I want to take the top off my M6 classic and clean the dust spots out of my viewfinder window. I purchased a set of brass ring clamps for this purpose from www.micro_tools.com. When I tried to undo the viewfinder eyeglass piece the clamp started to damage the rubber surround therefore I did not proceed any further. The clamp I used is meant for an M2, M3 as it was a real tight fit on the M6. Any suggestions as how to remove the viewfinder eyeglass?

-- sam smith (Ruy_Lopez@hotmail.com), November 22, 2001

Answers

I have had no problems removing my M6 eyepiece with the same tools. Did you squeeze the tool to give it a good grip? The eyepiece is on tight.

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), November 22, 2001.

if you mean that you want to remove the top plate, watch out, your rangefinder would need to be re-adjusted after top plate removal..better not to do this yourself.

if it's just the rear eyepiece glass then that is ok..

-- tristan tom (tristan@tristantom.com), November 22, 2001.

John,

I had to open the tool up a tad by forcing the legs open. I don't know whether the tool is designed to undo the M6 eyepiece with it's rubber surround as opposed to all metal eyepiece on the earlier models. I had a fairly tight grip on it when I turned it but it would appear that the tool slipped and hence the damage to the rubber surround. I might give it one more try.

Tristan,

Thanks for the advice but why would I have to adjust the rangefinder if I remove the top plate?

-- sam smith (Ruy_Lopez@hotmail.com), November 22, 2001.

There is more to successful repairs/ cleaning than having the right tools. I speak from experience when I say "proceed at your own risk" if you decide to tear into a precision instrument without any experience or training. Sherry Krauter told me she get partly disassembled cameras shipped to her all the time.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), November 22, 2001.

Sam: You do *NOT* need to remove the eyepiece to take off the top plate! That's the good news. The bad news is, you need to remove the rewind knob (small setscrew in the side, hold the fork from inside the body, turn rewind crank counter-clockwise), then remove the hold-down nut for the rewind shaft (you'll need a small spanner for this). Also, you need to remove the shutter release collar (the opposite side of the eyepiece wrench fits that), and after removing the wind lever, there's a thin brass ring that holds the top plate to the wind mechanism. That ring needs a small spanner also, and (here's the *really bad news*)that ring has oh-so-fine-pitch threads that are oh-so-easy to cross-thread and strip when re-assembling. Proceed at your own peril. Oh, and needing to readjust the rangefinder after taking off the top plate: nonsense.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), November 22, 2001.

Andrew,

I understand what you are saying. I wouldn't attempt anything too complex like delving into shutter mechanism or rangefinder assembly however in this case I'm just removing the top cover, to clean inside the front viewfinder window and then replacing said cover. I enjoy this type of thing and if I stuff it up, I stuff it up.

Jay,

Thanks for the very helpful information. I have removed the shutter collar and will attempt the rewind knob next. Once that's out of the way I'll undo the retaining ring under the wind lever paying particular attention to the threads. It was my understanding that the flash sync socket, flash hotshoe screws and the top screw in the bayonet flange have to be undone too, do you know whether this is correct?

I bought Thomas Tomosy's book, "Leica Camera Repair Handbook" but as John Collier mentioned recently this book is really for experienced repairpersons as it is somewhat vague in places. However I will proceed with extreme caution.

-- sam smith (Ruy_Lopez@hotmail.com), November 23, 2001.

Yes, you're right, the flash contact and flash shoe do need to be disassembled. On the M4 and later, the top screw in the bayonet does not need removal.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), November 23, 2001.