Hello all. I'm working on another in my long-running series of "Stuff a new Mac into old Apple hardware" see here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsj9Bx1GZ and http://flic.kr/s/aHsiW1z6qj

This time, my victim - er "donor" - is a non-working Apple IIc from 1983. Into its shell, I'm squeezing a G4 Mac Mini and its power supply. Work in progress shots here:
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxxUHek

At this point, I have the modern ports roughed into where they'll live on the original backplate. For now, I have some black matte board blocking the unused holes. I'm thinking of desoldering the original ports and propping them in the vacant holes for a more complete "original" look. But... I just can't bring myself to defile the logic board by ripping components off it.

What do the other modders think? Should I sacrifice the board (most likely non-functional at this point anyway) for aesthetics, or leave the board intact and suffer with empty ports on the back of the G4c?

[hmm. is there a way to add a poll to a post?]

If the board is already non-functional, then I say go for it!

You could mount new parts to some proto-board that are the same size/shape as the old ones. I've seen this on a few modern computer in old computer mods.

I agree if the board is dead, chop that puppy up.

If you want to add a poll, click the edit button on your first post. And the options will be towards the bottom of the page.

Have fun!

-Sparkfist