810 drive with "The Chip" installed has a custom case - anyone know why?

[Starman]

Hi all,

One of the three drives I have still doesn't work, and I'm a bit afraid to take it apart due to the delicate nature of how it was made. It's a modified 810 drive with "The Chip" in it, but the case is custom and made of wood, with a plastic cover on the front and back which is nailed in. My issue is that I feel that this wood is so old that if I unscrew the drive from it, that the screws won't hold as well as they originally did. I was told long ago that this custom case was necessary because you needed extra space for the Chip mod, but I thought you just replaced a chip...why this new case?

So my question is this - anyone know if you truly need this custom case? I'm ready to take it apart, properly clean it, and see if it'll fit in an 810 shell. If anyone has experience with these "Chip" mods for an 810, I'd like to know if this case was a sham.

 

Edited April 15, 2017 by Starman

[tschak909]

This is yet another variation on the B&C 810. This story has been told a gazillon times before.

 

-Thom

[_The Doctor__]

No the case wasn't necessary, Thom is correct in his statement though...

I had a friend who re cased his stuff because he liked wood better than the 'odd' looking 810 case. He did it because he could and he liked wood.

 

I liked the case when he was done.

 

Your case looks nice what little I can see of it. You can always find a nice set of screws the next size larger if the old ones strip.

Edited April 16, 2017 by _The Doctor__

[+DrVenkman]

Don't worry about screwing it back together if you take it apart. A little wood putty dabbed into the holes and allowed to dry and it'll be fine. It's not like they're carrying a heavy structural load or anything.

[Starman]

Ah, ok. I didn't know it had a type. This wasn't my original drive, it belonged to a friend who got it done. I thought it was done locally. There were a lot of Atari dealers in NJ at the time. Now that I know the name of it, I found a reference to it.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232206-strange-floppy-drive/

 

Thanks!