Worked on some mechanical/structural details of the IBM 1130 under restoration

MISSING REAR DOOR LATCH HANDLE

The rear door of the 1130 that pivots from the left rear corner and is the door most often opened other than the front door of the disk drive. It had a handle that was pushed down against spring tension to release the door, allowing it to swing up. The inner part of the latch including the springs are still mounted, but the outer handle that people grab is missing.

I sorted out a method to build a simple latch handle and mount it to return the door to full operation. The inner mechanism had two holes that the outer handle had been press fit into. I found that I could screw bolts into those holes to secure a new handle. I choose a 1" x 1" by 1 7/8" wide block of wood as the new handle, because I could easily countersink the holes for the bolts and cut this to size. 

Once I am certain that it works properly I will spray paint this a suitable color to match the 1130 doors, then put the rear door onto the computer. 

SECURING AND SERVICING MY IMPROVED INCANDESCENT LIGHT SYSTEM

The cumbersome and failure prone system that implements the roughly 150 lamps for the display panel is a thorn in the side of every 1130 owner. I designed and implemented an alternative that puts all the lamps on a single large PCB that fits right behind the honeycomb housing where the original individual lamp holders were plugged in. 

That PCB did not have a good firm attachment method - I pushed it into place but it would slide out during transportation so I knew that I had to solve that eventually. The prior restorer of this computer built one of my PCBs since the lights had fallen apart on their system also. 

I think I have a good mounting system for this and began to build the two side brackets that will clamp onto the honeycomb assembly and its mounts. I am using two U channel brackets, drilling and tapping for a thumbscrew to lock the clamp into position. As soon as I get this built and test its fit, I can complete brackets to hold the board onto the 1130 I am restoring. I would also build a set for my own 1130 and install them there, of course.