Which shell are you using? Time Stamps: ► @ 00:00 - What you need ► @ 00:31 - Opening Gameboy ► @ 01:12 - Removing from Shell ► @ 02:01 - Removing Screen ► @ 03:00 - Hinges ► @ 05:12 - Inserting Screen ► @ 06:28 - Inserting Buttons & Rubbers ► @ 06:57 - Inserting Gameboy into Shell ► @ 07:40 - Closing Shell

I broke my childhood GBA last week and was devastated. I bought a new shell online and was able to replace it thanks to this video. Thank You!!

Sorry, but the hinges should not take that much force to remove and forcing them out is likely to break the later AGS-101 models since some of those colors are particularly brittle. You removed them while they were under tension which holds the screen closed and they were misaligned with the tabs inside the shell halves. You are supposed to remove them when the screen is open to the self-supporting detention position since they will not be under spring tension and the grooves on both halves of the hinge will be aligned with the tabs on both halve of the shell. This is a common mistake because most people don’t know how to access the left hinge while the screen is open. More on that in a bit. You can look inside your empty hinge areas to see an almost rectangular protrusion in the circular opening for the hinge. Both parts have one and they only align when the hinge is opened to the detent. Of course, you still have the clips to contend with even when the tabs and grooves are all in alignment but those are not what make it difficult. You can often free the clips and push a half millimeter or so before you open the screen to finish pushing the hinges out. To access the left hinge with the screen open you typically have to remove the right hinge first and then find something long enough to reach the left side through the right side. There are two easy ways I know of to deal with all this. In 2019 Makho designed and released a 3D printed tool that retracts the clips and pushes the hinge out even with the screen open. It’s very cool, but I never printed one purely because I always have a Bic pen handy (yes, I do have 3D printers). That’s right: you can also use a common type of Bic ink pen. In the mid 2000s I figured out that a Bic Round Stic ink pen has a part where the inner diameter is the perfect size to retract the clips and it is hollow so you can still reach through and push while the clips are retracted. For the Bic Round Stic Tric you want the cone-shaped piece that fits the outer tube and holds the functional part of the pen. Take the part that fits inside the large tube, open to the detent, and press it against the right hinge to retract the clip... then you can use anything that fits to push the hinge out. Next, close the screen and cut our pen part down to fit tightly between the left hinge and the nearby plastic rib. You want to wedge it in between so it will stay there with the clips retracted when you open the shell. Once the shell is open you can use something long to reach through the right hinge all the way across and through our home-made tool to push the hinges out. Last time I used a plastic watercolor brush but you could use a long screwdriver, a hex key, or maybe even the ink tube from our disassembled pen. Literally anything stiff enough that can reach.

I opened my Gameboy the other day and the hinge exploded lol. I guess with age and exposure it was ready to go. So i bought a new shell and with the help of your video, i was able to make my Gameboy brand new again! Appreciate the help!

i completely agree that this is the best shell switch video. camera with narrow angles and clear view and a very good explanation. im very glad you did this, as im about to build in my first shell to an sp and with this video i think it will be easy :) so thx you a lot! :) i gave you a thumps up ofc. keep it going. would love to see more nintendo gameboy repaire stuff from you.

I appreciate this video. So many others just show the person doing it but you narrate it clearly as you do it and specifically show great angles as you remove each individual screw. Very helpful for beginners like myself who have anxiety about messing up and not being able to put it back together so I thank you!

Your guide is easily the best one. Other guides seem to skip certain important parts and don’t specify which screws should go where…ended up making a hole in the button plate because of this from another guide, but yours was incredibly thorough. Thank you!

I did an ips mod and used your video as reference (except for the soldering part) because your quality and straightforward explanations are unmatched when it comes to other shell swap videos I’ve tried to use!

Thank you so much for making this video! I used this tutorial to move the guts of an AG-101 with a broken hinge to the shell of an AG-001, and this helped me SO much in getting that done. You’re awesome!

I picked up a worn Gameboy advance SP at a Carboot a couple of weeks ago. I used this video to reshell it. Many thanks for this guide! First time I’ve done one and this video explains how to do it so easy. Cheers buddy 👍🏻

I owe a huuuge thanks to this video! Even while muted, I could easily follow along with the instructions. I bought my first GBAsp a while ago, and the old used shell was QUITE busted & gunked, but it was a good price. Got a new shell and thanks to JJ repairs it was much easier to see what I should be doing to replace it!

Followed this all the way through and managed to complete the shell replacement with no hiccups! Thank you so so much for the thorough walkthrough.

Fantastic video!. Just re-shelled my original black sp with a new Rayquaza Green shell. Thanks to this video for making it turn out amazing!

