Disassembling IBM ThinkPad T42 Plastic Edge Cover

Written By: Gerald Watanabe

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

15 - 20 minutes

Introduction

How to remove the edge cover of the IBM ThinkPad T42 access some of the components of your device.

Use a Phillips #0 screwdriver to remove the twenty screws on the underside of the T42.

Remove the four Phillips screws located on either side of the rear of the T42 (there are two on each end.)

leave these four screws alone. No need to remove them.

Of course you need to remove them you Dingbat! They are the main anchors of the screen hinges, Doh!

There are tiny numbers showing the lengths of the screws. 1-2-3-4 where 1 is the shortest.

The dark red circles are not very easy to see. How about white ones?

Flip the laptop over and open the screen to access the keyboard and trackpad.
The keyboard and trackpad are connected to the motherboard. Before removing the keyboard and trackpad, disconnect both components from the motherboard, as shown in the following step.
The bezel and keyboard will be loose, be careful.

Carefully maneuver the palm rest away from the keyboard, as both the keyboard and palm rest/trackpad will come off together.
Remember, both the keyboard and trackpad have connectors to the motherboard. Disconnect these before completely removing either component.