Toyo View back / glass section loose. Help?

[carynorton]

I've had my Toyo View 4x5 for a while and it's generally been great but lately the focusing frame section of the camera is loose and I can't figure out how to tighten it. All knobs and lock levers seem to be in the tightest positions but the back still seems to wiggle forward and back when I insert the film holder.

Any thoughts?

Attached is a detail of the area I think is the culprit.

http://i.imgur.com/EpLgE.jpg

[Neal Chaves]

The nylon fine focus gear track (dead center in the highlighted circle of the photo) may be broken but probably just the two screws that hold it in place are loose. Replacing this $29 part is rather involved, but by taking the rear standard off the rail, you can access the screws from below. Take them out one at a time and clean the hole with solvent on a Q-tip. Replace the screw with a drop of blue LocTite in the hole. Snug it up but do not over tighten or you will split the nylon (probably already cracked). This should fix it.

[carynorton]

Thanks Neal. I'll dig in and see what I can figure out.

[Ari]

Cary, wait; don't just "dig in".
I had the same thing on my 810G, and after digging in myself, I realized that the mechanism is much more complex than it appears.
To get to those screws, you have to disassemble the entire micro-focus mechanism and get to the inner core of the gizmo; kind of like getting at the pituitary gland with a spatula.
Those two screws hold a large metal disc in place, which is what causes your camera to wiggle when they are loose.
There are a lot of small parts and screws, and remembering what goes where when you re-assemble will drive you mad.

So the best thing is to call Toyo tomorrow morning, and ask them to email you an exploded parts diagram for the 45G rear standard.
When you get it, just disassemble and re-assemble in numerical sequence.

Something to watch out for, at the beginning, you have to pry off a small black disc that is glued to the standard's horizontal bar; this is almost invisible and is not mentioned in the diagram, but that's how the whole thing starts.
How to disassemble some areas is not obvious, so be very careful and keep track of where everything goes and in what order, and never force anything.

It took me and my wife about 3 hours to do this; after she went to bed, I had at it for another 2 hours, but it was done.

Good luck!