A while back I bought an Imperial 55 (from the same person who sold me the Monarch), but I've only just got around to looking at it properly.

The first thing I discovered was that the carriage won't move. I suspected a locking mechanism, but when I checked the manual for the 66 model (on the Yahoo 'Typriters' group), I was amazed to discover the whole thing disassembles. You just press down on various levers and you can take out the typing mechanism, carriage and platen; just leaving the shell.



Anyhow. It soon became obvious that the drawstring is broken (see the picture below of the inside of the shell - it's more of a tape than a sting). What's less obvious is how to fix it. Has anyone got a picture of a working assembly for this model (or similar) I could use for reference?





Also, a mysterious slug of metal fell out of the machine when I took it apart. It's about 2cm long and 0.5cm wide. Thinnish silver metal (a mm) that's very soft. It could be lead, but doesn't feel like it. Does anyone know what it's for?