Leaky Kievs?

[peterc]

I have a pair of Kievs, a 4a and a 4am, that have the classic light leak around the upper sprocket gear on the takeup side.
I've looked at the Kiev Survival Site and see this involves removing the top casting and the shutter assembly cover to replace a small light baffle.
My questions: has anyone done this repair? what did you use to replace the baffle? what pitfalls should I be aware of?
Also: has anyone found a way to fix wonky frame spacing on the Kiev 4 series?

Peter

 

[jonasv]

RFF user "Berk Sirman" had a leaky Kiev. He fixed it and now it's mine - and it's completely leak-free, so he must know how to do it!

 

[Berk Sirman]

Jvx,

Glad that you're happy with the camera.


And the actual question:
Get Jod Goodman's kits on ebay, his ebay ID is interslice and he is also an active member of RFF and kyphoto forum. Use an appropriately thick light seal. You need to make sure that the seal does not get in the way of the lever between the shutter release/speed selector unit and the bottom curtain. When you remove top cover and film plate, you'll see what I mean.

Fram spacing: Oleg adjusted this on my camera so I didn't have to do this myself. But I read someplace that it is adjusted by the screw on the fork that the take-up spool sits on. That screw has to be tightened to specs and repairmen have some tool for that. I am sure someone will fill in here and tell us a substitute for this tool.

Note that you do not have to burn film to test film spacing. Just take a dummy roll, load it in the camera and remove the lens. Advance the film and release the shutter on "B" As you are holding shutter open mark the film on the edges of the frame by a pencil. Repeat for several frames. Now take the film out and you'll see the film spacing. Make necessary adjustments, erase the pencil marks on film and repeat the test.

Berk

 

[peterc]

Berk, jvx,

Many thanks for the quick responses. I'll look into the ligfht seal kits.

Peter