Nikon F2: Mini Sover Wong Treatment...

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Nikon F2 beater from this thread here which covers repairing the DP-1 meter. This thread will deal mostly with the body of the camera.

It had some cosmetic restoration and a little tune-up. However, I had not cracked it open. I was waiting for my new covering skins (which took months to arrive).

Here it is partially stripped ready to go.

First things are removal of the shutter button collar, speed dial, front plate, self timer and lift the covering. The self timer can actually stay on, but I'm replacing the covering, so I need to take it off.

Also, 4 screws hold the front cosmetic plate and it needs to come off.

I'll put a list of resources at the end of the thread.

 
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It would be nice to have these tools (not mine; they are pictures from the internet), but, since I only have a few bodies to overhaul, I got by without them. I thought I'd make one special tool each time.

For the timer ring, I used a little spanner I already had.




 
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SPT datasheet recommends to not remove these screws. Otherwise the mirror box and lens mount need to be re-aligned.
 
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These screws come out to free the front plate with the mirror box attached.

There is a peep-hole at the white arrow. Pull down the lever to get the front plate to pop off after removing all the screws.

 
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Shutter exposed.

Rotating parts on axles got oil and parts that clash together got grease.

I used moly grease and teflon oil, but I'm still experimenting with what works best as I don't have access to the Nikon lubricants (lower image).


 
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This camera was working fine, and had been lubricated in the past. Perhaps a professional's camera. So, not many surprises in side.

I did find this area of damage. The image frame mask shown here is very easily bent aluminum. I bent it back to shape with my fingers.

 
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Timer escapement ran fine, so it was not touched.

The mirror mechanism was lubricated same as the shutter; rotating parts on axles got oil and levers that clash or rub together got grease.

 
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The slow speed escapement is only held on with two screws. It was removed and soaked in EtOH. After that, the spinning axles were lubricated with oil. No grease on the gears.

 
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I made note of how this little spring is attached. The slotted screw to the left (on which the spring rests) needs to be removed to get to the wind mechanism.

 
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The wind mechanism had been lubed in the past. Not much to do here except clean off some of the old grease and apply new.

 
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This is a common problem. The foam that dampens this mirror spring deteriorates. I put a new piece of foam rubber in it's place.

 
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Taking the shutter speed plate off is not a big deal. Replacing it can be a challenge.

The lever with the yellow circle can easily pop up and swing forward. Thus making re-assembly impossible.

My contribution to camera-repair-science today is to lock the shutter down (yellow oval) which keeps the lever down.

The pin with the green circle needs to fit in to a hole.

There is a pin on the under side of the shutter speed plate that needs to fit into the hole with the red circle.

With all that in mind, the escapement retard lever needs to be pulled way back when re-fitting everything (red arrow).

Before re-fittring it, replace the foam rubber by the yellow circle.

 
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4 areas of adjustment for the shutter speeds (after curtain tension is set).

Long white arrow is for a "Large Eccentric" screw for the 1/4 speeds. Small head eccentric screw with locking collar is at the white small arrow. This controls the slope of the slow speed series.

Long green arrow points to the "Large Eccentric" screw for 1/1000 and short green arrow to the small head eccentric screw for the slope of the high speed series.

1/2000 can be made faster by wedging a screwdrive into the slot in the cam (lower image). However if the cam needs to be pushed back together, the whole shutter speed stack needs to come apart. Not something I want to do with this camera that has had proper service in the past and has no major faults.


 
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Flash contacts were cleaned (red circle).

Green circle shows small shims to fine tune the front lens mount. Camera checked OK with my collimator, so I made sure to replace the shims exactly as they were.

One area of damage I did encounter was the screw (#316) for the wind knob lever was fractured. I was able to find a new wind knob on e-bay as a replacement.

 
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I got these from Hugostudio.

They are thicker than the original. I used Windex to position them, but it seemed the Windex takes the black off. It is recommended to use water only, maybe now I know why.

 
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The back was re-painted with black automobile lacquer before the new covering was applied.

 

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I hear there's 2000 parts in that model I believe.
 
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F4U said:
I hear there's 2000 parts in that model I believe.
Click to expand...

Yes, F2 is more complex than the F. I found the F has better documentation and is a better starter camera to learn.
 
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F2 Repair Resources:

Nikon F2 Service Manual
 
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Nikon F2 Rescources NOT FOUND:

NatCam has a 73 page picture book on the Nikon F that explains with pictures all the inner workings. I found no such thing for the F2.

Also, NatCam's "The Single Lens Reflex" has over 100 pages on the Nikon F with drawings and text describing the workings of all the sub assemblies. Again I found nothing that extensive for the F2.

Does anyone know if NatCam has an F2 resource book?
 
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