    
Markus
Tinkerer
Username: Markus
Post Number: 48
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - 05:07 pm: | 
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Oh boy... I just overhauled a Flexaret IVa and that focus mechanism was a royal pain. I guess the III is similar. It went something like this (from memory):
1) take the taking lens and shutter out by unscrewing it from the back.
2) once the shutter is out, you'll see how the lens board is attached to the body. I had to remove some screws to get get the front that the viewing lens is attached to off.
3) Now you can see the brass helicoil. In my case, that was completely stiff. I removed it, baked it in the oven at the lowest temperature for 15 minutes which softened the grease and I got the two brass pieces apart. Once the two pieces cooled down I soaked them in naphta to clean them.
4) Now I lubricated the helicoil and put the camera back together.
It is pretty tricky to get all the pieces back together in such a way that the camera will focus correctly. I had to use trial and error and eventually got it right. Unless the focus is completely seized up, I would not take the helicoil out. I believe that you can lubricate the helicoil after just taking the lens, shutter, and the lens board off.
I love that little Flexaret, it was well worth the effort.
- Markus |
