[rollei_list] Rolleiwide update
- From: "Allan Derickson" <alland435@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 1 Aug 2010 17:27:12 -0700
Here is a progress report on the rebuild of my "user" Rolleiwide I bought on
Ebay:
As I mentioned before this was a working tool owned by a studio and used
hard. I wouldn't doubt that it has seen exposures running to the tens of
thousands. It had been converted at some point to use 220 film via the
little switch up by the back hinge. It had been opened up for service
numerous times - and not carefully. The leather had multiple layers of glue
and there are deep gouges in the metal around the screws. The humpback was
worn almost smooth in places and the aluminum trim was battered. There is a
place near the latch where the back metal is bent a little. The round
grooved tripod mount is severely worn like it was mounted and dimounted from
a Rolleifix several thousand times. It looks like someone took a triangular
file to it! The film pressure plate is worn through the black anodizing in
places.
The front cover is also battered along the edges. The top lens barrel shows
evidence of having a number scratched into it and then someone filled it in
with paint. The WLF hood is nonstandard and came either from a Rolleicord or
a T. The leatherette on it is the finer, later pattern. It also has the
Honeywell name on the triangle F&H logo. The paint on it is scratched and
chipped but the leatherette looks good.
My basic goal is to restore this camera to usable condition and, without
spending a lot of money, make it look as good as it can. There are parts
available for Rolleiwides at extremely high asking prices. Do I want a new
WLF for $530? How about a new front panel for $350? Duh, no. I wonder who
the sellers think will buy them. First of all, at only 3000-4000 units
manufactured the market must be very small. Let's say 2000 cameras are in
the hands of people who know what there are. How many need a mint condition
WLF or a new front panel or a humpback? Not very many I'd wager.
I used to build models and I have some skills with paint so I plan to
restore and repaint what I can. I looked around to see what paint matched
the original finish and I found Duplicolor black semi-gloss acrylic lacquer
DAL1608 was available at my local NAPA dealer. Remember, I'm not interested
in an "authentic" restoration, just a good looking user sympathetic to the
original look. This paint is a bit duller than the original but I can
carefully buff it up to close to the original gloss.
Cameraleather dot com has kits for recovering Rolleis but not for the 3D
humpback. I enquired about a kit for just the sides and the front and they
quoted a very reasonable $32 including shipping. I'll just live with the
slightly different pattern but good condition leatherette on the WLF. Given
that the back has several problems including the leather covering, the worn
tripod mount, the bent place, and the battered trim, I decided to splurge on
a new humpback available from Koh's Cameras for $150.
So with new paint, new leather, a new back, this camera is going to look
very good indeed. But am I going to be able to get it to work? I had quickly
discovered a busted shutter wind lever cocking spring. After a false
start-right part number but wrong part- from Collectcamera I found the right
part under a different part number and am awaiting its arrival. Meanwhile I
removed the front panel and tried cocking the shutter manually to see if it
would function. No joy, in fact, it wouldn't even cock. Okay, so I always
wanted to see what the insides of Syncro Compur looked like. This one
looked-dirty. I ordered the Rolleiflex Syncro Compur manual reprint from
Craigscamera. I took digital photos of each step of the disassembly process.
I removed the mainspring and associated components, the main escapement, and
the self-timer and cleaned them in lighter fluid. I reinstalled them. Damn,
it was hard getting that mainspring back in right!
Still no joy. The darned thing wouldn't cock. So then I focused on the MX
component. I should note that one odd thing with the camera was that someone
had drilled and tapped a screw to hold the MXV lever in one position.
Carefully reading the Compur manual I dissassembled the MX bridge. There was
one spring that was oddly mangled. I straightened it the best that I could.
Everything got cleaned in lighter fluid. I reassembled everything according
to the manual. I manually cocked it again. Hit the trigger. Oh yes! Yes, it
fired! The one second setting was barely half a second so again I referred
to the manual and opened it up and adjusted it. Now one second sounds very
close to one second. To adjust 1/15 or 1/500 involves bending things. To
hell with that. I'm not bending anything. I'll live with whatever God gives
me at 1/15 or 1/500. I clean, I adjust. I don't bend. 1/500 sec sounds good
anyway-hella fast! I'm also not lubing anything. This camera won't see more
than a dozen rolls of film a year.
So the next step is to dive into the rewind and focusing mechanisms. They
are very dirty. There is very stiff old grease in there. It looks
complicated but not near as complicated as a Syncro-Compur. I'll take
pictures of every step.` Anyway I feel God-like and powerful. I can do
anything.
With the new back, the new leather, the spring, the manuals, paint and so
forth, I'm still into this project less than $2000. If I come out with a
functioning Rolleiwide that looks good at that price I'll feel very good.
BTW, the folks at the places I've mentioned have been first class people:
Jimmy Koh at Koh's Cameras, Theo de Witt at CollectCamera, and, well, I
guess Craig at Craigscameras are all standup guys.
Allan
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