Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/04

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Leatherette replacement kit?
From: Claes Bjerner <claes.bjerner@pi.se>
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 98 09:56:59 -0000

About a year ago we discussed this topic on the LUGlist. Here are some of 
the messages:

>This became a do it yourself project......my mechanic wanted $85 to do the
>labor... I'm pretty handy, so I took on the job myself.  Note that I will
>have a good 5 hours ino this repair, so the $85 was a fair cost of his
>time.
>
>For all of you interested in the replacement of body skin ( Leather?
>Vulcanite? Whatever?)
>My experience from Leitz today:
>Body skin replacement IS available.  Labor adds about $80 to the skin cost.
>There is a die cut for M3 and another for M6... I do not know what other
>bodies.  Buy directly from Leitz.
>M3= $50 including back door skin..... Specific configurations of M3 have
>different hole patterns....
>M6= $40 including back door skin..... I wonder why it is less...???
>
>The old Vulcanite from my M3 crystalized and was crumbling from the body.
>My body is in the shop for an overhaul, so I am working on the body shell
>without any mechanicals.
>
>I removed the Vulcanite with care using a putty knife.  This took a good 2
>hours using a lot of care not to gouge the body or myself.
>I removed the old "glue" with acetone... in an open, outdoor area. Alcohol,
>water and paint remover had littel to no effect.  Acetone seems to be the
>best solvent that I have found.  The glue dissolves pretty readily, leaving
>a really smooth body.  The paint or whatever makes an M3 interior black
>does not dissolve in acetone.
>The new skin comes with a peel and stick backing......
>
>... more to come when I get the skin and try to align it to the body......
>

>PART I : MATERIALS and PREPARATION
>For all of you interested in the replacement of body skin ( Leather?
>Vulcanite? Whatever?)
>My experience from Leitz :
>Body skin replacement IS available.  Labor adds about $80 to the skin cost.
>There is a die cut for M3 and another for M6... I do not know what other
>bodies.  Buy directly from Leitz.
>M3= $50 including back door skin..... Specific configurations of M3 have
>different hole patterns....
>M6= $40 including back door skin..... I wonder why it is less...???
>
>The old Vulcanite from my M3 crystalized and was crumbling from the body.
>My body is in the shop for an overhaul, so I am working on the body shell
>without any mechanicals.
>
>I removed the Vulcanite with care using a putty knife.  This took a good 2
>hours using a lot of care not to gouge the body or myself.  Using dental
>tools ( Received from an understanding dentist) got into all the little
>corners.
>Most of the glue was removed by scraping the surface with the dental tools.
> The glue had crystalized, so the bonds to the metal were not that tight.
>Do not gouge the metal.... scrape with the side of the tool, not the point.
>Finally, I removed the last vestiges of the old "glue" with acetone... in
>an open, outdoor area. Alcohol,
>water and paint remover had little to no effect.  Acetone seems to be the
>best solvent that I have found.  The glue dissolves pretty readily, leaving
>a really smooth body.
>
>The paint or whatever makes an M3 interior black
>does not dissolve in acetone.
>
>Part II FINISHING the JOB
>
>The new skin comes with a peel and stick backing......The material had a
>very Japanese sounding name printed on the backing.  The skin was 1 piece.
>On my body, I have a surround on the lens release button.  The die cut skin
>had the wrong size cutout.  I had a punch the right size, so I cut a new
>hole on my own.
>
>I peeled the backing off half the new skin.  Working from the frame
>selector lever, I carefully aligned the hole pattern... remember the
>backing glue is very tenacious, allowing for no mistakes.  The skin went on
>with a perfect fit.
>
>I applied pressure to the entire skin by hand, then used a plastic chop
>stick  as a burnishing tool.  The smallest areas were burnished with a
>small sliver of hardwood.
>
>The back door required a paint job.... someone had removed all the black
>paint.  A trip to the local auto parts store got me a container of touch-up
>paint in gloss black.  4 coats of thinly applied paint finished this
>off...(remember that this is a user camera, so perfection of paint
>application was not required.  I just hated to see the chrome back.)
>
>I also got some flat black paint, and touched up the body shell and back in
>those areas where there was a bit of brightness.
>
>The back skin is not adhering at all,,,, the glue is a different material (
>the grain patern is not a perfect match for the front either....Leica needs
>to improve this.....Why not use the same skin material as the body skin
>with the tenacious glue backing?)   This is a small issue and will be taken
>care of shortly either with a new glue backing or a new back skin.
>
>The body looks and feels wonderful.  It may not be authentic or perfect,
>but it is MY Leica that I can use with pleasure..... and it looks 20 years
>newer than when I got it!
>
>Now off to the repair shop to get the guts put back in.........50 MM
>Summicron should arrive today.
>
>Cost of project:
>M3 Body :      $ 329   Bought with jammed shutter and 40% of the body skin
>missing from NYC Mail Order.
>Skin ..........         50
>Shutter repair    149
>Paint                    5
>------------------------------
>total-------->       $533.... fully reconditioned single stroke M3; S/N
>1,105,XXX, with new skin, shutter job, and new owner.....not bad!!!
>
>The new skin on my camera is wonderful!  The skin has a peel and stick back
>that is VERY aggressive.
>Looks 20 years newer.
>More details to follow.......
>
>Now to get the 50 Summicron to put on it.....

>
>Thank You
>Frank Filippone
>red735i@worldnet.att.net
>