CitroJim wrote: 10 Jun 2026, 05:38
Zelandeth wrote: 09 Jun 2026, 14:55 There's a lovely Zeiss 120 which I'd love to actually use but has a sticky shutter. I absolutely don't trust myself to dismantle it as my history of reassembling mechanical things on that scale is one of uniform failure.
Whilst I'm reasonably comfortable with those sorts of mechanisms Zel, I'm only comfortable if they're mine and a failure to be able to fix it would not be the end of the world...
Finding someone who can though is getting ever more difficult these days...
I'd not really intended that to come across as a "please fix this!" But being absolutely honest Jim, there would be absolutely zero stress on it anyway. Worst case it ends up a display piece. As it is it's just going to spend the next 30 years sitting in a box anyway. It cost me all of about £10. Everything looks to be contained within the lens ring, I don't think you actually have to strip down the whole camera itself at all if my memory serves, though it has been a while since I looked at it.
As of tomorrow a major fleet milestone will hopefully be happening: The whole fleet will once again fit ON the driveway. Yes, the Renault is off to pastures new. It should have a pretty good shot at restoration though, the owner absolutely knowing what they're getting into. It'll be sharing the driveway with at least one Aventime, so it's a dedicated Renault fan that's buying it.
I'll be glad to not having it getting progressively more sad looking in front of my house, and to no longer have a car parked on the lawn. I'm sure the neighbours will appreciate seeing the back of it as well!
I'll miss it as it was a truly glorious thing to drive. However I will not miss the absolute faff of trying to get parts for the near extinct 2.0 injection variant. Would I have another 25? Honestly yes I probably would - but not a scruffy restoration project which needs a whole bunch of little bits and pieces sorted. I'd pay a bit more and just get one that's in decent shape. Probably just push the boat out and go for a V6 as well as let's face it, that was the engine it was always meant to have. Given how rare they are though it's likely to be a non issue anyway! Also it doesn't really tick any boxes not already covered by other fleet members so I'd struggle to justify even considering one at the moment anyway. Honestly it was a silly purchase when I bought it in the first place. Hopefully its fortunes with the next custodian will be better than just languishing outside my house.