Canon AE-1 Program: Bent Rewind Shaft and Cracked Bushing
Originally posted on Instagram. Notes from the repair bench, kept here as a searchable archive. View the original on Instagram
This AE-1 Program came into the shop for a routine check/cleaning and I noticed that the rewind shaft was slightly bent. More than just a cosmetic issue as a bent rewind shaft can cause tight winding/rewinding. Upon disassembly I found that the rewind bushing was cracked so it needed to be replaced. The rewind bushing was a plastic material in this example. Some AE-1 Programs have a metal rewind shaft bushing and my observations indicate that Canon switched from metal to plastic sometime in the 1983 production between serial numbers 350xxxxx. and 376xxxx. The bushings are not interchangeable without also replacing the rewind shaft as the metal bushings used a thinner diameter rewind shaft.
