Mac Classic near death... or at least an OOBE...

[Roger Merchberger]

So, there's a Mac Classic that was dropped off at my friends' store 
(otherwise headed for the skip/dumpster) and I "rescued" it. Yes, I used 
quotes, as there was this "weird" bright yellow and purple goo emanating 
from the unit.

Thinking something completely odd was spilled *into* the unit, I took it 
apart to find the damage. Turns out, the PRAM battery was in such bad 
shape that it was the source of both the purple (rust & other dissolved 
metals) and yellow (still not sure what that is) goo.

I had to pry the motherboard out of the unit (slightly destructively) 
due to the corrosion on the rails on one side of the motherboard rails 
just to remove the motherboard. Whatever was bent can be unbent, but 
will need a *lot* of cleaning to refurbish.

The contacts for the PRAM battery were completely gone on the (+) side, 
and gosh-darned near gone on the (-) side (enough so that it couldn't be 
repaired). I removed the PRAM battery & holder (with a pair of pliers as 
it was also damaged to an unrepairable state).

That said, what do I actually do with the thing? My idea: Disassemble 
the unit and turn it into a 68K "microcontroller" trainer unit with a 
recent(ish) Flash ROM and Static RAM. Yes, I have the technology to 
build that. Or... back to the original destination (bad).

Anyone want it for price of shipping?

And yes, for those "keeping score" I have now built a "Mac Cracker." Do 
I get a prize for being the "Last Geek Ever" to build one? ;-)

Laterz,
"Merch"