A stitch in time saves nine.

When I saw that the plastic sheath was coming adrift from the metal end I tried all sorts of tape but they did not hold up for long. Then I made the mental leap from my computer repair kit to my automobile tool box. I remembered wonderful stuff called amalgamating tape. The joint is now better and stronger than it ever was. Under stretching an wrapping the rubber tape amalgamates into a solid. Fantastic stuff.

Yes, if you have come this far just pull the drive out because removing the bluetooth connector and the motherboard is troublesome.

If you just pull the drive out at this point the only difficulty is when you try to put it back in because gravity is working against you: the drive has to hang in its slots about 1 cm above the top casing, which is on your table. The trick is to flip the mini up onto its front edge and after a couple of tries the buttons on the HD will engage their sockets.

I think sandyfacebook is speaking about the mini server with the second drive this guide is about replacing the primary drive.

BTW, I agree with radioman: it MUCH safer if you do not need to remove the logic board to replace the HD. Just stop after step 12 and pull the drive out. The trouble starts when you try to put it back in because gravity is working against you: the drive has to hang in its slots about 1 cm above the top casing, which is on your table. The trick is to flip the mini up onto its front edge and after a couple of tries the buttons on the HD will engage their sockets.