There's a hole in my M6!!

[Stephan_Chandler]

I recently noticed an occasional light-leak in my M6.
It appeared worst when my back was to brilliant sunlight.
I traced the problem to a missing upper left-side rivet from the back plate,
revealing a one-millimeter hole into which light can enter and
burn a small portion of the film at the bottom.
I blocked it up with a piece of electrical tape and the camera works fine now.
But I DO have mixed feelings about that...
fixing a Leica with electrical tape feels something like
re-attaching a Rolls-Royce bumper with duct-tape!
I'd LIKE to have it repaired, but suspect the expense
might be excessive.
Any thoughts on this?

[adan]

So long as it's black tape, it is a well-established practice in Leicadom to tape up the body. Or you can just think of it as a very expensive Holga with good glass! (wink!)

'Way back when they were almost still in production, I got a used M4-2 body. It revealed a light leak. Took a while to track it down, and it turned out light was leaking around the tiny lever that switches from advance to rewind mode.

The shaft part of the lever was a tad too long, so that the lever part stood clear of the body instead of being tight against it, allowing light to get in through the hole around the shaft. With no self-timer or battery housing in that region to help block it (as in earlier or later bodies), it was just like a little cathedral window, shining on my film between the shutter box and takeup spool every so often.

A guy in the mechanic's shop of the hospital where I was working ground about one mm off the back of the lever, and then it seated tight and quit leaking.

I would contact one of the 3rd-party Leica repair places (Goldberg, Krauter) or maybe ask at Samy's in LA if they can recommend someone local for Leica body work. It likely will not be too much - it doesn't require the precision of rangefinder or lens work - and Leica USA has been VERY backed up on film M repairs (I am about to get back a film body they've had for almost 4 months).