Bringing back a Leica from the Dead (warning, long post, lotsa pics)

[ZorkiKat]

Latest Restoration Project:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18369.jpg
1. The Dead Leica As It Came. Nekkid, no covering whatsoever. The winding knob, counter disc, and shutter dial were removed in preparation for further dissection.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18383.jpg
2. It appeared to be suffering from a Very Serious Shutter Problem. :) The lower pulley of the Shutter Drum broke off the shaft. The Shutter was not its only problem. Its RF mirror was totally clear.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18399.jpg
3. Near-total assembly was required. So many parts...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18391.jpg
4. Shutter Repair. A (n old) shutter drum was taken from a scrapped IIIc. Good thing that it fit. The shutter curtain and ribbons are totally home-made DIY. That includes the new fabricated metal laths. Ends are sewn, not just glued. The same I use for FED and Zorki shutter replacements. I've not included the other repair pics to keep this post short. I plan to upload them in a blog somewhere, soon....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18426.jpg
5. The New Shutter in the camera. The slow-speed mechanism can be a PIA to reinstall properly.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18463.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18468.jpg
6. Making a template for the new covering using masking tape. The tape template is then stripped and used to make a pattern on leatherette. The leatherette used cost about US$1.25 (for a 1 metreX1,5 metre piece- enough to cover many, many, many cameras) from a local upholsterer's supply shop. Note the rusty scalpel blade....



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/SNB18477.jpg
7. Installing the new leatherette covering. Fine cutting required for proper fit.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/zorkikat/fed%20repair/_IGP7368r.jpg
8. Back from the Dead. With an American-made copy of the "Industar-22" (Wollensak Velostigmat Tessar type for Leica) :D A lot of effort went into replacing the RF mirror and recalibrating the RF. The shutter speeds were hard to calibrate as well, 1/1000 setting was difficult to set; the adjusting screw cam on that curved thingie near the shutter speed regulator disc was hard to turn. The flash sync is OK at 1/25, synchro dial at 0. But this Leica is supposed to synch at 1/50 (sd at 20) as well, but will not.

Pardon the long post!

[adji_jo]

hey i didn't read anything but that was an awesome job... well done

[robin a]

That Sir, is a job well done !! Robin

[MichaelHarris]

Was that one of those "minty" ones from EBay?

[varjag]

Cool job! Amazing amount of work you put into it.

[Nikon Bob]

All I can say is that I wish I had your skill and patience. It must have been a wonderfully rewarding job considering what you started with and the final outcome.

Bob

[John Lawrence]

Excellent work, and interesting from my point of view to see the internals of a Barnack for the first time.

[johne]

I agree with John Lawrence. Well done and thanks for giving me a look at the works of a Banark [I use a III F].
Johne

[martin_t]

Yes, really nice work. The curtains are especially impressive.

[Paul C. Perkins, MD]

Exquisite.

[Erik van Straten]

Well done!

Erik.

[cameraboomer]

Outstanding you are great restorer. Where did you get the training?

[ZorkiKat]

Thanks for the comments.

The project took about two days to complete. It cost me about $10 in materials....I'm too cheap to pay more than that to have this Leica fixed elsewhere. :D

It is fortunate that this Leica's exterior chrome finish and parts are still cosmetically good. That made the restoration process easier.

Learned the stuff through I. Maizenberg's Russian camera repair book and Rick Oleson's simplified instructions (great references, compared to somewhat hard to read factory manuals). Start with fixing about a dozen FED or Zorki to get the 'feel', and once you feel brave enough, start tinkering with a Leica...:D

[bennyng]

Really impressive! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

[gertf]

Great job, looks fantastic.

Zorki, what would you use to clean the chrome if it was stained/dirty?

[Mr_Flibble]

Great Job, Sir.

[dmr]

Long post but very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

How much did you pay for the dead Leica you started with?

[Kozhe]

Man you´re great! :)

[beezerc15]

nice to see the camera before and after you must have a lot of patience.well done. john

[Stanton]

I am really impressed!! Great job!! Dave

[Praxis Unitas]

Where'd you find that thing? The Titanic? Oh wait, the Leica III wasn't built in 1912...

maybe the Lusitania?

[chut]

nice to see the camera before and after you must have a lot of patience.well done. john

Zorkikat has the patience of a Tibetan monk. He makes his own developer (PaRodinal) and even makes his own SOAP! He'd probably make his own electricity using a treadmill if he could.

[feenej]

What did you use to make shutter curtains? The curtains in my FED 2 need replacing.

[newspaperguy]

Again... a superb job.

Thanks for sharing.

Rick

[ZorkiKat]

@freenej: The shutter curtains are 100% DIY: habotai silk (synthetic), and rubberised coating material.

@Πραξισ Unitas: Not sure where the poor thing had been, but it appears to have been through some form of wreck....:D

@ Chut- Am still trying to convince the cats to power the treadmill....

again thanks for the comments.

[Peter_Jones]

Excellent work, ZorkiKat :) That is truly a resurrected Leica with many decades use left in it now.