How can I get a screw kit for my SL510?

Hey guys--your manual says that the hard drive is a customer replaceable unit. That makes sense. Your manual also cautions people repairing a machine not to re-use screws and says to use a new screw every time.
Obviously, to get at my hard drive to replace it, I'm going to have to remove the heat shield, which involves taking out screws. Equally obviously, I could just re-use them. However, if we're not supposed to re-use screws but the hard drive is a CRU.....
Do I, in practice, have no choice but to re-use the screws, or is there some way for me to buy a screw kit that I haven't figured out from this site?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

In practice you can reuse the screws several times without any problems. The reason Lenovo suggests you change the screws is because they have a locking compound on the tips that is designed to make them resistant to backing out from vibration. That compound wears off when you remove the screws, especially if you do it many times.
That compound may be important if you mount your ThinkPad on a motorcycle (as some people do) or use it in a similarly rugged environment. But for the vast majority of us if you tighten the screws firmly they'll stay put. Don't overtighten. That may damage the HDD or the ThinkPad's plastic case. IIRC Lenovo suggests turning about ¼ turn more once the screw is all the way in.
Cheers... Dorian Hausman
X1C2, TPT2, T430s, SL500, X61s, T60p, A21p, 770, 760ED... 5160, 5150... S360/30

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