix or bblonde, which require UV)

---

Post some before/after and let us know how it goes!

I have a uv bulb and clamp fitting here but not had to use it yet :)

Just remember to use a matte varnish to protect the retr0bright results. If not the yellowing will return in a year.

I'm pondering what to do for that. Im not quite decided just yet however.

What do you guys recommend to use to protect the plastic? I have noticed the yellowing does seem to come back quick!

I will probably go for a uv resistant clear matt lacquer.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

I will probably go for a uv resistant clear matt lacquer.

---

Where does one get such a product? What would it be normally be used for? Just to make it easy for when I go searching for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

I will probably go for a uv resistant clear matt lacquer.

---

Where does one get such a product? What would it be normally be used for? Just to make it easy for when I go searching for it.

---

Here in U.K, somewhere like Halfords or B & Q.

Over the water there, I would suggest any DIY store or vehicle workshop type store that sells spray paint/lacquer.

Edit : A quick search on eBay shows this :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UV-Resistant...item53ee9a0b34

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

I will probably go for a uv resistant clear matt lacquer.

---

Where does one get such a product? What would it be normally be used for? Just to make it easy for when I go searching for it.

---

Most good quality lacquer spray cans are UV-resistant. I find Rust-Oleum to be a good brand. You can find them in most hardware stores.

I'd rather use satin lacquer instead of matte lacquer, but that's just me...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by luncheon

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TjLaZer

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

I will probably go for a uv resistant clear matt lacquer.

---

Where does one get such a product? What would it be normally be used for? Just to make it easy for when I go searching for it.

---

Most good quality lacquer spray cans are UV-resistant. I find Rust-Oleum to be a good brand. You can find them in most hardware stores.

I'd rather use satin lacquer instead of matte lacquer, but that's just me...

---

Yep, I think either satin or matt would work just fine depending on your preference :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

Flipping it over we can see this is the higher power 60 watt version :

---

The 60 watts figure refers to the input power.
The output capability is 21.5 W (5V) + 12 W (12V) + 1.2 W (-12V) = 34.7 W, and that's assuming no combined 5V + 12V wattage limitation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BLTCON0

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WonkeyDonkey

Flipping it over we can see this is the higher power 60 watt version :

---

The 60 watts figure refers to the input power.
The output capability is 21.5 W (5V) + 12 W (12V) + 1.2 W (-12V) = 34.7 W, and that's assuming no combined 5V + 12V wattage limitation.

---

I always understood the 'lightweight' ones (In terms of power at least) were somewhere around 23-25w total ouput ?

Indeed :) I think they are 2.5A on the 5V line thus lacking about 10 watts compared to these ~35 W ones. The rating on +12V and -12V might have been slightly lower too (maybe 0.8A instead of 1A on +12V, taking away another watt).
The "heavyweight" model comes in a 5V x 4.5A version too, I have two of these, they read quite different but both make no mention of 60 Watts - instead they designate the input amperage at 400 mA.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BLTCON0

Indeed :) I think they are 2.5A on the 5V line thus lacking about 10 watts compared to these ~35 W ones. The rating on +12V and -12V might have been slightly lower too (maybe 0.8A instead of 1A on +12V, taking away another watt).
The "heavyweight" model comes in a 5V x 4.5A version too, I have two of these, they read quite different but both make no mention of 60 Watts - instead they designate the input amperage at 400 mA.

---

More consistency with Commodore products then! lol

I'll stick with this one though; with the A530 having its own PSU, this one should be more than enough for the rest.

If not then I'll get one of my Goliath ones out and beat it with that :lol:

Do you think that Armor All uv protectant will work at all?

Well I havent used any of these lacquer sprays yet. If its clear and uv resistant then I think you are on the right tracks. Then you just need to see about the finish, as in the cosmetic appearance.

:)

No more updates? :(

Updates will be coming sure.

The mainboard has been away for some work to be done on it and has taken much longer than originally planned, but is almost completed.

Ive also had some hardware issues with my main production computer here which had to take priority.

So its not been abandoned or forgotten about, just been on the back burner for a while.

I'll be re-igniting it soon though!

And of course its good to take a break sometimes too :)

Finally, an update :)

I have the motherboard back with all its bits completed !

First of all that new battery saving the day :

Attachment 40140

And then the new capacitors. These are those nice new panasonic black & gold ones, my favourite :

Attachment 40141

The other caps across the board :

Attachment 40142

Across the back of the board we can see the new sockets. RCA and mouse sockets here:

Attachment 40144

And again further along. The serial and parallel sockets have been replaced as well as the RCA used for the video out :

Attachment 40145

Here, the original commodore 2.04 rom. This will eventually have a rom switcher fitted though :

Attachment 40143

Now i can start to reassemble as the remaining parts are sorted.

All those pesky screws attached at the back and inserted into the bottom casing :

Attachment 40146

Floppy drive cleaned and attached and the internal screws attached, and the side port metal strip too. Now its starting to feel like its in one piece again :

Attachment 40147

A small update then.

I now have the rom switcher fitted, was easier than I thought.

I've always preferred having an external switch type for this job and had one lying around so in it went.

The 2 roms I have in there are 1.3 and 3.1 :

Attachment 40152

Cable routed as best I can for now, will probably use a couple of hotglue spots to hold it in place :

Attachment 40153

The external switch fitted on the right hand side :

Attachment 40154

I've also added in my ram upgrade chip which is NOS bought from here on the bay :

Attachment 40155

Next up is the keyboard :)

Just a quick post for now.

Having polished the internal metal shield, although it was quite clean to begin with, its now attached and screwed down, with the rom switch cable routed quite nicely. The main internal work is now complete :

Attachment 40163

:)