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[DIY] Restoring an Iphone ( Front and Back)
- Thread starter Shenaniganz08
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I just stumled apon this thread and saw what an awesome job the OP did on the back casing. It looks like OEM without the branding!
I would personally buy a new rear case and sand that down to remove the branding and then just swap it over. Only to avoid damaging the iPhone in any way during the whole process.
It's a shame the OP didn't fit a black bezel on the rear case, this would have made it look awesome!
I would personally buy a new rear case and sand that down to remove the branding and then just swap it over. Only to avoid damaging the iPhone in any way during the whole process.
It's a shame the OP didn't fit a black bezel on the rear case, this would have made it look awesome!
As long as you have some watchmaker's screwdrivers, it's not bad. Step by step instructions are on the interweb.
I heard its a pain, I've heard that the aftermarket rear cases don't fit, and many people have had reception/gps problems after swapping out their cases
But besides that, I had all the sandpaper and detailing materials so
Free > £18 ($30 USD)
As long as you buy OEM it fits great, and I cannot conceive how swapping the rear case would affect reception.
All kudos to you for some great DIY; for me, the choice of £18 vs. buying sanding/polishing materials + a lot of effort + losing the scratch resistant coating is a no-brainer. Nevertheless, well done!
Yeah losing the coating is a negative, but I might decide to polish it every other week ( with the defects gone, it only takes 5 minute to keep the phone looking fresh ^_^)
The deep scratches = required deep sanding ( initially only sanded with 800 to retain the coating, but it wasn't enough to remove the deeper defects o_0)
Most people will not run into the problem with removing the protective coating, and should be able to do the wetsanding in less than an hour if the defects are not deep ( 1500, 2000,2500, should be enough), but yeah my phone took a while because i was going for a 100% glass like surface ( the ( 7 different grits, x2 polishes). I talked about the coating because I think its only fair to warn people in advance.
In any case thank you for the kind words
parts
yeah i'm also curious where you got the parts that cheap. the LCD/glass i find everywhere is 2 or 3 times as much it seems. iFixit.com for example. i would love to know where to get it cheap like that!
yeah i'm also curious where you got the parts that cheap. the LCD/glass i find everywhere is 2 or 3 times as much it seems. iFixit.com for example. i would love to know where to get it cheap like that!
(Just like to thank everyone who posted/shared this link with friends, I am glad this guide has reached several others )
Seen a lot of threads of people wondering how to restore an iPhone so I decided to make a DIY guide
Also pretty helpful if you want to de-brand your iPhone
Background
My previous iPhone was stolen at the gym, low on funds I decided to buy the cheapest iPhone I could find that worked regardless of condition. I found an iPhone 3G that had being completely abused and had a dark spot on the LCD. On the second picture notice the gouge on the right side, out of of all the blemishes it was the deepest) Still I ended up buying the phone for a really good price. The replacement parts from eBay only cost $16 for the glass and $23 for the LCD ( sanding kit $10) making it a price effective mod.
My first attempt at restoring it was a mild success, since I used mild sandpapers/rushed. But you can see that even with 800 grit sandpaper and about an hour I got it looking better, but it still had tons of deep dents and scratches.
What did you exactly do in your first attempt? You drysanded it and then polished it or there was no need to polish?? Im sorry but i really dont know much about dry/wetsanding.... i've always thought that sand paper actually scratches, rather than fix scratches.
Sandpaper does cause scracthes, but that's why wetsanding is a method. You initially sand away the original scratch. but this leaves you with scracthes, that you have to remove using finer and finer sandpaper.
first time around I only went down to 800 grit sandpaper, then went to 1000,1500,2000 and then polished it up. I didn't want to sand too deeply because I had heard that if you sand it down to far, you loose the apple logo, and the phone is easier to scratch.
As you can see it was shiny, but still had a ton of deep scracthes and defects
So after my first attempt, I went down to 320 grit and completely removed every single defect. I ended up removing all the anti scratch coating because some of the defects were very deep. then I polished it back up with 800, 1000, 1500,2000,2500, 3000 sandpaper and used polished it up.
hope that helps.
Keep the questions coming, I'm glad to make this as clear as possible for you guys
So if I wanted to remove the slight scratches from the back of my iphone I should probably use a rather fine sandpaper, say 3000, and then polish it again? How did you exactly polish it ? Any recommendations?
Thanks for your help mate !
I'm wondering too!
Awesome article and thanks so much for all the info!
However, just as some of the other members I am wondering, which seller(s) on eBay did you get your front glass and lcd from? Anyone in particular you would recommend?
Thanks you so much for your answers!
Brandon
Awesome article and thanks so much for all the info!
However, just as some of the other members I am wondering, which seller(s) on eBay did you get your front glass and lcd from? Anyone in particular you would recommend?
Thanks you so much for your answers!
