I think I may have steered you wrong here. The fact that your 2nd camera had its spring in the same place as pictured in the other thread got me worried, and I had another look at the spring on the PLC3, and in fact it does have the bend, as in the

Yes, the top was back on, but Ive put the spring back. (It was a really good idea NOT to resolder the flash wires-its saved a lot of work!).
 
I was going in there anyway to check if the timer was actually screwed down far enough (one reason why

Surprised you managed to get the wind-lever screw off without taking off the black disc, circlip and shim/s! It does mean that you didn't follow the sometimes recommended procedure of picking the disc off with a needle, which unless you are very car

Thanks. And well done to you too for your help -as Ive said before, without your guidance this task would never have been attempted, let alone completed!
 
One last question, a very minor one, as its long been a feature on both cameras that I

The wind levers always do stop a few degrees before the clockwise stop. I think it is probably just to make the lever handier if you are doing action photography and want to take another shot very quickly.

OK. Thanks once again for all your kind help!
l_n_h.

Just in case anyone tries to use this thread as a guide to stripping their Praktica, I thought I had better add some amendments for the record: -
 
1. Removal and replacement of the delay mechanism are NOT easier  with the shutter cocked. In fact b

anyone has photo it is hard to understand only words

I have been putting together some descriptions. They are not really ready for public consumption yet - some pictures are missing and some could be improved - but you can have a look and see if they help. At least they are shorter than this thread!
 

it is very difficult, I guess i will giveup