Here's how I replaced the housing on my V188 with a new one purchased
on eBay.

The back (where the battery and SIM card are) is easy. Unscrew the
antenna and remove it. Remove the battery cover, battery and SIM card.

There are four Torx T-6 screws which hold on the back cover. Remove
them with the proper Torx screwdriver. The back cover is also held on
by two plastic snap tabs. One is right next to the SIM contacts and the
other is on the opposite side of the phone. Release them with a small
screwdriver blade as you gently pull the back cover away from the gray
body of the phone. Note: the label at the bottom of the phone that
surrounds the charger port and headset port is a sticker that tends to
hold the back cover to the phone body. Genly pull this sticker loose
after you have removed the screws and released the plastic tabs. Now
you can lift the back cover right off the phone.

The back cover contains the speaker from which the phone emits ring
tones and speakerphone audio. There are TWO parts you need to remove.
First, gently pull off the black rubber cover that is over the speaker.
There is nothing holding it in place except friction. Just gently
pull and it will come out.

Now that you have the rubber cover removed, you can use a small
screwdriver to pry around the edges of the speaker and lift it out of
the back cover. Exercise care not to bend or damage the two pins on
the speaker which make contact with the phone circuit board when
everything is assembled.

Install the speaker and rubber cover into the new back cover.

Reverse the steps to install the new back cover.

The front cover (flip) on the phone is a bit tougher. On the V188, the
faceplate of the flip is two pieces.... the silver trim piece which has
the window to the outside monochrome display, and the main part of the
flip, which has the Motorola "M" logo on it.

To remove the flip cover, you first have to unsnap and remove the
silver lens/display cover. This is held on by plastic snaps on both
sides -AND- some kind of adhesive which is the tough part. Unsnap both
sides using a small screwdriver or similar blade, then peel the trim
cover away from the adhesive. My new cover set came with a new lens
with adhesive which was covered by a protective peel-away sheet.

After you remove the trim piece, you will see two more Torx T-6 screws
which hold the main cover of the flip to the main body of the flip
(gray in color). Unscrew these, then un-snap the flip cover on both
sides. The tabs are roughly in-line with the display. (Look at your
new flip cover and you will see where the snap tabs are located.)

Reverse these steps to install the new flip cover and display cover.

I hope this helps someone. I couldn't find this information ANYWHERE
on the web.....

This post reflects my own experience with my phone. You're on your own
trying this yourself. I take no credit for your success, nor
blame/responsibility for your failure.



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