Peter

Hi! I did a repair this weekend which included the removal of the logicboard (I replaced the battery on the back)....

@dubcode If I remember correctly the tiny holes in the microphone was impossible to align with the equally tiny holes in the chassi of the iMac. So I ended up with drilling a larger hole in the iMacs chassi and then I got it to work again. My solution wasn't pretty, but I got it to work. You can probably check if the holes in your mic is blocked to by simply letting the hole thing hang outside and see if its working then. Or you might have a cool idea of aligning the holes better then me. Anyways, good luck!! I covered the hole with stuff I found at home, see pic :-).

Is it really necessary to remove the front panel at all, can't you just ask a friend to hold it in an upright position while you work on the battery?