Olympus 35RC sticky aperture fix?

[Danlo]

Hi everyone.. Just got me a nice Olympus 35 RC for almost free and everything seems to work except the rangefinder alignment and the aperture.

The rangefinder I can adjust later, but the most important thing for me is to fix the aperture.

The aperture biggest opening is around f8-f11.. When I set the aperture to f2.8 it just opens up about f8-f11, not any bigger..

So, I guess theres something that needs fixing inside. I've gently tried to unscrew the outmost ring on the lens to start reasamble it, but I cant move it.. Dont know what to do.. Have found some info on the net, but nothing on how you exactly do to get a grip and loosen the first ring without damaging the lens...

Please, someone help me! I want to shoot street with this little gem! But I need the aperture to work.

Thankyou

 

[Danlo]

Hm.. ok, no one has a clue.. But what kind of tools do I need? I have tried several small screw-drivers but they all brake when I try to unscrew the bottom plate.. What kind of screw-driver do I need - what kind of material should it be made of to be able to handle those tight small screws?

Thankyou!

 

[Mystyler]

Hi mate, this is about as close as I have seen:

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/oly35rdcleaning.html

 

[Danlo]

I just fixed it by removing the bottom place with force. Then took a small spring from another old camera and stretched it out in the middle, then used it to replace the broken spring that went from the aperture-pin to the shutter pin.. No it works flawlessy.. Im actually surprised myself. Banked the bottom plate back with a broken old Fuji 605N slr (perfect as a hammer 🙂) and now the aperture too works perfect 🙂

 

[Mystyler]

That will work, too!