Fuji G645Zi - Getting Under Top Dial

[yessammassey]

This is my third 645Zi. The first two had severe issues (nonfunctional VF and damaged lens). Now I've got one that has no major problems, except for a very flaky top dial. Like a lot of later film cameras, the GA645Zi has an agnostic dial that wheels through aperture, shutter, ISO, or focus settings, depending on the mode. Mine has a problem. Each click of the dial has about a 1 in 5 chance of going to a random setting. For example, in 'A' mode, the aperture can jump from 8 to 22, or up to 4.5, in a single click. I've seen that this is not a completely unknown issue. Most of the time, one just needs to clean the contacts under the dial.

The problem is, I can't seem to find any instructions for removing the top plate or dial to get at what's underneath. There are some guides for how to do this with the fixed-lens GA645s, but I've searched for a long time and turned up nothing for the Zi version. It's a different body style, and the instructions I've found don't carry over.

So. Does anyone here know how to open up the top plate of a GA645Zi? I could really use some guidance here. I've rebuilt and re-soldered the ISO dial on a Nikon F3, and gone in and cleaned up under the top plates of Fuji GL690s... as long as I'm not doing anything near the lens, film back, or shutter/advance mechanisms, I think I can handle doing my own service for minor things like this. But I've removed all the visible screws I can find and there's still some kind of fastener holding the top plate in. I can wiggle it, but there's still pressure at one spot and it's stuck fast.

I don't need to do any more disassembly that what's necessary to get under the control dial. I've heard this is an easy job for a camera tech, but I have no options for the upcoming weekend except to give it a shot myself.

Please let me know if you can tell me about how to get the top plate off of this specific camera. Maybe there is a hidden screw?

Please, only reply if you have some knowledge or experience of this particular model. I've already looked at the older GA645 guides, and they don't apply to this camera.

 

[yessammassey]

Sorry to double post, but here's the answer in case anyone needs to get inside the top plate of a Fuji ga645zi in the future and happens to run across the topic. I figured this out myself, and not a moment too soon. I could have really damaged my camera if I'd tried to pry back any of the plastic to find the hidden screw.

Remove the black plastic cover around the viewfinder, self-timer, and flash button, then take out the silver screw.

Take out the silver screw next to the blank dial on the right side of the top plate.

Take out the two black screws on either side. They're on the grips. I think you need to remove these to loosen the front plates.

Unscrew the front plastic housing around the lens. The entire thing just unscrews. This was the point that was stumping me. Be careful when working near the lens.

With the lens housing out of the way, you can pull back the front plate that has the self timer light cutout. (Be careful, the light will fall out.) This reveals the last screw.

And that's it. Cleaned some gunk off my dial and it's working fine now.