new x301 restoration project

src/x301/paintjob.md

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+Title: Thinkapd x301 Restoration: Paintjob
+Author: Alessandro Mauri
+
+
+# Thinkpad x301 Restoation Project: Paintjob
+
+There are basically two options worth noting:
+
+1. Automotive spray paints
+2. Automotive vinyl wraps
+
+## Why Automotive products
+
+Automotive products have to endure use, flex weather and extreme temperature 
+conditions (think about parts close to the engine or winter cold), so they will
+endure much better the everyday life of a laptop. Also the risk of separation
+or flaking is lower and resistance to moisture is much better than with standard
+paints or vinyls that are not designed to endure such conditions.
+
+## Using paints
+
+The pros of the paint are:
+
+- Could lead to better results, closer to the original
+- Could be more durable
+- More options of color
+- More brand and quality options
+
+The cons of paint are:
+
+- Longer preparation
+- Harder to work with
+- Different materials need different paints and/or base coats (metal for the
+  lid and plasic for everything else)
+- Harder to apply right
+- Harder to fix mistakes
+- Higher price
+
+## Using vinyl wraps

src/x301/preamble.md

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+Title: Thinkapd x301 Restoration: Preamble
+Author: Alessandro Mauri
+
+# Thinkpad x301 Restoration Project: Preamble
+
+I had an unfortunate accident, well 3 to be precise, I bought 3 used Thinkpads 
+x301 in working condition. Someone might say "jeez good for you" because those
+things are beautiful, old, and somewhat rare.
+
+## PHOTO HERE all three af them 
+
+Well not so fast because, as I learned the hard way, the Lenovo Thinkpad x301
+has a particular quirk: It has what I think is the shittiest rubber coating
+among all Thinkpads.
+Three out of three of the laptops I bought had some issues with the coating,
+on the lid AND the palmrest which, in this particular model, is treated with the
+same coating as the lid. The problem is that this coating is now over 11-13
+years old (the x301 was in production from 2008 to 2010) and it shows.
+The problems I encountered are two:
+    
+1. Stickyness of the rubber
+2. Almost impossible to clean
+
+I tried several methods of cleaning and surface restoration, I will briefly list
+them now.
+    
+1. For the lid: Magic eraser and cream dubbin as suggested [here][lid1],
+    [here][lid2] and in many more places
+2. Soapy water
+3. Just water on a tissue
+4. Denaturated alchol
+
+All of the above either yielded no results or made things worse. The first
+method with the magic eraser and cream worked to some extent but the rubber 
+coating on the x301 is so _thin_ that I would have completely removed it before
+getting rid of the stickyness.
+The thinness of the coatings apparently was intentional as the main focus for
+the x300 and x301 was lightweight, so some corners were cut in terms of the
+number of coatings (I am **not** a reliable source).
+
+## PHOTO HERE zoom in on the lid
+
+As for the palm rest I think it is a lost cause, the coating is thin, old and 
+has been subject to years of palm grease and sweat. Before cleaning it looked
+grimy at best and after it got sticky like old rubber (it is).
+Furthermore in two of them it actually started peeling (_lie_ one I got in very
+bad condition and it was already somewhat peeled).
+
+## PHOTO HERE the palm rest
+
+## So what will you do?
+
+Easy, I will take them apart, one by one, mix and match parts to make two decent
+x301s and completely restore them!
+One is going staright to Ebay and the other stays with me.
+
+In the next entries of this blog series I will show in detail the whole process,
+from thought to result, I will use this blog as a notepad for ideas and for
+mocking myself over stupid mistakes along the line.
+
+[lid1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv9p32ImZxI
+[lid2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F50ya07onqo
+[sothin]: