Olympus OM1 - Shutter speed mech broken...

So I was given an Olympus OM1 by a friend.

He 'curiously' took a couple of bits apart, not entirely sure why. He didn't seem to fussed about the camera, and stupidly took the front element off, the lens mount, and the shutter speed ring as well...

Basically he bodged it.

So now the shutter speed ring doesn't turn, and obviously isn't calibrated. He doesn't know what shutter speed it was on before or after, but I assume the whole mech wasn't kept as it was previously.

I have taken this in to a repair place, who said they'd fix it and service it for about £200.

I don't mind paying that, if there's absolutely no way I can do the fix myself.

Any ideas, websites, guides etc that could help me recalibrate the shutter speed mech?

Thanks

Unless you have a reason for keeping this particular camera, you might consider just replacing it. There are a lot of OM-1s for sale on eBay for considerably less than the ₤200 repair cost (caveat emptor, of course).

And another suggestion: Find a new friend... ;-)

Perhaps try MW Camera Repairs for a second opinion as what you have been quoted sounds extortionate. I have sent both my OM1's to him within the last 18 months for a clean, lubricate & adjust, foam removal from the prism area along with a diode battery modification so the meter will run off an SR-44 battery & the price for each has been £50.

His web site is at MWCameraRepairs

I have also sent a pair of OM2N's to him for CLA's & foam removal & have been very happy with all the work.

Agree with what William Kahn said above about ebay. I picked up both my OM1's off there as spare or repair & the pair of them came to under £40. Have seen working ones go for around £50 on auctions. If you do get another one recommend sending it for a CLA & a defoam at least. Most of them have light seals added around the prism which rot over time & ruin the silvering leaving you with black spots in the viewfinder.

Inside the bottom of the mirror box, below the black plate that covers the governor, is the stack of brass cams that control the shutter speeds. If that cam stack turns too far (past 1/1000th), one of the followers of the governor will drop into a low place on it's cam and that will keep the stack from turing back the other direction. Sometimes you can carefully continue rotating that stack until it returns to it's functional range. Sometimes, though, that follower on the governor will turn "backwards", so that it jams the cam stack. If this has occurred, it will need attention from an experienced technician -- I cannot imagine trying to describe the process of repositioning that follower without disassembly, though it is possible (assuming it is not actually damaged).

If the cam stack will turn, you will need to rotate it until that small hole just behind the teeth on the lowest level is directly toward the front of the camera -- that is the 1/1000th second position. If you replace the black ring that controls the shutter speeds so that the tooth just in front of that hole is exactly between the first two teeth on the rear of that ring, it will be timed properly for 1/1000th second.