TOWER IT! Even though I had an incredible amount of stuff packed inside my big-box Amiga A2000 I found that I had a lot of stuff hanging out of it as well, there was the High-Density disk drive, the CD Writer(scsi), another 6x CD-Rom (scsi), the removable hard-drive and various other bits and bobs!
When I had finished this project I found that it was one of the easiest tasks which I have ever undertaken with my Amiga. This is because the bulk of the Amiga remains untouched.
Make sure you have bought or acquired a regulation-sized FULL PC tower, I found one second-hand for �25. It does not matter whether or not it has a Power Supply Unit in it as we will not be using it.
Remove all peripherals!
Undo the screws (2 at each side and 1 at the rear centre. ) which hold the top case on. You will find that the front cover comes with it. Unclip the plastic LED holder from the mainframe and unplug the LED cables from the motherboard and/or scsi controller card. Using small pliers remove the stabilising bar (transit bar ) from across the centre of the mainframe.
Remove all boards (scsi controllers, graphics cards, CPU board (Remember, your CPU board can only return to the CPU slot! )) Using a small flat-bladed screwdriver, ease out the Power connector from the motherboard, remove the small power connectors from the floppy drives, remove the ribbon cables from the floppy drives, do the same (power and Data cables) for any CD drive which you may have connected.
REMEMBER! which way round all your cables are connected and where everything comes from.
Draw a diagram if necessary!!!
A2000 without it`s clothes on! (Click!)
Unscrew the three (sometimes 2 ) screws at the front of the carrier frame which carries the Power Supply Unit and the Floppy Disk/CD drives. Unscrew the 4 screws at the rear of the mainframe which hold the PSU in place. You should now be able to carefully lift out the carrier and move it away from the machine. Remove all screws which hold the floppy/CD drives and PSU to the carrier and, if necessary remove the floppy drives from their mini-carrier.
At this point if, and ONLY if, you feel confident handling basic electrical wiring i.e. fitting plugs and/or new cables to electric irons, kettles etc. then remove the cover from the PSU and remove the spade connectors leading from the main switch, discard this short cable and replace with a longer cable (to comfortably reach from the back to the front of your tower!) with female spade connectors on either end.
You will probably find that the switch on the front of your tower has 4 connections, this is a `double-pole switch` , don`t worry you will only be using two of the connections.
Those of you who don`t feel comfortable attempting this, then either ask an electrician friend to help you OR, leave the existing switch exactly where it is! The only difference being that you will switch your computer on/off from the back of your machine and you`ve been doing that for years. (Hopefully). Re-fit your power supply to your Amiga in the same location from which it came. To do this you will probably have to re-drill the two bottom holes a bit further up. Measure the location of the threaded holes in the power unit and transfer these measurements to the rear of the Amiga mainframe.
When drilling or cutting the Amiga it may be wiser, or make you feel more comfortable, if you remove the Motherboard. Some are fixed by plastic push-on lugs and some are fixed with ten small screws. MAKE A NOTE OF EXACTLY WHERE EVERYTHING GOES!!!
Depending on the style of your PC tower, you may have to remove (with a metal saw) some of the front of the Amiga mainframe to accommodate disk drives, switches etc. Do all your cutting and drilling BEFORE replacing the Motherboard!
Reconnect the power cable connector to the motherboard. Remember your NOTES!
If you have a problem or are not comfortable with drilling, then:-
a.) You shouldn`t be doing this.
b.) Enlist the help of a friendly joiner or carpenter! (You do not need an electronics engineer or a computer sciences expert!)
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