A few months back, I picked up a "Vintage IBM Model F keyboard" for just $56 shipped. I think I got it so cheap because it had a small crack on the bottom right corner of the case. This is a very common crack on IBM 122 key Model F that can be glued back with little effort.
When the keyboard arrived, I was disappointed at how poorly the keyboard was packaged; a single layer of the thin bubble wrap was around the board in a USPS “game box” mailer. The keyboard slid freely left and right, up and down, and side to side; and it rattled. I should have complained, but the value of the parts for me was still > $56, so I didn’t bother.
Fohat.digs suggested that a case swap with a Model M might work; I thought so too, so I looked for a cheap “donor” keyboard and found one for $25 shipped. The packaging was very good with this one; a huge box with a lot of styrofoam peanuts. Below are some pictures. As I take more pictures, I will add them to this original post.
First, this is how they look before i clean them up.
Here is a close-up of the damage. The missing pieces have broken up into small pieces. It was bounced hard enough to bend the thick metal bottom plate.
The bottom and sides.
The insides - top needs a trim (use wire cutters) for many of the stand-offs here:
The insides - bottom need to remove raised area here:
And one last trim on the F base plate on both sides:
Test the fit and bolt back together.