Sticky shutter on that humid boardwalk camera shop find

Found a beat-up spotmatic at a secondhand stall near the Santa Cruz boardwalk last weekend. The shutter was sluggish at 1/125 and below, smelled like salt air had gotten into the works. I popped the bottom plate and saw corrosion on the governor spring. A drop of pure naphtha on a toothpick, then three dry cycles at 1/60, and it snapped back to life. Has anyone else had luck reviving salt-damaged bodies, or should I just replace the spring next time?

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carr.blake1mo ago

Salt air got into the governor spring? That's wild, I've opened up bodies from beach towns before and usually it's just haze on the glass and a little grit in the wind lever, not actual corrosion on the spring itself. Naphtha on a toothpick is a solid move for a quick fix, but that pitting won't go away and the spring will go soft again. If it's a keeper, swap the spring now while you can still get parts cheap.

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