Any tips on applying a new covering to my Leica M6 ?

[Leica All Day]

Hi Everybody,

The original covering on my m6ttl has been slowly peeling of on the back of my camera (not the film door, but the actual camera body) and I ordered some new skin from Aki-Asahi. Does anyone have any tips on removing the original covering and putting the new one on?

Should I clean the camera body with some sort of solvent or just use some old fashion 'elbow grease' ?

Any useful tips or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Michael

 

[jonmanjiro]

Its dead easy Michael. Remove the frame line selector, battery cover, and R (rewind) lever to make things easier for yourself, peel off the old cover, clean off any sticky goop left from the old covering using enthanol (or similar), then attach the new covering starting with the mount then working around both sides. Aki-Asahi cuts his coverings precisely so it should be a good fit.

 

[maddoc]

I always followed the method shown on the cameraleather webpage and swapped the adhesive side of the covering to be applied with isopropanol before mounting. This way it is less sticky and can be adjusted around frame line preview lever, lens mount, battery compartment lid. It worked well with my M7, M4-2 and M4-P.

 

[Ranchu]

'Purell' brand hand sanitizer works really well to put on the adhesive side to delay the adhering so you can position it. Apparently that's the best brand to use because it doesn't have a bunch of other additives. I've used it, no complaints. This one

https://www.purell.com/product-9652-12

 

[Leica All Day]

Awesome, thanks a lot for the replies.

Unfortunately, I do not have the proper tools to remove the frame selector or the rewind switch, but I remember reading a long time ago that I can "thread" the new covering through the frame selector without removing it.

Has anybody tried this without removing anything? The purell hand sanitizer is an excellent idea and I will use it for sure.

Cheers, michael

 

[maddoc]

I have applied new leatherette to all my cameras mentioned above without removing any part. That is why I applied isopropyl alcohol to the adhesive side of the new leatherette, it becomes less sticky and can easily be maneuvered around the levers without removing them.