A slightly odd ME

I recently bought an ME for £8 on ebay, sold as "jammed". I managed to get it working with a squirt of lighter fuel and some careful prodding, then settled down to clean the exterior:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/IMGP2259.jpg[/IMG]

In doing so I noticed something a bit odd - that chrome circle to the right of the lens mount. The "leather" covering seems to be cut to fit around it and it definitely isn't a sticker, so does anyone know what it was intended for? I don't think it's a normal ME thing. The camera has what I'd guess to be a fairly low serial number - 1237001.

The frame counter doesn't work, presumably as some wally forced the film advance lever before I got hold of it. Does anyone have a strip and rebuild guide for this section? The only one I could find blithely said "you shouldn't need to fiddle with the frame counter unless someone has forced a jammed camera" but didn't explain what you should do if someone has done so! Even if I haven't got my hands on something rare I'd still like to get it fully functional as it isn't in bad cosmetic condition.

I think I've seen something like that on Italian Pentaxes.

The Italian importers of Pentax cameras had their name or mark on a little disc on the front of the cameras, in much the same way that American importers had 'Honeywell' or 'Tower' engraved on Pentax cameras they imported.
Maybe that is it, with the printing worn off.

Interesting - I can't see any sign at all of the printing though, not even faintly. The rest of the camera isn't bad at all, only a bit of scuffing/scratching so I'd be amazed if the lettering had worn off that easily. Maybe some of the cameras didn't make it to Italy and were sold in the UK with the disk but without the lettering?

I have checked ebay for one of the ME belt clips but the only two listed are both black, so keeping eyes open for a chrome one. Something a bit unusual for the collection, given I paid so little for what seems to be a mostly-functional camera!

ME service manual.

Thanks for that - I didn't realise the frame counter scale could be removed from the large gearwheel underneath it, that should make it much easier to get everything meshing properly again. I can see how it's supposed to work but couldn't get everything properly aligned.

In the Danilo Cecchi book "Asahi Pentax 1952-89", many of the cameras have that disc on them. It has Garanzia API printed on it. You may have an eyetie ME!
Perhaps some enthusiastic cleaning rubbed the printing off!

If you ever happen to find a copy of the above mentioned book, it is well worth having.

I've just had a nose around Ebay.it, and sure enough there are a fair number of ME Supers with the same disc and no printing on it. Looks like someone may have bought themselves a new ME while on holiday in Italy!

I've had another look at the frame counter with the service manual, but still can't seem to get it right. I'm not keen to take too much apart as at the moment I have a working ME which doesn't count how many photos you've taken, I'd rather that than a pile of parts that used to be a working ME...