Hello people,
so I was browsing local websites to see what's going on there in terms of gear and saw a black SRT for 15 euros and bought it. Camera came in the mail today and oh boy it was beat pretty good and very dirty.
I popped in a battery the light meter still worked, the shutter speeds were accurate I think, sounded good to me. The focusing screen was quiet dirty so I opened the top cleaned it, then I really saw how dirty the camera really was. I have also seen some rust creeping up on certain parts parts.
It basically needed a full CLA remove every part clean it and put it back together. It wasn't possible to use a blower to remove the dirt, it was gunked up dust. It was 15 euros so I knew form the pictures it would be bad. It would cost more to save it then getting a new one. I still had a silver srt 101 which is in really good condition mechanically. I thought why not make a Frankenstein camera and swap out the silver parts for the black ones. Pulley story comes later below.
So I started by taking the top part off to clean the prism and check the overall condition of the black SRT.
The dust was totally gunked like glue and some small rust spots. The shutter speed dial was the craziest it moved like a cinema lens there were nearly no clicks between speeds and no there was no pulley loose, everything was correctly attached.
I removed the parts and cleaned it with a toothbrush it took me a while to get all the dirt off. I took all the parts of the silver SRT 101 and started to attach the black parts.
The next few images are demonstration purposes how I encountered the problem this is the black srt but now with silver parts.
NOW THE REAL PROBLEM I ENCOUNTERED
After I attached everything the ring who displays the aperture in the viewfinder didn't slide back anymore it seemed like something is jammed. Which was totally weird because I knew 100% I didn't make a mistake the pulley didn't come off I triple checked before attaching the housing. I reopened the camera and nothing, reattached it. I then proceeded to put 2 drops of sewing machine oil on the ring 1 which was a mistake. I thought that part might have to be lubed, but nothing the the ring didn't flip back into position. SO I opened everything again cleaned the ring 1 and attached everything again still, didn't work.
I proceeded to push down the top a bit more because I thought maybe the ring no 1 and no 3 are not flat and there is an angle which causes friction. After putting pressure on the top cover it worked but after I lift off the pressure didn't work again. I then pushed against the part no 2 from the right side, and again the pulley worked flawlessly. So I thought something might have been bend and the the top cover and the part no 2 could have some differences.
The screw with the red Minolta dot didn't matter how lose or hard I screwed it on or position of part no 2.
I proceeded then to take another screw and replace the Minolta red dort screw with a different one. I pushed the part no 2 to left a bit and used the new screw and the problem was solved. It took me quiet a while to understand where the parts didn't align. The standard Minolta screw for the top didn't do the job and really all parts have to align perfectly otherwise there will be friction on the ring no 1. So you if you encounter this problem make sure you put slight pressure either on part 2 to the left or right when testing if the ring snaps back or apply some pressure at the top cover above the Minolta logo. That did the trick for me and the new screw helped a lot with the old original one it didn't work.
The black srt 101 frankenstein camera is complete and the conversion was a success the good silver SRT body has now a new shell. Some of you might not approve of switching parts but aye...
Kind of happy I found the problem and wanted to share, if this post makes even any sense its 4 a.m.
Bonus
so I was browsing local websites to see what's going on there in terms of gear and saw a black SRT for 15 euros and bought it. Camera came in the mail today and oh boy it was beat pretty good and very dirty.
I popped in a battery the light meter still worked, the shutter speeds were accurate I think, sounded good to me. The focusing screen was quiet dirty so I opened the top cleaned it, then I really saw how dirty the camera really was. I have also seen some rust creeping up on certain parts parts.
It basically needed a full CLA remove every part clean it and put it back together. It wasn't possible to use a blower to remove the dirt, it was gunked up dust. It was 15 euros so I knew form the pictures it would be bad. It would cost more to save it then getting a new one. I still had a silver srt 101 which is in really good condition mechanically. I thought why not make a Frankenstein camera and swap out the silver parts for the black ones. Pulley story comes later below.
So I started by taking the top part off to clean the prism and check the overall condition of the black SRT.
The dust was totally gunked like glue and some small rust spots. The shutter speed dial was the craziest it moved like a cinema lens there were nearly no clicks between speeds and no there was no pulley loose, everything was correctly attached.
I removed the parts and cleaned it with a toothbrush it took me a while to get all the dirt off. I took all the parts of the silver SRT 101 and started to attach the black parts.
The next few images are demonstration purposes how I encountered the problem this is the black srt but now with silver parts.
NOW THE REAL PROBLEM I ENCOUNTERED
After I attached everything the ring who displays the aperture in the viewfinder didn't slide back anymore it seemed like something is jammed. Which was totally weird because I knew 100% I didn't make a mistake the pulley didn't come off I triple checked before attaching the housing. I reopened the camera and nothing, reattached it. I then proceeded to put 2 drops of sewing machine oil on the ring 1 which was a mistake. I thought that part might have to be lubed, but nothing the the ring didn't flip back into position. SO I opened everything again cleaned the ring 1 and attached everything again still, didn't work.
I proceeded to push down the top a bit more because I thought maybe the ring no 1 and no 3 are not flat and there is an angle which causes friction. After putting pressure on the top cover it worked but after I lift off the pressure didn't work again. I then pushed against the part no 2 from the right side, and again the pulley worked flawlessly. So I thought something might have been bend and the the top cover and the part no 2 could have some differences.
The screw with the red Minolta dot didn't matter how lose or hard I screwed it on or position of part no 2.
I proceeded then to take another screw and replace the Minolta red dort screw with a different one. I pushed the part no 2 to left a bit and used the new screw and the problem was solved. It took me quiet a while to understand where the parts didn't align. The standard Minolta screw for the top didn't do the job and really all parts have to align perfectly otherwise there will be friction on the ring no 1. So you if you encounter this problem make sure you put slight pressure either on part 2 to the left or right when testing if the ring snaps back or apply some pressure at the top cover above the Minolta logo. That did the trick for me and the new screw helped a lot with the old original one it didn't work.
The black srt 101 frankenstein camera is complete and the conversion was a success the good silver SRT body has now a new shell. Some of you might not approve of switching parts but aye...
Kind of happy I found the problem and wanted to share, if this post makes even any sense its 4 a.m.
Bonus