So, as some of you know, I've been thinking about building a Pismo completely from scratch. I think it will be a cool project. Of course, I need a parts list and some general guide. Other than that, any suggestions and/or comments?

As a shamless Pismo lover (I use mine instead of my G4 1.2 GHZ iBook) I am very interested, what, exactly do you mean? Part by part, to build a stock/upgraded Pismo or using the Pismo case with more modern "guts"?

Do you have any parts yet?
I can give you a good list to start with at least, just from memory:

Top Case inc. Trackpad and Speakers;
Bottom Case;
Front Screen Bezel;
Rear Screen Bezel;
Logic Board;
Battery Charge Board;
AC/Sound Board;
CPU Module & Heatsink;
PCMCIA Card Cage;
Airport Card Cable;
LCD Panel (There are two different ones, they might use different displaycables);
Display Cable;
Inverter Board;
Inverter Cable;
Modem Board & RJ11 Cable;
Airport Antenna Cable;
Microphone & Cable;
Keyboard;
Optical Drive Module;
Hard Drive Cage & Cable;
Battery;
Hinges;
Clutch Cover with Power Button;
PRAM Battery;
Port Cover (usually with the bottom case);
Heat Shield;
Fan;
Rib Frame (often found with bottom case on eBay);

Obviously you will need a hard drive, RAM (PC100 or 133 SDRAM) and your choice of optical drive to fit in the module. And screws to hold it all together.
If I have missed out any parts, they will mostly be included with one of the other parts on my list.

Upgrade Options are as follows:
G4 CPU up to 550MHz or so;
G3 up to 1GHz or so;
RAM up to 1GB;
Hard Drive up to 128GB I suspect;
Will happily run a DVDRW;
PCMCIA Expansion;
Not sure if you can overclock the Rage128 GPU or not;
High-Capacity Battery;

Should get you started at any rate.

Probably would be too pricey at the moment, and the biggest one I found was only 1GB, but I have been wondering about using a PCMCIA flash card to boot OS X on an older PowerBook. I figure 8GB of flash would give you a nice big, fast scratch disk.

I mean part by part, sir. All the way!


Pretty daunting, but I think it will be fun. I'm going to be asking for everybody's help on here because, in all honesty, I've never touched a Pismo but I love them to death...

kinda like a crush.... err... maybe

waragainstsleep,

Thanks for the list. I'll make that my starting point. Right now I'm cruising on eBay and comparing part prices. I want this to be as cheap as possible.

Eventually, I want it completely upgraded. It would be cool if I could get the now defunct G3/1GHz, but they're super rare and super expensive. I would like that to be an eventual goal. If not, I'll get the G4

The Apple service manuals have the exploded view at the end which is a great visual reference.

http://www.applerepairmanuals.com/#portable

pismo is the best G3 portable in the history of the world. you can even get G4 1.9ghz upgrades for them now.

good luck and happy building!

1.9mhz for a Pismo? Havent heard of that. I know that there is such a cpu for Tibooks. I have had great success with a FastMac G4. Now if I could get around to getting another battery.

This is one crazy idea, but weirdly fascinating . Gonna look forward to following this project.

you're right. its for the tibook. wasn't thinking..

Actually I believe its for the Al. I'm pretty sure the Ti upgrade is 1.2 Ghz

Shadow, you interested in donations??? I might just be your best friend. I have a dead pismo that was abandoned by a customer. Its missing its dvd drive, has a bad logic board, and is missing the processor. However, it does have everything else. (no power supply, obviously.)

So, yeah. That would get you on your way to a completed pismo. You'd just have to scrounge up the necessary bits. PM me if you be interested in my "left-overs."

You, sir, are my idol!

I just noticed today a very nice touch on the Pismo design. The button that opens the laptop (Lid Latch?) is made of the same translucent, "Bronze" acrylic as the keyboard. That is so cool.

I always liked the lombards and pismos. Some of my first sold mods were L's and P's. As far as I know, those machines are still in use by those who bought them

Well, I plan to do some modding to it eventually. I really want to get my hands on the G3/1GHz that was only out for just a little while. Then I'll work on the cooling. Fun!

I would love to find that upgrade too. Or even the 900 and I believe there was an 800 as well. Now If only those gurus at powerlogix or Daystar could figure out how to swap out the GPU.....

Step One: Wife's approval: CHECK

And that's the hard part folks!

I know there was an 800 MHz G3 because my friend has a late-model white iBook G3 800. That might be your best value.

Yeah, but I don't believe Apple or any other company released an 800/G3 [for the] Pismo

True, but the processors aren't completely integral with the board, right? So, they can be removed and replaced carefully, assuming it fits all the other parts willl work with it. Considering all that, couldn't you use an 800 MHz G3 in a Pismo?

Eh, I somehow doubt it. They all are 750, but I doubt it's that easy. I will certainly take a look at it, that's for sure.

Really, if it could have been done it would have been done.

http://www.everymac.com/upgrade_cards/by_system/powerbook_g3.html

Powerlogix made the upgrades for the pismo in 800,900 and 1ghz

Good luck finding them though.

Yeah, they're almost impossible to find. Bummer, eh? I'd really like to get my hands on the 1GHz model!


Update: So aside from simply building a Pismo, I also want to make it "like-new" condition. This is going to take some work. Question: has anybody been able to remove the scuffs/grease and imperfections on a Pismo case?

Appreciate all the help everyone has given me. When it's all said and done I'll post a guide and some pictures.

One word: Brasso. OK, so it's not a word you'd find in the dictionary, but for the sake of argument, it's a word. I would suggest taking something of similar material and seeing if Brasso (or Silvo, for a more delicate touch) will work.

I may just try that. Thanks for the advice.

I have a bottle of auto polish that works great on smooth plastics. The surface of the Pismo has a texture to it so I'm not sure how well it will work. I intend to try anyway and will let you know how it goes.

Sounds great, I appreciate it.

Please show me where this is for the Ti Book lol.

I have to agree with the Pismo Look and Feel, Still is the best laptop apple Made Design wise. I to this day have found nothing that replaces it but I need atleast a radeon 9000 so Ti book it is lol.

I believe Daystar do Ti speed bumps.

But I thought those were only for the 400-500Mhz models maybe the 550-667 2nd Gen but a 1.9 Speed bump, hell I will check but damn that would be nice lol.

I just sold my Powerlogix 900 do not wast your time and money .they over heat ,lock up , and are not compatible with alot of new software and perform worse than my fastmac G4 550mhz that actually rarely reaches 41c in temp wich is less than the original G3 500 I replaced .I have completely Hotrodded my pismo you can see specs in another thread and you will be much happier with the fastmac as they do not overclock a G4 500 as the other manufacturers do and I sell upgrades from three of the mac upgrade companies and am telling you this without offering to sell you anything so you can trust me on this.but if you need any free technical advice write me at [url=mailto:veryfastmac@gmail.com]mailto:veryfastmac@gmail.com[/url]