[ssnxp]

Hey stackers, I know I mentioned this one a while ago, but the bezels FINALLY arrived today. I am very disappointed in the USPS. Fed Ex from now on..

Anyways, I snapped a few photos as promised.

Reference Video

Disclaimer: By doing this, you will void your warranty. I am in no way responsible anything that happens to your phone.


1. First of all, make sure you have the right bezel. Seriously.


2. Turn off the phone and remove the battery/sim card/memory card. I was in a hurry and forgot about the memory and sim cards. Remove the bottom cover at the highlighted points. NOTE: It has some glue on it, so it may stick a little.


3. Remove all 6 screws. (The last two are under the bottom cover, I took some pictures out of order..) The midplate should almost pop right off once the 6 screws are removed. Set the midplate aside.


4. Pop off the top cover. Other than the screws that were holding it in, there should be nothing holding it in.


5 + 6. Notice the 4 clips holding the motherboard tray. Pull the clips back and remove the tray.. Gently.



7. This is what you should end up with. Set apart the motherboard tray for now.


8. The trackball should come right out. Wiggle the keyboard out.


That was the easy part.

9. Notice the contacts on the top of the bezel. YOU MUST move these over to the new bezel for the mute/lock buttons to work!


10. Higlighted are the back of the contacts. You'll notice that they go down a slit in the housing to the back. Do not rip the front and back apart.. they are one piece. Do one contact at a time to use the other as a reference.


11. The contacts are only stuck on with glue. Use a pair of tweezers (I used my little knife) to GENTLY and CAREFULLY lift and peel off the contact.


12.Should look like this when it's peeled all the way.


13. Do the same with the contact on the back.. be very gentle. I really need tweezers.. Slide the contact into place on the NEW bezel, using the one that's still attached as a reference. Make sure the glue sticks. Repeat for the other contact.


14. There should be a little seal on the back side of the bezel over the microphone. DO NOT RIP IT OFF! You need to use a sharp tool to get UNDER it and remove it with it's glue/sticky stuff. Be persistent.. it's a tricky little bastard. Once you get it off, replace it on the new bezel.


15. Yay! Another little seal in the front. Again, patience and gentleness are your friends. Remove it and replace it on the new bezel.


16. Lastly, there is a screen you must transfer. With all things delicate, be gentle once more. I used my knife.. again.


17. Should look something like this once it's completed.


18. Replace the keyboard and trackball.


19. Clip the motherboard tray back in. Replace the mideplate and start screwing the screws in at the bottom. THE BLACK SCREWS GO IN THE MIDDLE SLOTS! (Highlighted). Do not screw in the top 2 screws yet. Pop the bottom cover back on.

20. Replace the top cover, and hold it in place while you screw the top 2 screws back in. At this point, you should have all 6 screws in.


21. Replace the sim card, memory card, and battery. Wait for the 8900 to boot up and make sure your mute/lock keys work. Enjoy.

[ssnxp]

Reserved, just in case.

[EDAWGS1981]

I love the 8900

[ssnxp]

Me too. Pictures posted.

[sparkyj62]

Great job!! this looks like a lot more work then i think im going to want to do!! thats disappointing bc i really like the look of the black bezel however i dont know if i want to dive that deep into disassembly!! i wish i had a dummy phone or something to practice on!

[mccx33]

Sweet! Makes me want to do dangerous stuff to my Jav!

[BiggDaddyDutch]

oh man that's sweet, i want to paint mine Blue and White, GO LEAFS. Don't have the guts to do it though.

[ranxoren]

Great job and awesome thread. Its hard work to replace the contacts for the top buttons lol I think thats where my fear kicks in and i forget about switching bezels lol.

[drew4flt72]

Great job ssnxp, I knew you could do it. I've seen the video a couple of times but doesn't cover it like you've done

[ssnxp]

Oh man, these pictures make viewing the thread from WAP a pain!
Thanks guys. I hope it proves useful. The contacts aren't too difficult. The seals are more annoying, if anything.
~via smartphone mobile.pinstack.com~

[JeffNNJ]

Dude, no offense but I don't make my own coffee. You are way more daring then I will ever be.

[moderncowboy]

Lmao @ Jeff. Awesome post Tim, I am sure this will be very helpful...

[Lavagirl]

Dang! ~ you really have to get in there to switch bezel's but it sure does look cool

The contacts part scares me too. Thanks for the post. Very useful!

[malejko]

Great pics! Thanks! For now I think I'll stick with the stock bezel, but if I get bored of it, I'm glad I know how to change it now!

[ssnxp]

I'm glad you guys like the pictures, I promise it isn't as hard as it looks! To prove it.. I'm going to do this again once my extra black bezel is painted!