Heath Robinson, apparently...

Today, I tried so hard to fix this little rangefinder (a Yashica Electro 35 GS), one that's mentioned (rather disparagingly) in Susan Sontag's essay On Photography... The now-banned mercury battery had leaked and corroded away the negative contact and so off came the top (with the help of some tiny screwdrivers and a pair of compasses), and also the viewfinder/mirror segment. Everything looked like it was going so well; I found a 6v replacement battery, modified the battery chamber beautifully (even though I got glue all over my paws), cleaned all the contacts and all the optics... but the the lens stop focusing, and everything started going horribly, horribly wrong. In the end it had to go in the bin. Oh dear... I'm so sorry, little one!