Leatherette on 1960s Olympus

[johnnyrod]

I have a lovely old Olympus S from the 60s, but it has a wobbly lens barrel. After some poking around, it looks like I'm going to need to tighten the four screws that hold the whole lot onto the body. They're hidden under the leatherette covering, if I'm not mistaken, like a Canonet:


Olympus S Electro Set by John Rodriguez, on Flickr

This is stuck fast. I'm a bit unsure how to approach it; find a way to peel it back? It is very sung under the lens barrel. Cut it open where each screw is, keyhole surgery? Though I'm not sure where they are, or how well I could re-close the holes. Rip it all off and re-cover it? There are no ready-made kits on t'internet, this isn't exactly a very common camera. Even getting the old covering off (is it vinyl?) would be a right laugh, let alone doing it neatly. As ever, I appreciate your advice. It's a nice camera and the lens is great, it's one of those that just seems to work well, regardless of its fairly unremarkable specification.

 

[Pentode]

Well, you could try going at the leatherette very gently with a heat gun and see if that softens the glue. I'd proceed with caution, though....

 

[tunalegs]

If the edge of the leatherette is tucked under the bottom plate, try removing the bottom plate. You may then be able to start peeling the leatherette up with a razor blade. Once it start to lift either try to pull it off, or keep peeling it with something a little more blunt to prevent accidentally cutting through it.

 

[rick oleson]

I use a small flat-blade screwdriver to coax the leatherette off; you have to be very careful, some is brittle, some comes off easily, and some has glue that's stronger than the leatherette.

 

[johnnyrod]

It's not trapped under the bottom plate, but it does go right under the lens barrel. Is it worth trying some heat, like a hair dryer? It is stuck on pretty fast, not like my Pentaxes!

 

[rick oleson]

Maybe, but be careful not to overdo it... hair dryers can get pretty hot.

 

[johnnyrod]

Thanks. Could be a while until I get around to it, but I thought it best to have some thinking time.