Brandon
I got all my parts from gadgetfix he had a 99.6% feedback
iphone 3G Touch Glass Screen Digitizer + Adhesive USA
iPhone 3G Replacement LCD Screen Display Repair + Tools
http://shop.ebay.com/gadgetfix/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340
umm not a personal recommendation (since he's not 100%) but i got my parts really quick and they were well packaged
Can you reply to my post above? Once you drysanded it, how did you exactly polish it ?
I only joined to ask one question, all said and done how much did it cost (including the wrecked phone)? Also, how much was the wrecked phone?
By the way, FANTASTIC JOB! I've always had great respect for people that understand how things are created and can make something better out of anything.
By the way, FANTASTIC JOB! I've always had great respect for people that understand how things are created and can make something better out of anything.
Yeah Alphadan, you don't have to go down to 320, but 3000 grit sandpaper will really not do much, since it doesn't have any cutting power. I would first try 2500 and see if that works, if not go down to 2000. 2000 grit should be good enough. Finding that first grit of sandpaper is tricky, but make sure to only use the most aggressive sandpaper needed, or else you are just making more work for yourself
Oh sorry it was in my original post but I guess I should make it more clear ( i updated my DIY)
Step 1 (using the 3M kit on a power drill)
Polishing Pad = Orange 3m Pad
Polish = 3M rubbing compound
Step 2 ( using a rotary tool)
Polishing Pad = Blue 3M Pad
Polish = Meguair's 205
But like I said in my guide, you can just use 3m rubbing compound with a microfiber if you don't have a rotary tool.
Details for those who are interested
The 3m headlight kit already comes with an orange pad and 3m rubbing compound, but the orange pad ( cutting) and the polish ( rubbing compound) will leave what many detailers call "polishing halos". To remove the halos you have to
1) make sure all the scratches are gone (and just halo's are left), if not keep polishing with the orange pad
2) Polish with a fine microfiber + 3m rubbing compound.
The microfiber material is softer than the Orange 3M pad, and so it will not leave any halo's
I used a Makita Rotary tool with a Blue 3M pad as my second step using Meguiar's 205, because this is a much softer polish pad/polish and I know it doesn't leave any polishing halo's
I finished with NXT 2.0 wax.. only because I like how it smells, an adds a bit of shine ( that really only lasted 5 minutes of handling
)Welcome to the boards
Cost for parts (shipped) was $43 for the LCD and Glass
Busted iPhone I got for $180, but including gas to drive out to get it, I would say I paid $190 ish since I had to drive a good distance to get it.
So total cost for me for a perfect iPhone 3G was $230
I had everything else, which made this mod pretty cheap for me but if you want an estimate of the cost of the other materials here is the breakdown
3M headlight kit $15
Microfiber towel $.50-$6 bulk purchases (costco) bring down the price
Various sandpapers $4-10 ( high initial cost, but its reusable + last long)
320 grit sanding stick $1 ( It looks like a nail sanding file, well worth $1)
So if you had nothing and wanted to do this you would probably spend under $30 ( $15 for the headlight kit, $5 microfiber towel, and then $4-10 on sandpaper depending on what you can find locally. If you don't have any local store's each grit of sandpaper will cost $2 ( one sheet is plenty) online ( http://www.autogeek.net/3000-grit-sandpaper-5.html ).
Optional stuff that I used, MSRP
3M rubbing compound $8 ( if you need more its a pretty big bottle)
Meguiar's nxt 2.0 was $17 ( if you need it )
Meguiar's 205 $15
Makita 9227 Rotary tool $170
Honestly, that is a very high quality job, and I am NOT a mac guy. Thanks for the DIY.
Not sure what screen prot. that is...
I don't know what screen protector that is but I'd like to put my two cents in for screen protection.
I've had Zagg Invisible Shield on my iPhone from day 1 and you can't tell it's on there and it's saved my screen more than once. It's pricey for a piece of thin plastic but $20. for protection like its given me is worth it.
PS. Why didn't you just buy a new case for your iPhone since you already had it apart for the LCD replacement?
It would have saved so much more time to have done so. It's about $20 to 30 dollars for the back cover even cheaper if you go with off brand.
I don't know what screen protector that is but I'd like to put my two cents in for screen protection.
I've had Zagg Invisible Shield on my iPhone from day 1 and you can't tell it's on there and it's saved my screen more than once. It's pricey for a piece of thin plastic but $20. for protection like its given me is worth it.
PS. Why didn't you just buy a new case for your iPhone since you already had it apart for the LCD replacement?
It would have saved so much more time to have done so. It's about $20 to 30 dollars for the back cover even cheaper if you go with off brand.
Thanks for this helpful thread. I'm not much of an electronics person, but I was able to successfully polish and fix my dented and scratch-filled iPhone.
Thanks again!
Thanks again!