Ribbon Movement Removal
The Ribbon Movement (the two circular spots where the ribbon spools sit) is fairly easy to remove, once you clear a path to it. This requires removing the faceplate, margin ruler, carriage guide and margin guide, and typebar pad. You do not need to remove the typebars themselves, or even the carriage, although this becomes easier if the carriage is removed beforehand. If you are following along through this guide, all these pieces should be removed already, allowing easy access to the Ribbon Movement.At first glance, the ribbon movement looks very extensive and complex (see highlighted picture below), but there are only two bolts holding this onto the frame.
Ribbon Movement in Red
Looking at a top-down view of the typewriter, you can see where the ribbon sits, as well as the bolts on each side (below in blue). In the below picture, notice that the carriage guide and margin guide are not removed. They should already be removed before you take out the ribbon movement.
Ribbon Movement in Red, Bolts in Blue
All you need to do is unscrew these two flathead bolts. There is one on each side of the typewriter frame. Once the two bolts come out, you may notice that the ribbon movement does not budge. This is because there are metal pins near the bolts holding the ribbon movement onto the frame. Using a scrwedriver to lever the pins out will pop the movement right off the frame. The pins are part of the ribbon movement and will not fall off when the movement is removed.
Unscrewing the bolts (left), and levering off the movement (right)
Once the ribbon movement is detached, you need to wrestle it out of the typewriter. The typebars and parts of the frame will get in the way, but the entire ribbon movement will come out. Try pulling the left side out first, as seen in the picture below:
Pulling out the Ribbon Movement
Once the ribbon movement is completely removed, you can continue to disassemble it, or you can move onto the spring drum and tab ruler.
Return to Typewriter Index