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Got a 1962 Pentax Spotmatic back from the dead after three months of head scratching
This thing came in with a shutter that would only fire at 1/500, no other speeds worked at all. I spent weeks checking the usual stuff, the slow speed escapement, the gear train, you name it. The real change happened when I finally got my hands on a copy of the original service manual, a real paper one from the 60s. It had a tiny note about a specific pivot post on the speed selector cam that can seize up with old grease. Sure enough, after a careful clean and a tiny drop of Nye Synthetic on that one post, the whole timing assembly started moving smoothly. Now it clicks through all its speeds like it's brand new. It's crazy how one little stuck part can stop the whole show. Has anyone else run into that specific pivot post issue on the older M42 bodies?
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the_stella5mo ago
My buddy had the exact same problem with his Spotmatic F.
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ryan3695mo ago
So that one pivot post, was it totally frozen solid or just kind of gummy? I'm trying to picture how much force you had to use to get it moving before the clean. Did the manual say anything about that post being a common failure point, or was it just a random note?
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