Stiff focusing ring on the Universal Mercury II CX

[frankcoffman]

I just purchased a pristine (almost) condition Universal Mercury II CX. The only issue is that the focusing ring is stuck and almost impossible to move. I've seen a YouTube video that recommends: removing the lens (of course) and using a heat gun or hair dryier to loosen the old grease/lubricant and then swabbing around the inner threaded rings near the lens mount and using solvents first, then a few drops of oil to break things free. Is this a good plan?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Mercury II Repair and Restoration

This was one of my junk store finds. It looked a bit ragged, but was functional, so I put a roll of b&w film in it and went shooting one day. Using the exposure calculator on the back, I was able to get a lot of good photos (a 36 exposure roll of 35mm film yields 65 half frames, and a couple...

www.flickr.com

I found this Flickr Album with a complete teardown. Wow.

Flood Cleaning and working with some oil works- enough to make it usable. You must be careful the oil does not run. I would try working in some lithium grease after using the solvent and swabbing it up. I would keep the camera pointed down to prevent the solvent from running into the shutter works.

 

[frankcoffman]

Thanks much, Sonnar Brian. I haven't done much camera repair work. By "flood cleaning" do you mean using some solvent around the focusing ring (while still attached--under the edges of the ring for example?) I note there are three tiny screws (lens removed) holding the focusing ring down. Should the ring itself be removed to do the cleaning below?