Re-posting this since the photos have since been moved from their initial place.
I've had a number of distractions lately, so I didn't get to this until recently. I finally found some time when Luka, friend and watchmaker, paid me a visit. I put him to work on switching out the plates on the front standard.
The problem I encountered back in February was a very tight screw in the front standard. The screw is underneath the silver cap, see photo:
What Luka quickly discovered was that the screw loosens by turning to the right, the opposite of the usual procedure; I could have easily ruined the screw, but luckily, I didn't force it back then.
We swapped out the old plate for the new plate; bottom of old plate shown here:
The two prongs are what prevent the front standard from rotating 180˚; the new plate is black and has no prongs.
That, in a nutshell, is the main difference between the 810M and 810MII: a $10 plate.
After installation, the new plate worked perfectly. The standard still has zero-detents and it doesn't require a worrisome amount of force to turn it around 180˚.
What's also nice is that swing movement is now limited only by bellows; everything locks down as tightly as before, so the camera has only been improved, not ruined or affected adversely in any way.
So when I want to use longer lenses, I have the needed bellows; the procedure is much simpler now: unlatch bellows at front standard, rotate standard 180˚, re-attach bellows.
Installation time was about 15 minutes.
One more thing to note: there is a pin that protrudes from the bottom of the standard; it can be removed with a small flat screwdriver. This pin is what gives zero clicks, so don't remove it; it is not what permits rotation of the standard.
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