Swap GS3 Housing

[The Letter Mu]

Hey all, I've got a GS3 (SPH-L710) and it's got just a few scratches and cosmetic damage to it. The major problem is the power button. It wasn't as bad about a month ago when my phone wouldn't start. Back then it turned out the button was stuck and it just kept starting and shutting off. I slightly tapped (and by slightly I mean I gave it a good hit) the button against the edge of a table just once and voila, the phone worked. Button no longer stuck

Now, I guess over a month that button slowly loosened, and now it keeps shutting down and resetting at the slightest movement. I know for a fact I'm not going to let Sprint charge me $200 to get me a refurb. Let's say I got my hands on a GS3 of the same model with a bad ESN. How difficult would changing out the entire housing be? I've swapped boards for iPods and replaced screens, but I need a cheap way to give myself a newer looking housing with a button that actually works. Is a swap feasible? I could get the bad ESN GS3 for less than $50 on an auction no problem. All I would have to do is change out the main board, because IIRC wasn't the internal storage (not the SD) soldered to the mainboard?

 

[Guest]

You may want to take a look at the GS3 repair guides on iFixit.

http/www.ifixit.com/Device/Samsung_Galaxy_S_III

There are more complicated repairs out there, so if you feel up to it, you may as well have a crack at it.

 

[The Letter Mu]

Thanks, I've been using ifixit for iPods and iPhones recently and it's worked out for me so far. I actually purchased a replacement housing. It was a full replacement of the chassis with a new screen/digitizer as well. I'll get back to this topic once I've done it!