The power supply and logic board convert electricity into heat. There are also some significant heat sinks. There is an air intake (front/right) and an air exhaust (left/rear) on the bottom of the unit. The fan is there to draw cooler air in and push warmer air out.

I have always had the battery adhesive break at this step. I’ve done a good 20 iPhone battery replacements. The adhesive always snaps on me, resulting in a lot of wasted time “digging” out the old battery.

Until today. Today I warmed the adhesive a little bit with a hairdrier, and I removed the Taptic Engine. The strips slipped out like a dream. It’s worth the extra 90 seconds of effort. I’m so happy that I had to comment here.

There is no easy way to discharge the battery in “less time”. Perhaps the fastest way is to play a visually-complex modern game or otherwise make your phone do a lot of work.

Definitely only use unworn, appropriately sized drivers when going into any Mac or iPhone. If the driver starts to slip, stop and access the situation. That said, I have encountered many screws with damaged screw heads. I usually first try the “rubber band” trick to loosen the ruined screw. If that doesn’t work, I often resort to using a dremel tool to cut a slot in the screw (while protecting everything from the debris generated). In all cases, be careful - one slip can do a lot of damage.

Despite their similarities, most of the important internals of the A1342 will not fit within any aluminum MacBook housing.

The only parts that you might get to fit are: the drives, the LCD panel (not its housing), and the keyboard (sort-of, and not its housing)

Possible Solution 1:

Shore up cracks and holes with an appropriate epoxy and/or epoxy filler. Hide resulting repair cracks with a fancy vinyl overlay or protective snap-on case

Possible Solution 2:

Find good replacement A1342 housing parts, which are readily available on the used market.

I made a substitute hot plate from some sheet metal that I bought at the hardware store, and now I’m back in action with my delicious coffee.

Why they manufacture these plates out of poorly protected mild steel is beyond me. No, actually it isn’t beyond me - using inexpensive, unsuitable components certainly increases their profits. These plates almost certainly cost them less than 1¢ each, which is far cheaper than the 2¢ they’d pay for a suitable, durable part.

You bet it’s possible. It’s a lot of work. If you have a top case in nice physical condition, you might want to consider it. Search YouTube for an overview. Doing this requires breaking a lot of epoxy bonds, and then re-applying a lot of epoxy. An A1278 MBP keyboard will fit, but you’ll have to get a little inventive when it comes to attaching it, and the power button cable routing is a little different.

My A1342 MacBook has a black MBP keyboard in it.

Changing the keyboard is a big deal because the keyboard is bonded to the top case - and the top case bracket acts as the chassis that holds everything together. But changing out the top case is more tedious than challenging.

No, it is not a reasonable possibility to install a retina display on a non-retina MacBook. The assemblies are very different.

My A1342 had a battery that swelled up and pushed the trackpad through the case, damaging the case en route.

I’ve successfully replaced the battery, but now the trackpad is flopping around due to the “notch” damage to the case. Does anyone have any tips for repairing such damage to the case? I otherwise love this oldie but goodie.