The next step was to carefully strip off the front leatherette covers. They came off surprisingly easy, which then allowed me to remove the right side front plate with the shutter release, and the lens mount plate. It never ceases to amaze me to see how very small screws are used in these old cameras to hold everyting together. To think that those heavy lenses cling on to the body with just four ~1.5mm screws…
After removing the baffle inside the mirror housing the real culprit for the sticking mirror could be seen: the system of levers and springs underneath the mirror was bone-dry; it just screamed for some oil! And that’s where I made a little mistake…
But let’s tell first the good news: after oiling the levers the camera now works almost with 99% reliability, on all shutter speeds; I don’t doubt that with more flexing and usage it could ultimately work like new.
It is difficult, or next to impossible, to measure accurately the amount of oil when using a spraycan, and as a consequency I – literally – messed up a little with oiling: the surplus oil found it’s way to the mirror and viewscreen, and worse, to the shutter fabric. Now I need to clean up those parts, too… Next time when trying to overhaul a camera I need to devise some kind of syringe or similar, for accurate dosage of oil.
So, a final cleaning remains, and then I could start reassembling everything back together.
To be continued…
