There's an easier way than that. A stiff piece of wire or a small thin nail with the end turned over (think of a small crochet needle) can be inserted down through the rewind crank hole, held to one side and then gently pulled upwards releasing the back catch. Working on 35mm Pentaxes, the rewind crank usually has to be removed before the top plate can be lifted off. If the back cover is closed and the rewind spindle ends up plopping inside the camera, which it often does sooner or later, then the ability to open the back easily is very welcome. Attached is a picture of the tool I made for the job. Apologies for the grimy thumbnail - a leftover from replacing the car gearbox seal yesterday!
Steve
Thanks
A great tip (no pun intended) but I already tried that method and it didn't work. I had to resort to the more invasive method which, with its tiny screws and sleeves, is not for the clumsy. The film door latchwork seems to move up and down (I lightly lubed it) but something inside where the shaft goes is not budging. I couldn't put the rewind shaft back up through the hole due to that. A further teardown of the camera will be necessary. Maybe some lube left to soak in that area first?
In my previous remarks about camera repairs and incompetent surgeons, I would just like to add that although I retired about twenty years ago, in my youth I was an apprentice trained precision engineer, in the aircraft industry, and later became a member of the British Institute Of Mechanical Engineers , that it's because I know how complex electro/mechanical devices modern S.L.R cameras are.
It's because I lack the tools knowledge and test equipment to do the work that I prefer to pay a qualified camera repairer to service my equipment if and when it's required.
Could you give us tips/advice for our repair projects based on your experience, training and work?
Many repairs are not accepted by workshops or are not cost-effective, so we are left to our own devices.
My training was as a mechanical engineer
I turned the Spotmatic into more of a parts camera today. Doh. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. On the shelf it goes. I have another one that works well and it's an Asahi Pentax, so I don't need this one to work. Just playing with it.
I had a "parts" Pentax K1000 kicking around for a while. I then acquired a free second K1000 parts camera. I'd already nicked the meter movement out of the first one to repair a KM and the meter in the second was u/s. In one of the lockdowns during covid I robbed the second camera of enough parts to get the first operational. It looks as rough as rats and doesn't have a meter, so I guess as a meter-less K1000 it amounts to a bayonet mount version of an S1a or SV.
Don't write off your Spotmatic yet. Come back to it in a couple of weeks and you may see it in a new light!
Steve
I had a "parts" Pentax K1000 kicking around for a while. I then acquired a free second K1000 parts camera. I'd already nicked the meter movement out of the first one to repair a KM and the meter in the second was u/s. In one of the lockdowns during covid I robbed the second camera of enough parts to get the first operational. It looks as rough as rats and doesn't have a meter, so I guess as a meter-less K1000 it amounts to a bayonet mount version of an S1a or SV.
Don't write off your Spotmatic yet. Come back to it in a couple of weeks and you may see it in a new light!
Steve
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