My Problem
We received an iPad from a family member that had a shattered left hand corner on the iPad (16GB/wifi). It was also deformed on that corner at a 15° angle, when viewed from the front. This obviously meant that repairing the aluminum casing was required to be able to place a new, flat glass screen replacement into the iPad. The damaged was relegated to a complete loss by the Apple Store techs, hence why our family member ended up dropping $$$ on a new iPad, and giving me the damaged one for free :D.
My Fix
I simply followed the teardown guide provided here on iFixit. Specifically this was the iPad 4 Wi-Fi Front Panel replacement guide.
I began by taping the shattered area of the screen first. Then I proceeded to heat the edges of the iPad with the iOpener heat pad in order to remove the adhesive. I took my time here to ensure I wasn't severing any critical cables and didn't have to fight with the adhesive.
Once the adhesive is out of the way it was smooth sailing. Once the glass and LCD were completely removed from the device, I proceeded to repairing the left hand corner that was badly deformed.
I started by flattening back out the corner of the iPad. I simply placed the iPad in a vice and proceeded to bend it back into shape until the panel was once again flattened. Then I had to do some work on rounding the tip of the iPad so that the glass would sit in the frame once again. For this I used a small tack hammer, a round bit chisel (to reform the recessed bezel) and a pair of needle nose pliers. The aluminum is very soft and quite easy to work. Once I had it in roughly the correct shape I proceeded to a dremel, sanding down any exterior imperfections.
Once the frame was repaired, I reassembled the iPad with the new screen, and it's in great shape now!
The kit provided by iFixit had all the tools I needed to get the screen replacement done, I was very pleased with that.
My Advice
Be patient when using the iOpener. I wasn't in a huge hurry to get my device opened up, instead I wanted to ensure I didn't tear any of the delicate ribbon cables positioned precariously around the iPad frame. Let the iOpener sit for at least a minute on each edge you work to ensure it really melts the adhesive.
I highly advise anyone who is a first timer read where the positions of the digitizer / wifi cables are at...not once, not twice, but three times! I even marked these areas with little tape markers as an extra precaution when using the picks to cut the adhesive.
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