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[Reiner]

I have a nice Konica Auto S3, optically and technically excellent with the only that the focussing lever broke off . I have also a junker Vivitar 35 ES with a good focussing lever which would fit to the Auto S3.
 
Before I start tinkering I would like to get some tipps what I must do to get the focussing ring of both cameras off - it must be the same procedure for both. Is it really necessary to take the lens with the base plate off and to take lens and shutter apart to reach the ring?

[Harryrag]

Reiner, I once did that and I faintly remember that the lever on the Konica's focusing ring is screwed in from inside with two rather small slothead screws, at least in my case it was, I think, necessary to strip down the camera as you assume, but don't ask for details, as I said, it's been a while since then.  
I will pull out that Konica tonight though, and when actually holding that camera in my hands it will perhaps speed up my memory and remind me of how I went in ... Maybe you can wait until then.

[Reiner]

Thank you Harry,
 
I would appreciate that you have a look at your Auto S 3.

[Harryrag]

Hi again, Reiner, I have this camera now right in front of me, and I know I had it apart to a certain degree, but for a number of reasons. I recall I had to put in the hot shoe and rewind lever of a C 35 which has the same size and uses very similar body shells and only cosmetically different top and bottom covers (silver anodized instead of mat black).
I know for sure I did not remove the leatherette, so I did not touch or take off the front plate. I am pretty sure I went in from the front as it needed a new metering cell: #1: removal of front bezel, if you are careful desoldering of the LDR is not necessary in your case, #2: front lens group as a whole under whose collar there are three small crosshead screws. Look at this picture of a Min Hi-M SII for reference: http://endoscopy.jp/moto/camera/camera_repair/7s2/index.htm  #3: If you unscrew those screws and lift out the whole ring it should be possible to reach for the screws of the fosusing lever. On the one I installed I still can see traces of plastic glue, as it had been broken in two pieces and had to be glued together and I had to hunt for the two tiny slothead screws rattling about in the camera.
I hope that my fading memory did not play any dirty tricks on me, so please let me know whether my advice was useful.

[Reiner]

Thank you again, Harry,
 
within the next days I shall try to get off the replacement lever of my junker Vivitar 35 ES at first. This camera has allmost the same construction as the Konica Auto S3, like the Minolta HiMatic 7sII and like the Revue 400 SE as well. But from all 4 the Konica has the weakest focussing lever.
 
When I have the replacement lever I shall try to fix the Konica. I shall keep you updated but it might take a while.

[Reiner]

I have dismantled my junker Vivitar 35 ES to reach the focussing lever screws but it was a lengthy and nasty procedure. To unscrew the focussing lever it was necessary to separate the shutter and lens group from the focussing thread. Otherwise it was not possible to reach the screw heads. I can not imagine any way to do that without taking the base plate off the camera body since there is a mechanical link to close the aperture which had to be unscrewed from the backside. Of cause several wires for the camera electric had to be unsoldered.
 
This was the procedure for the Vivitar 35 ES but I assume there is  no difference for the Konica Auto S3 since they are very likely. For my broken fokussing lever I found a different solution. I still had the 2 pieces of the broken lever. By the help of a magnet I have been able to move the rattling and moving lever screws of the Auto S3 towards the screw holes and with a needle, tweezers and some shaking I got the screws peeking out of the fokussing ring in their original position. With a bit of super glue I glued the lever parts together and to the screws. The lever was still a bit wobbly. I fortified the glueing with a bit of epoxy and that was it. The lever is now at place again, it is fix, not wobbly and useable. I assume it is nearly as strong as before which is not much however. Only few traces of epoxy glue are visible where the lever touches the ring.
 
One side effect: when reassambling the lens and shutter unit of the Vivitar to it's focussing unit I discovered the reason for the notoriously wobbly lenses of many Minolta HiMatic 7sII, Konica Auto S3, Vivitar 35 ES and Revue 400 SE. The lens and shutter unit is screwed against the focussing unit with a ring nut. The flange for this ring nut is screwed to the lens/shutter unit by 3 tiny screws which are not secured by a glue and which become loose over the years. This is a VERY WEAK design detail of these otherwise fine siblings.

[Harryrag]

I had in mind it was easier, so I am indeed very sorry for any inconvenience caused by my attempt to assist.

[Reiner]

No problem and I thank you for your attempt to help. I did not do more work than I had to do anyway. The junker Vivitar 35 ES was allready partially dismantled before and I used it as the object to start with. Because the Konica was so nice and fully working I just searched an alternate method as I discovered how much trouble it causes to unscrew and rescrew the focussing lever. The key to success was the idea to use a magnet to recover the screws from within the Konica without dismantling it.