Belplasca repair procedure

[P3D Michael Kaplan <mkaplan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In response to my call for help in April, David Glick graciously provided
the following disassembly instructions, which enabled me to repair my
Belplasca.  With Dave's permission, I am sending these along to the list,
followed by a few of my own comments. I hope they will be useful. I also
thank the other members of this list who provided information. 

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To remove the Belplasca top housing, I unscrew:

-the two small screws on the sides;
-the large screws in the center of the wind and rewind knobs, and pull off
the knob assemblies;
-the exposure counter setting knob;
-the shutter cocking knob and rewind release knob on the back of the top
housing.

The latter three unscrew counterclockwise with finger grip on my camera.
Actually the latter two sometimes loosen on their own during use of the
camera!  However the exposure counter knob is a known problem.  Alex Klein
and others posted about it on Photo-3D (Digests 1518, 1520, 1528 - do an
archives search on 'counter').

In my camera, that knob unscrews easily, starting with a quick twist to
break it loose, and the shaft comes with it.  However according to Alex's
posts it sticks on some cameras.  What he posted as a solution had me a
little confused and I never resolved the confusion, although I guess it's
because there are two variations on construction; in one case the knob
unscrews from its shaft and in the other the knob and shaft unscrew
together from the camera.  Alex talked about sliding two thin strong
pieces of metal under opposite sides of the knob and using them to grip
the shaft, then unscrewing the knob from the shaft.  Another method of
removal if the counter knob doesn't come loose is to insert a small
screwdriver or toothpick through the hole from which the rewind release
button unscrewed, using it to block the internal parts while unscrewing
the knob. 

Once all visible obstructions are removed, the top housing lifts off. 
It's a pretty tight fit and may require a little prying at each end, but
there is nothing hidden that holds it on.  When it comes off, the two thin
sheet metal dust baffles (that you see through the shutter cock and rewind
release slots) will fall out.  Note their orientation if you can (hey - a
good idea would be to make a mark with a felt pen on each, before
disassembly - why didn't I think of that before?) but they really only go
in one way so it's not a big deal. 

The relatively easy dissassembly continues, with three or four modular
assemblies of gears on the right side which can be removed.  One of them
is attached with two small screws on the front side.  Also the viewfinder
assembly can be lifted off for careful cleaning of the glass.  I didn't
know the camera had viewfinder parallax correction until I examined this
part. 

When reinstalling the right-most film wind assembly, don't forget the
washer/spacer above the film wind drum which shifted or fell out during
disassembly.

While the top is off, check the two screws holding the bracket on the
inside of the rear left which keeps the shutter cocking lever in place. 
One time mine were pretty loose! 

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A few notes by MK:

1. The knurled knob setting the film counter is *not* connected to the
shaft on my camera. To unscrew it, I cocked the rewind release to the
right and inserted a straightened large paper clip into the hole. That
held back the mechanism enabling me to unscrew the knurled knob.

2. My camera had no dusk masks to worry about.

3. The shutter cocking lever on my camera was also loose, but I forgot to
check on the screws holding it in place. While the shutter seems to cock
properly, I'll have to go back inside to check this out.

4. I was able to properly clean the viewfinder glass.

5. To reassemble the viewfinder assembly, tilt the camera slightly
backward. With the front glass and mask held in place with gravity, the
rear glass can be hand-held until the metal camera housing is put in
place.

===================================
Michael Kaplan
Professor of Architecture
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
mkaplan@xxxxxxx


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