I know what you mean.. I have a SONY 8mm camcorder with a short round
section of pin (approx 1/8" long) that separated from something in the tape
transport (which may be the only thing wrong with it), but I'm lacking the
enthusiasm to start disassembling the mechanism to see if it's original
location can be found.

The tape transport in the EV C3 VCR is described as being the same one used
in commercial 8mm decks, so it's not quite as flimsy as the consumer version
seen in camcorders, just not a lot better in design, though.

--
Cheers,
WB
..............


"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
I don't want to be unduly pessimistic, but Sony's 8mm transports are, to
put
it kindly, delicate. I had the transport in a HandyCam and home VCR fail
for
no obvious reason, with parts bending or breaking. The VCR is currently
non-functional, with erratic loading.

Narrow tape formats require small transport components, which are
difficult
to make "robust".