Ca. Early 1970's Montblanc 149 Meisterstuck: Broken Piston Shaft

September 8, 2018

My father gifted me his (broken) montblanc 149. This pen has a single barrel, round ebonite feed w grooved face, black plastic filler threads, but most curious it has an 18C tri color nib (1950's?). The piston shaft itself is broken, most likely because twisting it with a stuck piston sheared it. It has sat on a shelf since 1980, which should be a crime in itself.

Can anyone fortune a guess as to how much this might cost to fix? Figuring in deferred maintenance, removing a friction fit piston, and fitting a new piston shaft.

I've contacted Francis goosens via personal email, but would love to hear from the broader group of minds.

Can anyone explain the 18C nib?

Can anyone explain whether or not this can be fitted with a brass piston shaft, and the pros and cons if it can?

Thank you so much!

matthew fitzpatrick

montblanc 234 1/2, 149 (broken)

September 8, 2018

Francis is a safe pair of hands. Good call. There are also people in the USA who can do this.

I believe there's always some risk, with friction fit repairs?

It's a beautiful pen, well worth the effort of a sensitive repair (rather than a MB service swap-out).

I have the exact same configuration 149. I think I calculated 1965, from the FPN dating chart - but that was some years ago (when the dating chart was a current topic), so my memory may be unreliable!

It's a wonderful gift. Congratulations.

September 9, 2018

As CS388 says, Francis is an excellent restorer, but there will be others closer to home who could probably help. All that really needs replacing is the helix, and there is a stronger one available the Ketron Peek Helix rod http://www.custompenparts.co.uk/mont-blanc/79-ketron-peek-helix-rod.html

I've used these before when I've managed to get the remaining piece of the helix out of the cone (this is a difficult job and one reason why Montblanc will replace the helix and cone together when servicing).

As it seems that the only thing that needs replacing then you might want to consider contacting Montblanc and asking them if they can replace the cone and helix on your pen. You can also tell them not to change anything else. The cost of a service is roughly £80.

Is it my eyes or are the two halves of the snapped helix different colours .... black and white?

September 11, 2018

thank you chunya! the helix is white, the broken piece you see on the pen side is some black piece of plastic, might be part of the cone? not knowing how these are put together, i wouldn't know what to call the black broken piece. at any rate, white helix throughout for sure.

cs388, are you saying your nib is 18C? or 18K? I thought 18C's were of the 1950's era. Were 18C's put on later pens in production?

I've also read about the montblanc repair center on this forum: entirely different pens being returned to the wrong customers, pens having the majority of it's parts being replaced and little remaining of the original pen configuration, or entirely different nibs being fitted, in addition to antique and valuable pens being outright stolen and newer ones returned. I could go on. I read enough to be scared of sending this pen to montblanc, for fear of the unknown and not being happy with what i might get back. I'd rather pay a little extra in shipping, as francis has repaired badly damaged 234 1/2 of mine and it was nothing short of a miracle what he was able to do!