Would it be a worthwhile upgrade to make a Mac SE into an SE/30 by replacing the motherboard? I know it's possible, but would it be worth the time and money, and the risk of breaking the picture tube?
And what other hacks can I do with this sort of thing??
No, it's not really worth the time and effort. What would be worthwile is putting an accelerator, slot loading CD drive, or greyscale monitor in it.
Hey,
It's a piece of cake. No threat to the picture tube whatsoever. You pop the case, unplug the cables (SCSI, floppy and sound), slide out the SE mobo, slide in the SE/30 mobo, reconnect the cables and screw the thing together. Done. Simple. And way better than an accelerator. If you want to accelerate, accelerate the SE/30.
sure its worth it, I did it. All ya really need to do is swap the motherboard (and preferrably the floppy if you want the 1.4Mb superdrive capability). All the internal plugs are the same, and you shouldn't need to get too close to the picture tube during any part of the swap. the nastiest one is the power/video cable cuz the clip which holds it in is in the rear of the connector. Good luck!
-Ralph