DO NOT APPLY FORCE TO HINGES WHEN PUTTING THEM BACK IN. It took me ordering replacement hinges and covers to understand why they broke. Once the hinge is in place as far as it will go, the notches lined up with the groves, simply rotate the pieces open until the hinge slides into place. The other should go in at the same angle. There is no force, no clicking, no pop, but you'll know it worked because the pieces will open and close like they are supposed to, locking into position.

Fantastic explanation and demonstrate on how to change the shell case. Took me a little longer than 10 minutes as some of the parts were very fiddly but after all that came out with an amazing Gameboy Advance SP. Fabulous ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Awesome video! I just used this to replace my case. The hinges terrified me, and I thought I broke my new case, but it was ok. All in all, took me about 70 minutes, but I kept having to stop and find tools and stuff :P

i bought a shell and customized it for my bfs birthday and i know very little about computers and electronics in regards to their components and how they go together. with this video i was able to put it together in under an hour. thanks so much

Took me an hour and a half, but I did it thanks to you! Tip for putting in the hinges: Try using pliers, one of those wide ones. Made it super easy.

Very helpful guide! With enough practice doing shell replacements it may take under ten minutes... but depending on the quality of the replacement case (as well as buttons and screws and such) you might end up taking over an hour like I did. Those hinges were super hard to get off on mine! I appreciate how detailed you were and mentioning not to dos as well. My GBA looks brand new now! Thanks :)

Currently waiting for my shell to come. Love your videos

Thank you so much for the tutorial! I had some trouble because my battery door screw was stripped, but it worked out in the end!

the frozen food gloves are a nice touch lol badass video brotha!! You helped me drastically with my first SP shell transfer!!!

Thank you so much! I was absolutely lost on where to even start, but your explanations were incredibly helpful

Great vid, thank you for your help. My childhood gba now has a brand new purple shell to match my gameboy colour

Excellent video, to the point and comprehensive. Well done!

Hey good video just got mine put together did an atomic purple and it turned out amazing ! Very well done at steps and explanations.

Thank you sooooo much it was my first time doing this and your video was so easy to follow and really helped me thanks again 😀

Man this is great! Thank you so much! I just replaced the shell and the screen using this video

I like the clear view of the work at hand!

Just found this video today. Got 2 old SP that the case got all scratched up so ordered 2 shells from AliExpress that just came in. Going to try to do this following your steps. Thanks.

Cheers for the detailed guide mate

I've tried doing ds replacements before and failed miserably, so I came to this video with low hopes. I was surprised at how easy this was, and successfully replaced the shell

This worked for me! Thank you so much!

,We was trying to find a DYI shell replacement guide online ,,there are a few ,but they don't really explain well enough or even shpw close enough to see whats really needed to be done..yours is by far the best an I will be useing it if we can mannage to win a used SP on E-fail/um mean ...Ebay of coarse :P TY for the Upload~!!

Great video nice job. I dropped my sp not once, not twice, but trice before I could no longer glue the cracks back.

This was a great guide thank you so much

An easy way to take off the sticker is to use a heat gun or hair blow drier to the backside of the shell. You then carefully peel it off. The heat makes the adhesive loosen up and will still still stick to your new shell. Just to add, I use a toothbrush with glass cleaner on it to brush out the cartridge slot while you have it open. I use an air gun after cleaning to blow out the left over glass cleaner. Canned air works too if you don't have a compressor.

Great video!

Great video! Made a mistake myself though. Used screws that were too long when attaching the motherboard to the new shell. Drilled right through the new shell :')

9:50 heat gun to remove the oem sticker, but you need patience and finesse.

Thanks for this video it helped alot...if you are to ever update this video or make another I got a new technique that worked for inserting the hinges...instead of putting pressure on them like you did all I did was open up the case and push in the rest of the pin and it goes in smooth almost no effort so no breaking risk ✊🏼 not sure if I explained right but I'll try to explain better if needed

Excellent tutorial I've used multiple times

Use a heat gun or hair dryer, going back and forth on the label about 3 inches above it and slowly peel off the label at the same time. it should leave enough glue after getting it off to put it on the new new and then just heat it up a little more and smooth on the label to the back of the gba sp

just did a clear orange one. awesome tutorial

this would definitely be a project for a first timer. my shell is in bad shape but the gameboy works perfectly

Great video, I just followed step by step and got it done first time . I'd recommend using genuine Nintendo screws from your original shell . Thanks alot 😊

Thanks for this!

Best tutorial ever

You helped me thank you 🙏

alright this helps a lot, i am swapping the shell for my friends ags 101 because his is all scratched and he wants to sell it

Good video ❤️

Ima try this in two days when all the stuff I need arrives!!! 🤩 orange with purple buttons to have a halloween-eske look 🎃

Replacing my old gba sp I doug out of storage with a new shell and battery for my bday this month. Shame I'm not much of a soldier because my original Pokemon yellow, gold and emerald (oddly enough emerald doesn't have a battery so idk why it's not saving) all have flat batteries... Still this will be my first attempt re-shelling anything so wish me luck 🤞. I went for the Zelda gold Majora's mask shell. Thanks to this vid I'll be able to do it so thanks bud.

