Some years back, I had a RAMLink, an early form of RAM-based solid state drive for the Commodore 64/128, made by CMD.  This was in the late 90's to early 2000's.  As time went on, my particular unit began to fail.  I replaced it of course, and ended up using the old one for parts either to repair another one, or just to harvest for some project.

I eventually sold the newer one when money got tight, and I originally thought that the old one had simply been lost to time.  However, recently I've found a renewed interest in retro-computing, and by some miracle I managed to find all three of its major components while I was digging through my “junk boxes” looking for something unrelated.  The mainboard and LED board were in rough shape, but they were repairable, and all of the hard-to-replace parts are actually still present.  I did most of those repairs, and then sent it off to Wes Wiese to finish the work and inspect and test it.

Because of how I had used this one in the past, though, the original steel case has been lost – it's long gone, gathering rust in a landfill somewhere now, leaving me with a few buck-naked circuit boards. 🙂

So to restore the unit's modesty, 🤣 I've set about making a new enclosure.

This is for the “version 2” model of RAMLink, though it should be easily adaptable to fit the version 1 (1581-style power supply in the older one, versus 9v “wall wart” with barrel plug).

The bottom half of the case has four square holes for the riser feet.  These are designed with two options:  One version meant to be printed in the same plastic as the case, and is a flat disc a few millimeters tall, onto which you can stick those round, self-adhesive, 5 mm-thick “slider feet” that are sold in many stores.  The other version, meant to be printed in TPU, is a simple full-height foot that replaces both.  Either version fits and is to be glued into the aforementioned square holes.

The top half of the case has a “tongue” which you're supposed to glue-in (in the original metal case, this part was formed during bending).  It also has large holes for the LED board's three buttons, and I've fashioned printable “caps" for those.  This way, the buttons are still usable and look okay without the sticker that normally covers them.

The mainboard was originally meant to be screwed to a metal case, of course, and one of the things CMD did there with the version 2 was to put one of the mount screws through the 7805 regulator's metal tab, thus allowing the case and mainboard together to serve as a heat sink.  Since this case is plastic, you will almost certainly need a separate heat sink if you choose to keep the original regulator -- perhaps affix one of those 14x14x7 mm stick-on heat sinks commonly marketed for VGA chips (for some reason??) to the top of it.  The best solution, however, would be to use a modern high efficiency 5 volt switching regulator instead, which I had Wes install into mine.  Whatever you go with, you may want to add a piece of electrical tape to the underside of the RAM card to guard against shorts.

There is a space on the back side of the case for a 25x10 mm fan.

I had to take a few liberties here and there owing to the fact that plastic ain't metal, but between the general size and shape of the PCBs, and having to properly size-up and position the top half's holes, and having to make sure it'll actually FIT into a C64/128, this model is probably within a few millimeters in each dimension of the original metal case (and if I'm right, this case is actually a tad smaller than the original).  

Note that due to the close fit of everything, putting the top on is a little fiddly, you kinda have to “finagle” it a bit to get it on right.  Basically, get the back edges together, slipping the end of the LED/switch board under the fan's upper screws, then lever the whole thing down to close the front – pay attention to that area - the front face of the case must go between the PCB's and those “wings” on either side of the front PCB guard.  Then kinda squish and twist the case a little until the rear catches engage, and then you can install the screws.

The top isn't squashing/compressing anything, it's just that some bits get in the way of other bits until you've got the whole thing nearly all the way together.  But, this is plastic, so we can exploit the fact that it's a bit flexible. 🙂

You'll need a handful of M3 x 6 to 8 mm screws and some nuts, in addition to whatever you choose for the heat sink.  I recommend using your soldering iron or another hot object to press the nuts into their recesses in the bottom half of the case – there isn't that much material present there, and forcing them in might break the mounts.

Depending on the details of the fan you use, the mount holes may be big enough to require M3 x 14 to 16 mm screws and nuts.  Or, the mount holes may be a tad on the small side, instead requiring 6 to 8 mm long machine screws or common, similarly-sized plastic “tapping” screws sized to bite into the fan's plastic (like how larger PC case fans are usually mounted).

A pair of brackets are provided which can be used to securely fasten this case to a SuperCPU (particularly if it's housed in my printed case also), since this combo may have a wobbly or potentially loose connection between them.  These brackets may also work for the original metal case, but I have not tested that.

A snap-in cover for the cartridge port holes is also provided, to protect against debris falling into the RAMLink and to reduce dust getting in.

All parts are printable without supports except for the SuperCPU brackets, using 0.1 to 0.2 mm layer height and 0.4 to 0.5 mm line width.

I have provided a high resolution recreation of the original top sticker for you to print.    It was designed for makestickers.com, so if you would like to have them make one for you, try this link:

https://www.makestickers.com/design/25051413B85C-rc2drme2dd562vbadw1mn80k 

Credits: 

The partial C128 in the project file and screenshot was used only for fitting purposes, and is derived from a Sketchup model I found online, drawn by CommodoreCheetah.

Source: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/2b0c4550dc84f21e61cd99b090850a8/Commodore-128 

The case top sticker I started from was an original, unused retail decal scanned by Mike Naberezny.

Source:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/mnaberez/albums/72157719616959730/ 

Otherwise, this project is entirely my own work.

Changelog:

2025-05-24: updated the sticker image.  The only change is that the LED circles are now opaque in the image, but when printed with makestickers.com's process, you can have them omit the white backing layer in those areas, so they'll come out translucent.

2025-05-20/2: Added a couple of brackets to securely fasten the RAMLink to my printed SuperCPU case, and added a snap-in cover plate for the two cartridge ports.

2025-05-20: Raised the button caps' height by 0.2 mm and tapered the top few tenths to minimize the contact patch between them and the sticker that would cover them.   Also corrected the lighting on the RAMLink's sticker in the model (no change to the image file).

2024-08-05:  made some minor updates to the case design, in that the front is thinner and there's less “excess” plastic on the tongue, should make the unit able to reach into the Expansion Port a little further, by another 2 or 3 mm.  Also added vents to the bottom and got rid of that hole for the M4 screw, as I use a stick-on heat sink now, and extended the back of the case top by a couple of millimeters, as the original case overhung the back a bit, so this looks closer.

2024-05-10/2: oops, forgot to move one of the case bottom's alignment bits.  Fixed.  I guess now you DO have to re-print that part… oh well.  (I cheated and simply cut off the offending bit from my last print, and made a new one to glue on in the proper position to replace it 😛 ).

2024-05-10: corrected the top side sticker geometry once and for all 😛, and moved the sticker to its own object separate distinct from the case top.  This revealed a pretty big alignment error with the LED board, which I've corrected.  It's only a couple of millimeters, and all it really affects is how the sticker's cartridge slot holes align with the case's holes (the LED board “drags” the sticker too far to the right).  You could just trim the left edges of the cartridge slot holes in the sticker if you don't want to re-print.  Also corrected a minor positioning error in the case bottom's hole for the parallel port (and adjusted the corresponding part on the mainboard model).  They were only off by a millimeter or so, but I left a lot of clearance for the cable connector, so a re-print is not necessary, unless you're picky 😛.

2024-05-08: thickened the case up a bit on all of the larger surfaces.  Improved the printability and fit of the button caps, and the printability of the fan inlet.  Added alignment stubs/bits to the case bottom/back to keep the back straight when the top is on.  Fixed minor alignment errors in the fan inlet geometry, and on the LED board's mount posts.  Trimmed the mount posts' diameters a bit, and put the third one in like it should have had (there was just an alignment stud before).