trick to re-assembling the MBP top case (after hd swap)?

[thederby]

ok. i'm usually a pretty mechanical person, but i figure (after not being able to get it 'perfect' last night) i'd better ask people that've been down this road before.

so... i swapped the hard drive in my MBP last night and i can't get the right-palm corner, above the slot-drive, to line up perfectly.

the other 3 corners are spot on, so what's the trick to getting it to all fall back into place?

on the keyboard panel (the top piece) there are four tabs that obviously slip into slots in the bottom case directly above the slot drive. at first i thought it'd be pretty hard for those to not line up correctly. it's a tight fit, and i can't really confirm how those are lining up.

so... did you have issues? how did you get your case back together (perfectly)?

thanks in advance!

 

[D1G1T4L]

I thought mine was wrong but after pinching it back till it snapped....then it was lined perfectly back up.

 

[thederby]

I thought mine was wrong but after pinching it back till it snapped....then it was lined perfectly back up.

i got the actual corner to 'snap', but the area towards the left of the slot drive still has a gap.

how much pressure can you put on that portion of the case before you bend the slot drive opening?

 

[jayhawk11]

Same problem

Any advice on this would be great. I had the same problem with mine. There is just a little gap between the top case the bottom case, directly above the slot loader.

Any ideas? I've tried pushing it down too, but I was worried about warping the slot

 

[dordal]

To get the part near the drive to snap, it is helpful to take a flat-head screwdriver, and put the tip just inside the drive. Press UP with the screwdriver (use your left hand, and hold it right near the tip very close to the drive), and DOWN on the top of the case with your right hand, and the thing will snap back together.

Of course, standard warning here: if you muck something up, its your fault. And be sure to put the screwdriver just inside the drive slot (no more than 1cm) or else you might damage something inside.

 

[squeeks]

last time i pulled it apart i had a real problem trying to get that exact area back together, the trick is to stick i CD/dvd in the drive part way so you can press really hard on it with out the risk of snapping the plastic, just hold up slightly on the cd and press aginst it, itll go back, it takes lots of force

 

[thederby]

screwdriver worked...

 

[eyespii]

i know this thread is old, but I had the same problem with my macbook pro after I swapped LCDs. The gap above the DVD drive was bugging the hell out of me, and I was too afraid to push down because I had tried and ended up bending the DVD slot opening itself down to the point where discs wouldn't eject any more.

The screwdriver trick did the trick though - no more gap! I didn't even have to apply a ton of pressure, and it snapped back into place!

 

[chp5592]

I too had the gap above the slot drive after the HD swap. After much fiddling, and some regrets that I messed up my perfect MBP, I pushed "really" hard, not at the edge of the upper wrist rest, but about 1 cm behind it. Than it "clicked." It is now back to perfect. BTW, the wd320gb hd is great.