Uwe, yes, the springs on either side of the alignment guides are there. They are presently holding the guides firmly against the paper. However, my guides are currently detached in the middle from their respective metal pieces that are adjusted by the I, II, 0 business. I am planning to do some unscrewing, lift up the alignment guides off the machine (attached to the metal piece that I will unscrew), and underneath I should have a clearer look at that metal arm to see if I can get it closer to the paper. I am just uncertain how it will work out. 

WIWriter wrote:

No paper support, no surprise there. 

Any SG is a good SG regardless of its aesthetics, however, the targeted use of mineral spirits will get rid of that correcting fluid pronto. A missing paper rest is definitely not a surprise, but it is a little unusual that one of the pins for it is still in the mounting bracket. Can't say that I've seen that before.

Back to the SG once more, dear friends, back to the SG...

I had an FP that had been photographed and waiting to be offered up to the world when I naturally decided, just one more extended trial... and it did get an extended trial, and it was fine.  And a Touchmaster Five was in the recently used list and I was comparing and contrasting, and both typed even lines of elite across the page and had pleasant actions and occupied an impressive bulk on the table, so what's not to like?

Then something made me pull out an SG-1 I had not touched for months. OK, it had an unfair advantage: not touched for months is almost "new" and the new typewriter is always the most fascinating one. But -- you can see this coming like the shock scare scene when the foolish person goes back into the abandoned house and the soundtrack begins that high ringing in the ears sound -- the SG frankly blew them both away in touch and imprint. The Underwood and the Royal seemed prosaic next to the Olympia -- they got the job done well, the Olympia brilliantly.

Its green hulkiness makes it look like something used by the Wehrmacht and the long carriage looks weaponized. Whether this conspicuous display of German engineering speaks to you may change from day to day, but damn its crinkle-painted body, it types brilliantly!

=16.25pxThis past Sunday, I drove into the wilds of northern Wisconsin to pick up a 1962 Olympia SG 1 De Luxe. Literally down an unpaved, snow-covered road in the middle of a forest, this typewriter had been tucked away in someone's garage. The lady who sold it to me said this SG 1 belonged to her parents, who used it for their tool and die business. After getting this machine back home to a sturdy table, clearing out the cobwebs, mummified spider eggs, and what looked like the remnants of stencil paper from its interior, it was clear to me this Olympia had been taken care of during its life. Almost everything works as it should. The 12-inch carriage glides smoothly. The bell rings. The tabulator functions properly and the paper injector is excessively, ridiculously cool. All of the keys work great (no stickiness), the type slugs hit their mark every time, and the ribbon vibrator flutters like a humming bird. Even the ink on the ribbon still works and is quite dark considering it's been a while since this typewriter was last used. All letters are perfectly aligned on the page. The typeface is standard, elite 12-pitch. The only thing I haven't figured out is how to set the margins. I downloaded the e-manual for the Olympia SG 1 and still can't figure out how to set them. I believe something inside the machine may need to be adjusted. Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated. Also, there is a sticker front and center, which tells me this typewriter was sold/repaired in the hometown of Orson Welles, the man behind Citizen Kane and the infamous 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast. Kind of a nice writerly touch, although I may eventually remove it. I'm just not the biggest fan of stickers. Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a better machine. Simply stunning to type on.

I'm puzzled that you can't figure out how to set the margins. There are two slides toward the back of the carriage, green plastic with a white vertical line. Push the slides down and they should slide from side to side. Maybe they're just in need of cleaning?