D.I.Y - Changing the housing & front body of Nokia E71

[istafa111]

Due to a couple of free falls, my E71 got damaged and some scratches. I didn't change the cover because I was planning to change the cell as it had served me enough. But now I've a bigger thing parked in my garage waiting for me and some goodies, I'd be spending on her.

Today, I went to Sham Shui Po and bought a casing for my mobile. That guy just had white and black. Well, I prefer my car to be white, and phone to be black.

Btw, I also saw some stuff for cars. I am thinking to make another thread after proper surveys regarding the stuff that we can get from here.

Anyways, lets start with my "DIY".

Disclaimer: This thread has been made to assist you in changing the casing of E71 only. If you damage your mobile while doing so, I would not be responsible.

My mobile got some bruises after going through some successful free falls. This is how it was before the "D.I.Y"

The bottom most part is the only place where it had scratches. Rest of the phone was in pretty good shape.

[istafa111]

For this DIY, I used this set of screw drivers as I didn't have the one according to the shape of Nokia's screws. But these also worked perfectly.

I used a magnet to hold the screws. This is a must have if you have to open tiny screws. If you don't have a magnet, you can have any box or memory card cover where you can keep the screws.

[istafa111]

These were the new clothes that I bought for my very friendly and faithful Nokia.

Other than the front cover and housing, it also had some buttons and clips with it. You'll know why...

[istafa111]

First I just had to change the front cover, to be specific, the bottom part only. But this set had a black back housing as well. Originally my phone had a grey one and a greyiish silver rather chrome battery cover, so I thought to change it completely for a totally new look and I didn't want to make it "daal chawal" with unmatched front and back. The only issue with it was the extra amount of work.

Grey Housing:

Chrome battery cover compared to the black one.

[istafa111]

First of all, I opened the battery cover and removed the battery and SIM card.

There were four screws on the back side which I had to unscrew.

They were covered in dust so I thought to clean the surface first with an old, unused tooth brush.

Much better now.

[istafa111]

I used the "-" 1.2mm screw driver to unscrew these ones. You can see that although the screw driver is not of the required shape, but it had fitted perfectly. There were no slips what so ever and they got unscrewed like butter.

Magnet took care of the screws.

[istafa111]

There were two clamps that were visible and and four inside the holes which I had to press in order to remove the front cover.

The visible larger clamp: (one on each side)

The smaller clamps inside the holes. (two on each side)

I pressed them with the screw driver to loosen up their grip.

The front cover got de-attached from the base.

I gently removed it completely

Then I removed the lower part of the front casing.

The keypad's base was kinda dirty, so I cleaned it with a soft piece of cloth and cleaned the edges with the tooth brush.

[istafa111]

Now the front cover has been removed. If there is no need of changing the housing, you may simply attach the new casing and you are done. But I had to go further.

After removing the memory card, I noticed that the size of inner screws is larger than the ones I have unscrewed from the back. For these screws, I used "-" 1.6mm screw driver and once again, it was a perfect fit.

There were only two screws on the inside.

You can see the difference between them.

[istafa111]

Removing the mobile board from the housing was tricky. The trick is, pulling the housing using the thumbs and pushing the board outward using the fingers.

Patience is the key here. This may be annoying but haste would definitely make waste here.

There were many small bits and pieces inside the housing which were not soldered to the main board and had joints for some specific points on the board.

[VCheng]

EXCELLENTLY documented DIY.

[istafa111]

Then I removed these tiny bits.

The socket for earphone's pin:

The vibrator motor:

The socket for charging pin:

The speaker:

Camera's flashing LED

The holding clamps:

Battery cover's lock:

Power button:

Finally, the mobile was completely disassembled.

[jazzy77]

You have a big heart to open up it all !

[istafa111]

Now, I had the new housing and all the puzzle pieces in front of me. Again, patience is the key. One should not go hard on these tiny things, or you'll regret. I got stuck with the holding clamps but patience kept me away from any damage.

I first started with the battery cover locks.

It took me around 20 minutes to get these two locks fixed.

I kept the original Volume Level Buttons because they were much softer than the newer ones.

After some reasonable effort, the puzzle was solved and the housing was ready to receive the main board. Like the Rolls Royce people call it "Marriage".

Putting the main board back in is the toughest part. It is basically hit and trial. I first tried by inserting the right side first, but then the left one didn't fit perfectly. Then I tried the left side in first. Then the top side in first. After some trials, it was a hit and the board sat perfectly.

Again, just be gentle, or you may crack the LCD.

[istafa111]

Now before assembling the phone completely, I wanted to check whether the joints were in proper contact with the points on the board. So I inserted the SIM card and the Battery to test the equipment.

Allah ka naam lay k, I switched it on.

Nokia!

Connecting People!! Asslam-o-Alikum!!

I checked the speaker, the volume level buttons, the vibrator, microphone, crappy camera, flash, etc.

And everything was working Alhamdolillah.

[istafa111]

I cleaned the LCD with a soft piece of cloth and a tissue paper. p.s. If you are going to use "Rose Petal", use the softer one.

First I attached the lowest part.

Then I attached the qwerty key pad to the casing.

Very carefully, I attached the front cover on the housing.

It was a bit loose. Obviously, the screws weren't there yet.

I "screwed" it.

Attached the battery cover.

Removed the protection coatings.

Inserted the Memory Card.

Last but not the least, I attached the USB and Memory Card slot cover.

Tadaa!!

[CutePoison]

Awesome

[istafa111]

Now it is looking much much better and most importantly, clean.

Old casing's Mummy!

Everything is working fine Alhamdolillah.

I hope this DIY would help other E71 users if they plan to change the cover of their mobile. It didn't take me long to change it. Actually, it took longer to take the pictures and making this thread.

Anyways, it was worth it.

I have no more pictures to upload. This thread is open to comments, critics and suggestions.

[istafa111]

EXCELLENTLY documented DIY.

Thank you very much Sir!

You have a big heart to open up it all !

Hahaha... Bachpan ki aadat hai. I used to take my toys to the toilet to open them up, out of curiosity, on the sink. Toilet was the best place to do it secretly without letting my father know. But there was a drawback; sometimes, the screws used to fell in the sink.

Awesome

Thanks...

[margallar]

really well done but i suggest that you use isoporyl alcohol or alcohol prep pads for cleaning the circuitry

[mirza_yasir]

how much this casing cost you, it looks like a genuine one.