Thank you for this

I want to change my housing on mine but I’m so scared I’ll fuck it up but after watching you do this I think I can lol

Thx helps a lot

Thank You!!!

This video was super helpful, but here are 2 things that I experienced in my journey that may help others: 1: I could not shove the hinges in no matter how hard I tried. I realized that *the hinges were in the open position when I took them out* , and the whole time the shell was in the closed position. As soon as I put the shell in the open position, the hinges slid right in like a dream. 2. It wasn't covered, but the lens on my screen needed to be replaced, and all I did to remove the old one was blast it for 30 seconds with my hair dryer and that also came off like a dream. No razer blades requred and no fingies were harmed.👍

This is one of the best instructional videos I have ever seen. Great lighting, camera shots are clear, detailed and unobstructed. The narration is clear and easy to understand . . . even with the funny accent. Great job! I hope you do more nintendo videos. You might try using a heat gun or hair dryer to remove your original sticker.

I was so nervous that I just replaced the lower half which was the only broken part 😅 as long as it works I'm happy

Thank you

Ty so much.

GREAT ❤

Where did you get the shell? I'm having a hard time finding good quality ones. Handheld legends shells have a lot of bad reviews

Thank you!!!!!!!

Someone please help, when I put on the piece by the hinge that covers the ribbon cable, the cable isn’t inside of it and it’s exposed? Also how do I get the cable connected to the motherboard I just can’t do it

I did all this perfect i got one of those high quality rubber shells a black one but i broke my hinge covers so had to use white ones and it looks ok but my ocd makes me kinda hate it haha so I ordered some cheap plastic ones they are black so should look ok the other ones only broke because i didn’t have the right hinges and tried to make them fit.

Best video.

Getting the hinges back in is a lot easier than getting them out, you just need to put them in partially, open the screen to its normal position, and then push the hinges in the rest of the way.

Great video! Do you know the size of the Y screwdriver? I think it's 2.5mm but I want to be sure before buying. Thanks!

I just bought a cobalt version Original really used Nerve racking to think of doing a shell swap

My question is it easy to swap shell cover i never done it before i own a SP i love to change the shell to something different yes mine still works fine

Which size triwing screwdriver are you using at 59 seconds? I am having trouble getting that particular screw off.

Wondering if anyone can help. Will be attempting a shell swap soon and was wondering can you replace the tri wing screws with phillip screws? If you can, what size screws should I get?

Are all the screws the same size?

I am having trouble finding reputable hinges to use when I do this shell swap. I am also unsure which batteries work best as replacements. Can you recommend a website or brand?

The ribbon seems to be stuck, I am applying pressure pretty hard to get the tabs down and they just won't budge. Any ideas?

Justa wanted to share some knowledge about the hinges, I was having a hard time putting them back together, tried to do it just like the video and the hinges stayed only midway, couldnt get them all in, what i did is that i put the shell in open position give a little push and it was done, they fit into place with barely any force applied. So put the shell in close position, get them midway through, open and push and its done.

Where can you buy good/original shells tho?

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask if someone knows the best way to approach removing a rusted phillips screw. The battery cover one is rusted and i have no clue how i'd go about removing it.

Hello , i swapped the shell but now i have a white screen doing nothing, you know what to do about it please?

Where did you order your replacement shell from? What brand?

Hey dude, awesome video. I'm just wondering where did you buy your case from and how can I buy the same one?

Where can I order 2 of those cases? Thank you

This looks a lot easier then I thought it was thanks

Okay so where is the best place to get a new shell for my sp

I wanna sell my gba but the problem is that its shell got some scratches, is it better to change it before selling it or it will lose some of its value ?

Now my gameboy is broken. Thanks

when i wwas pushing the things out i did it with a screwwdriver and i pushed so hard it went into my hand

Looks amazing Where can i buy this shell?

Whats the blue plate you're using to place everything on?

Where did you buy this replacement shell from? Cause I bought a NES style shell as well, but mine came with a silver Nintendo logo and not a red one, just thought that was slightly odd. The holes for the speaker of mine are quite small as well.

Where did you get your screwdrivers from?

Is it the same process with a 101 instead of the 001? Thanks

Where did you get your shell from please?

Where do you get this plastic blue tool ? I don't find, I don't even know the name of it..

nice work 👍🏻 I always HATED that 'tribal' design 🤮

im unable to remove the y shaped screws from the back of my gameboy😢

Can old original shell can be used? Is there a video how to put it into an old original shell?

2:26 they were philips screws rather than tri-wing. Does this mean my GBA SP isn't authentic?