Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi, My wife own an M3, which works well, but the telemeter is quite hazy and dim. I would like to open it and see what I can clean and adjust by myself. I have the technical repair sheets of Mr Romney, and see well what I have to do to open it, but (because there is always a but in such matters) someone already tried to open it, as the screw in the bayonet has no more its protection, and, worse, the rewind knob screw (on this M3, this is not the usual two holes screw, but a more narrow usual screw) has been badly scratched by a screwdriver not adapted in the anticlockwise sense. What can I do? In other words, I can dismantle the advance lever by friction, the speed knob (easy), the two flash synch knobs and the viewfinder eyepiece (easy too), and the screw in the bayonet, but cannot dismantle the rewind knob, because of the badly worn screw in the middle of it. Is there someone who already encountered this problem, and how to solve it? (I have to block the rotation of the film canister holder in the body I suppose, while trying to unscrew this, but is it in the anticlockwise sense I have to turn (I promise, It's not me who damage the screw ;-) or is it like in some Asahi Pentax where some screws are in the non-usual turning sense (this would be nonesense as one has to turn the rewind knob clockwise in order to rewind film, so tightening the screw). I know that the M3 rangefinder is not the same as the latter ones. So, If you have some advices on cleaning it and adjusting it, I will be very pleased to hear it (pay attention to this, the vertical adjusting system is that one, turn this sense to lower, use preferentially this type of fluid to clean dust or do not use any fluid etc. I never worked on M, but I'm quite usual with rolleiflexes (early ones and 3.5F with the awful differential system, for the ones who know what I mean), so I'm quite confident with my repair skills and hability, but would like to have some advice for the inner of the M3, mostly the rangefinder parts. In the worst case, I would drill the screw and replace all the rewind mech by another one, but have no replace parts now, so this would be the last resort. Thank you in advance Gregoire Vandenschrick - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html