Just polished my Droid... anyone else done this?

[SC300Drifter]

Ok nevermind, after watching a few more vids it looks like the whole back of the droid is damaged once you take it apart, the only piece that is removable and re-usable is the battery door. the top and bottom rubber coater feet/strips are plastic as well.

I dont want to break my phone to replace that back section although it would be sick to do a carbon fiber piece for it. That section is roughly .950" tall and 2.050" wide with the camera hole and flash slot cut cut into it as well, but like i said it looks like you have to be fully committed to breaking that piece in order to install any sort of replacement panel.

 

[idulfingz]

Ok nevermind, after watching a few more vids it looks like the whole back of the droid is damaged once you take it apart, the only piece that is removable and re-usable is the battery door. the top and bottom rubber coater feet/strips are plastic as well.

I dont want to break my phone to replace that back section although it would be sick to do a carbon fiber piece for it. That section is roughly .950" tall and 2.050" wide with the camera hole and flash slot cut cut into it as well, but like i said it looks like you have to be fully committed to breaking that piece in order to install any sort of replacement panel.

glad you posted something that was the next step, trying to figure out a way to get past it though

 

[idulfingz]

played around a bit and this is what i came up with as an alternative, [/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]




i think this one turned out better than the colors i was trying before

 

[butch350]

Ah...

Do you polish it often?

 

[SC300Drifter]

Idulfingz it looks awesome! So I assume for the back 3 pieces you jut painted them or are they actually metal?

 

[dezymond]

woah that is crazy.

i did like the polished screen bezel, but not feelin the whole phone. very original though

 

[JimmyD]

.....I did find some cool disassembly videos for the droid on youtube that helped me find out a little more. The piece above the battery door is plastic so it cannot be polished. I think it might be possible to replace it with a peice of aluminum as long as its cut to exact size so I will see about doing that.

Does anyone have any ideas on replacing the gold mesh/gold grill with a new custom vent/grill? That would be pretty neat... Im gonna dig around some more and see about replacing that plastic piece with aluminum or better yet carbon fiber :bling:

SC300Drifter....

You might already be aware of this website, but in case you're not, take a look at this, it will help you out!

>>>link>>> phoneWreck - Motorola Droid Teardown Images!

TONS more pics like this of detailed Droid parts can be found in the link above.

 

[fnckr]

While stripping the panel i did discover that the pressure i applied to the surface of the battery cover accidentally bent it slightly inwards in the middle, this is not noticeable to the eye but great news for me, the battery cover now locks in place perfectly and doesn't slide off super easy like with the stock phones. I dont know if this was an issue for anyone else but it was for me

That's awesome and completely cured my loose battery cover issue! I applied pressure with my thumbs to the middle, while holding the sides with my fingers. I have a 1mm or 2mm lengthwise depression. Perfect and not noticeable.

Oh, and on-topic, you can add a "machine-turned" look sort of like an old airplane's dashboard to your polished metal by using 3000 grit sandpaper or car detailers fine steel wool on the end of your finger. Just put it on a spot and do a 1/4 turn. Repeat in the spot next to that spot, etc.

 

[idulfingz]

Idulfingz it looks awesome! So I assume for the back 3 pieces you jut painted them or are they actually metal?

i rubbed the plastic pieces down a bit with sand paper, i found some stuff they use for fixing up antiques in a michaels. Its like a paste that you rub on with your fingers and once its dry you can rub it down and polish it out to shine however you would like it to look. the instructions were in french but i played with it on a fedex box first. so far i am happiest with the bent battery case, it really stays on there nowdancedroid

 

[Big Cam]

So I just got done sanding/stripping the paint off my Droid and then I polished it with some aluminum polish. I did it to the battery door cover and to the front frame around the screen. Im not sure if there is any more metal on the phone...

I don't mean this to sound insulting but now it looks like a cheap LG eny touch, with the silver all around the screen.

Props for doing it and you did it well, I just persoanlly think it makes it look cheap.

 

[idulfingz]

While stripping the panel i did discover that the pressure i applied to the surface of the battery cover accidentally bent it slightly inwards in the middle, this is not noticeable to the eye but great news for me, the battery cover now locks in place perfectly and doesn't slide off super easy like with the stock phones. I dont know if this was an issue for anyone else but it was for me

That's awesome and completely cured my loose battery cover issue! I applied pressure with my thumbs to the middle, while holding the sides with my fingers. I have a 1mm or 2mm lengthwise depression. Perfect and not noticeable.

Oh, and on-topic, you can add a "machine-turned" look sort of like an old airplane's dashboard to your polished metal by using 3000 grit sandpaper or car detailers fine steel wool on the end of your finger. Just put it on a spot and do a 1/4 turn. Repeat in the spot next to that spot, etc.

ye that battery cover really stays on there that way, i wanna try something new on the outer cover as well, there is gel that nailtechs use to shape a nail into various shapes with a grinder, and it seems to be pretty solid plus you can make it any color you want... we will see how it turns out

 

[soba1]

Sweet..........

 

[idulfingz]

If anyone tries this and wants to switch back to all black there is a way to do it where it will feel and look the same, just use a water based acrylic nail polish, i know it sounds strange but the texture is the same and i did some work on my old phone and it stayed for over a year and a half, its also a good way to patch dinks as long as you match the color correctly

 

[aut0tek]

I just did the battery cover. It does look good. I shaved the "M" logo off the back while I was at it. (it was just easier. lol.) But how did you get the trim around the screen off, did you take the whole phone apart? I'd love to do the trim around the screen, but I'd rather not go through the entire disassembly. lol.

 

[JCo352]

I just did the battery cover. It does look good. I shaved the "M" logo off the back while I was at it. (it was just easier. lol.) But how did you get the trim around the screen off, did you take the whole phone apart? I'd love to do the trim around the screen, but I'd rather not go through the entire disassembly. lol.

I'm pretty sure he just masked the screen and anything plastic.