That cheap light seal foam ruined my Pentax K1000

I bought a roll of that generic adhesive foam from Amazon to replace the light seals on a K1000 I was fixing up. After putting it all back together, the mirror was sticking and the film counter stopped working. Turns out the foam was too thick and had this oily residue that got all over the mirror mechanism. I had to take the whole top plate off and clean everything with isopropyl alcohol. Finally ordered the pre-cut kit from that guy in Ohio who cuts them specifically for each model. Has anyone else had trouble with generic foam messing up their repair?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret_kim131mo ago

Stick with the Ohio guy's kits, they're worth the wait. How bad was the oily residue on your mirror box surfaces? I found that stuff gets into the focusing screen grooves too and it's a nightmare to fully wipe out.

robert_anderson691mo ago

Huh, I've never had that issue with mine. Maybe you're just being a little too picky about it?

king.andrew1mo ago

Yeah I used to think generic foam was fine but that oily residue stuff completely changed my mind.