[Jean Poitiers]

Bonjour,

I just snapped a great K1000 with a mint M50 f2 ... just like what I had in high school.

It needs "light seals" (back cover & mirror) and the battery compartment/cover is slightly corroded ... probably sat in a drawer for far too many years.

Are there any handy articles and/or suggestions, advice, etc.?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated, and as the French say, "Merci d'avance"!

Salut, Jean le Frog

[gofour3]

Bonjour,

I just snapped a great K1000 with a mint M50 f2 ... just like what I had in high school.

It needs "light seals" (back cover & mirror) and the battery compartment/cover is slightly corroded ... probably sat in a drawer for far too many years.

Are there any handy articles and/or suggestions, advice, etc.?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated, and as the French say, "Merci d'avance"!

Salut, Jean le Frog

You should send it to Eric for a much needed CLA:

Home

Afterwards you can look into new camera leather if you wish:

Cameraleather - leather kits for Pentax SLR's

Phil.

[Captmatt]

The seals are just foam usually. There are kits on ebay or on line with pre cut foam for replacing, with generic instructions , just look up Pentax k1000 seals. The back door is often wobbly too if the rear seals are rotten. It is best to do those as well.
The seals can be replaced easily by the user, just make sure to clean everything before putting new seals on. Hold the camera upside down when replacing mirror foam so old foam and residue doesn't land on mirror. The kits usually have the foam for the back as well.
That is about all the user should try. There is generally some foam around the prism, which could also deteriorate, but that is best left for the pro who will disassemble and clean. Although it can be expensive, a CLA can cost between 85 to 200, it should be done every five years, or more depending on use. After 10 years foam gets pretty bad and gooey and lubricants get nasty, making a CLA even costlier. Good luck.

[séamuis]

as captmatt points out, you can pretty easily and cheaply get a light seal replacement kit for one of these, and the job is pretty easy to do. you can also get various other accessories on places like the 'bay. but if you plan on keeping this K1000 for the long haul and using it often, I would offer a word of caution in using it before it has had a thorough CLA. normally for a k1000 its difficult to justify the cost of one, because they are so plentiful and usually not the main user for most pentax folks. most of us have had or still have one, but we normally turn to other bodies for various reasons. but since it seems like this will be your one camera, I would highly suggest that you drop the cash to have it CLA'd. there is really no better investment you could make into the camera and it will guarantee faithful and likely flawless service for more years than you will likely use it.
Eric Hendrickson is the resident Pentax man here, and I know of nobody better to recommend. the link to his page is in gofour3's post. do yourself and your camera a favour and have it done right.

[stevebrot]

Eric Hendrickson is the resident Pentax man here, and I know of nobody better to recommend. the link to his page is in gofour3's post. do yourself and your camera a favour and have it done right.

Indeed. A CLA'd (and 90 day warranty) K1000 in a local shop here in the Portland area will sell for about $150 with normal lens. That is somewhat more than what it would cost to have Eric do it and his work is pretty much beyond reproach.


Steve

[magkelly]

I've done my own seals now with decent craft foam several times now, no problems. It's not hard and you don't necessarily need a kit. All it takes is lighter fluid, a ruler, some scissors, a pencil, some craft foam, something to scrape with (I use half a broken BBQ stick with the edge cut with a knife to a slant.) and a good glue. You do have to be careful about not scraping crap down into the camera but it's not that hard. My first one was a bit daunting, but really it's not hard at all.

[stevebrot]

It's not hard and you don't necessarily need a kit.

Depends on the camera and what seals you need to replace. Thickness (as opposed to width) is critical for some locations and foam is not appropriate for others (hinge plate for example). I used to cut my own foam until I found Jon Goodman's kits and have little inclination to cut my own at this point except for a custom application that Jon has not covered.


Steve

[Jean Poitiers]

Bonjour Gofour3, Capmatt, séamus, Steve & Magkelly,

Thanks a lot for your advice and excuse my slow reply ... I may have found someone here in France that could do some possible CLA.

If not, a kit looks like possible option, plus there's a photo swap meet in April near Poitiers which I'll definitely attend (again) ... to get more advice and maybe pick up a matching case or something of that nature ... and maybe a few more k-mount and/or Adaptall lenses!

Allez, un grand merci encore, J Frog