Zen and the Art of Camera Repair

Or something like that.
I mean it's sort of zen like taking care of your own equipment, like Zen and the Art of Bicycle Repair.
Or maintenance.
Makes you closer to your equipment, closer to understanding just what goes on inside and out.
Except I have no clue about what goes on inside a camera.
Well okay I sort of know but the mechanical part is like way above my head.
Or maybe way below my head cause there must be like a GAGILLION small moving parts making things go a click inside there.
Anyways, the easy stuff I can handle, like changing out some rotting foam thingys:

That deteriorating strip is what's known as a mirror bumper, catching the mirror when it flips up so that I suppose it doesn't shatter into very small pieces.
As you can see it is not doing what it's supposed to do.
This is what it's supposed to look like:

Mirror bumper goodness.
Well I bought this replacement stuff that comes in large self adhesive sheets but you gotta take off the old before you can replace the new:

I had to bust out all my Xacto Jedi skilz for this job!
Well I forgot to take pictures of the finished job and the cameras are back at school but it was good to practice on them cheap cameras I got for the kids.
Know what's coming?
Oh yeah!

That's right semi automatic manual film camera fans!
I got me a Nikon FE2 to match my FM2!
Lemme tell you, it's a sickness.
No really.
Anyways, the difference between these cameras is that the FE2 has aperture priority:

Set the camera to the green A and off you go!
Sort of.
My justification for another camera is that I need one for black and white and one for color.
Film don't you know.
Fortunately/unfortunately I'll need a back up for each.
If you know what I mean.
The good/bad thing about cameras, unlike bicycles, is that you can use more than one at a time.
I ain't stopping until I look like Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now:

Almost there!